Luella (Q3228)
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
brand / retail chain in South Africa
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Luella |
brand / retail chain in South Africa |
Statements
Luella Bartley's girl has calmed down and smartened up for Spring. Where for the past few seasons every dress had been multicolored, flower-printed, beribboned, buckled, or frilled up in various pop-ironic ways, for this outing her clothes have become almost straightforward, in a mid-sixties Sunday-best sort of way. Stripping away the teeny, cutesy haberdashery of the collection had the effect of focusing attention on silhouettes: princess coats with Peter Pan collars, pannier dresses with padded hips, and various other devices lifted from the Balenciaga era Great Granny knew so well. If it hadn't been for the fact that Bartley's color palette was bright and cheerful—lemon, lipstick red, teal, camel, and sugar pink—and all the shapes were cut short and given a girlish raised waist, it could have been an uncharacteristically sober affair for a designer who's made her name by supplying a hearty dose of cheek to runway proceedings. As it was, without the surface froufrou (excepting the tulle-frilled dress and skirt), the collection looked well made and set fair to compete on the same kind of ground as Marc by Marc Jacobs—although these clothes are going to read as several degrees more dressed up and formal than Bartley's usual offerings.
20 September 2009
"Cute utilitarianism" is the tag Luella Bartley gave her punk-y, schoolgirl-y, military look, which was marched out by a gang of girls who seemed to be going to the prom via junior cadet corps. If it was less clashingly bright than her outstanding Summer collection, it was just as assured and detailed (this time with lots of gold zips, buttons, and hook-and-eye fastenings), and essentially based around the same template of short dresses and neat little suits that won her British Designer of the Year last November."Building a brand" can sound like a dull and onerous mission these days, especially for a junior-focused designer who came out of London's free and easy years. Yet that's exactly what Bartley is proving herself capable of now. There's value for money in each of her outfits, from all the patchworking of contrasting fabrics that goes on in a single piece (a dress might be made up of a polka-dot top fused to a draped bustier, connected to a wool skirt) down to the Confederate caps and fur pompoms on the toes of her pumps. The sense of continuity shows an impressive business focus, but even better, somehow, is the way Bartley will also break into a bit of gold lamé to keep things "up."
22 February 2009
On a day when fashion—make that everyone—could do with some cheering up, Luella Bartley did quite a brilliant job of perking up London's spirits. How that's possible in combinations of mauve, orange, and pink, executed in tweed, lace, and frills, doesn't quite translate to the written word. Yet once the girl got going with the boxy jackets, and the asymmetrical tiered frill skirts, and the big satin hair bows, and the net veils, and the pearl-chain handbags, and the tulle gloves, she had the audience smiling like the financial markets could take care of themselves for a moment."I wanted it to be a proper, ladylike character—but a bit psychedelic," Bartley said. "And I wanted color, but in a sort of sick way. When I saw it all lined up, I thought, Ew! Can we do this?" Good job she did, because her Spring collection was simply the most worked and accomplished she's ever done. True, Comme des Garçons, Marc Jacobs, and Vivienne Westwood may have passed by way of Chanel-ish tweeds, hyper-color, tacky-but-cool frilly trimmings, and mini-crinis, but Luella's unique angle on haberdashery is that it must end up flattering the girl. The little suiting pieces patchworked together from lavender tweeds and overlays of lace with their upstanding frills encircling the shoulder somehow made tweed look nonfrumpy—and possible to wear without the slightest air of irony. And when she does a dress, she knows what girls love: a bit of a prom number, but in this case with a nipped waist, a swathed top, a yoke to flatten the hips, and all kinds of bouncy tiers and rear peplum action switching along as she walks.The fact that Bartley also incorporated the striped collegiate blazers that used to pop up at the beginning of her career and new versions of last summer's Liberty florals among the fan-pleated dresses was a smart commercial move—they liked it last time, here's the update. Everything else she had going on was a delicious step into girl-tempting newness: the pillboxes and hair accessories and the piled-on, mixed-up pearls and diamanté in the jewelry, as well as her clever transpositions of necklaces into shoulder-bag chains. Bartley herself—possibly because she's an ex-journalist and doesn't pretend to be anything other than an accessible mid-price designer—is quite offhand about the level of accomplishment it took to achieve all this.
Still, it seems like a fitting time to remember that Bartley is part of the close-knit cohort of London designers, including Stella McCartney and Phoebe Philo, who have been coming into their own these past few years. She's often overlooked, but Bartley now deserves every bit as much credit as her friends in high places.
14 September 2008
Why is it that so many designers are surreptitiously delving into horror movies to rev their engines? Only last night, Giles Deacon was murmuring about Roger Corman'sThe Masque of the Red Death. In New York, the Mulleavy sisters disclosed their liking for Japanese slasher movies. And last season, Christopher Kane was crazed forCarrie, Stephen King, all that. And now here's Luella Bartley, talking about "Britt Ekland inThe Wicker Manand the witch museum in Boscastle, Cornwall, where we live," before adding, "I wanted something a bit raw and pagan." What's this? Generalized cultural anxiety seeping to the surface in the form of fashion?But, oh, stop. We're attending to a Luella collection here, and what we see before us is something (as the designer puts it) "cute but always a little sick—that's my girl." So there she is, working a quirky twisted-felt witchy hat, a short gray coat, a puff-sleeved peasant blouse, and high-heeled clogs, for starters. Happily, it didn't get much scarier than that, for the collection was dense with easy-to-wear pieces rather than sinister subtext—fitted black-and-red-check country jackets with puffed sleeves, cord jodhpurs, smocked blouses, a great herringbone single-breasted coat with perked-up shoulders, and a slew of accessories. Hard as it is for any designer to think of anything new to put on a bag, Bartley's English-village observations sparked the idea of taking the jingly bells and multicolored ribbons of Morris dancers' costumes and loading them onto satchels and totes.In other words, it wasn't to be taken terribly seriously—except for the fact that, eight years on from her first showings in Portobello, Bartley is now the mother of three under five, with a proper brand to her name and a knack for keeping it young and witty. Kudos to her for that.
13 February 2008
Taking over Claridge's ballroom, Luella Bartley brought her collection back to London in a one-off pop-up show coinciding with the opening of her first store on Brook Street. "It was about Thora Birch inGhost World. A bit geeky and cartoonish," the designer said, as her nanny deposited her toddler on her hip and her husband, the photographer David Sims, kept baby number two distracted near the racks; number three, newly born, had a prior engagement. Bartley had just shown a cute, ultra-commercial collection of fifties Americana-meets-English punky references.The things she did with tiny Liberty-style florals were an object lesson in how to contradict sweet with street. She dip-dyed the hem of a print dress, put military epaulets on a shift, turned the florals into a flounced "batwoman" cape flowing from the shoulders, and plasticized them to make a sixties dolly-bird mac. A green plaid Peter Pan-collared dress faithful to Birch in the 2001 film; a sharp, shiny mohair pantsuit; and a funny twinset with a bat logo on the breast stood out, although they had tough competition from the accessories. Luella's new bags are giant navy patent totes and orange see-through plastic shoppers, and she's been letting herself loose with plastic-poppy hair ornaments, too.All in all, it was a grand demonstration of the evolution of Luella Bartley, the brattish British designer who left to show her collection in New York and came back polished up as the homecoming queen of bankable product.
16 September 2007
Horses, coming-out parties, Sgt. Pepper military gear—Luella's girls have fallen head over heels for all things proper and British this season. Angela Lindvall opened the designer's upbeat Fall show in a red hunting coat with a velvet collar and a mink jockey cap. Diana Dondoe played the deb in an ocher dress with a cinched waist (though her riding boots, customized by an artist named Noki, had what Bartley described as a "very London street vibe"). Freja Beha Erichsen's short boxy jacket, meanwhile, was paired with a white bow shirt and polka-dot mini.There was a deliberate "frumpy" element to all this, but Luella being Luella, she successfully sent up the concept with playful looks like a black coat with a patent bow and mink pom-pom buttons. And when Julia Stegner took to the runway in a menswear plaid coat, button-down, and tight pink jeans, the outfit could have come out of the model's own cool-girl closet.
3 February 2007
What's black and white and read all over? The first look from Luella Bartley's lively yet focused spring show: an alphabet Jacquard trouser suit cut sharp and lean with matching shoes. After sampling from rockabilly last season and the yacht club set before that, Bartley's gone mod and, in a surprise move for a designer who helped invent the charm-laden handbag, almost minimal. There were sexy second-skin jeans, striped tees to layer under cardigans or zip-front jackets, and silver macs on her Sony Music Studios runway, along with patent leather winkle pickers and graphic plastic shades.But no matter where her inspiration leads, Bartley can always be counted on for a cheeky party dress and a proper preppy sweater and button-down set. This season, the former came embellished with pieces of shattered mirror stitched into the letter B. Freja Beha closed the show in a pink lamé lampshade skirt and a T-shirt that spelled G-E-E-K. Try as she might, though, Bartley—and the clothes she makes—will never be anything but cool.
9 September 2006
In the TV commercials for her Target line that's selling like hotcakes across the United States, Luella Bartley touts British Invasion bands as influences. But for her fall signature collection, she riffed on American rockabilly acts like Carl Perkins by way of the Clash. That meant cardigans paired with skinny jeans, plaid bustier dresses with big sashes at the waist, and motorcycle jackets topping full-skirt minis, along with a dandy's drawer worth of bow ties.This territory is a well-worked one in fashion, but Bartley managed to shake up the mix with a few ladylike Chanel-isms. It seems her CBGB girl wants to spend some quality time at Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle, hence the pearls worn in triple strands around the neck, the boxy black jackets, and quilted bags. These last were punked, of course, with charms like guns, bolts, and records. Lampshade dresses, though in tune with the pumped-up volumes of the past couple of seasons, looked a little Grand Ole Opry. But a short plaid trench worn with pin-straight cords will jibe with girls no matter what's on their iPods.
4 February 2006
The New York Yacht Club was a fitting location for Luella Bartley's show, what with the nautical blue-and-white striped sweater, navy blazer complete with family crest, and rope-trimmed short shifts on the runway. One tank dress was even emblazoned with what looked like a white lifesaver on its back. There were also tiny tennis skirts and tight jodhpurs, plus plenty of V-neck sweaters, oxford shirts, and seersucker jackets for lunch after a morning playing doubles. The Luella girl will at least be looking sporty this spring, whether or not she drops anchor or touches a racquet.It wasn't all fun and genteel games on Bartley's runway. Carmen Kass, for one, worked a black cropped suede jacket and a jet sequined pencil skirt, which appeared later on in emerald green paired inexplicably with a button-down in baby pink. Stovepipe jeans and graphic tees, meanwhile, were inspired by the Velvet Underground and Nico in the late sixties, whose song "Sunday Morning" played on the loudspeakers as the crowd filed in. Bartley's message wasn't exactly incoherent, but it was definitely confusing… and perhaps a little on the young side for her spendy price point. Whatdidlook focused, however, were her accessories: spectators, peekaboo patent pumps, high-heel loafers in primary colors with contrasting piping, and of course, her bags. Some came decorated with bright plastic charms to match her gotta-have-one heart-shaped cuffs.
10 September 2005
Luella Bartley hired Danish duo the Raveonettes to play during her fall show at the National Arts Club. But their catchy cover of Buddy Holly's "Everyday" only served to remind the English designer's many fans that this collection felt like a rehashing of vintage-inspired trends that have become familiar over the past couple of seasons: the nerdy chic of bow-front blouses, the trench, and the only slightly less ubiquitous poncho. Bartley also reinterpreted Gucci's famous horse-bit-logo print with double Ls.What looked fresh, on the other hand, were circle-skirted fifties-style prom dresses in bright silk faille, and a couple of black-and-white paillette dresses that looked like something Andy Warhol It girl Edie Sedgwick (in the air this season thanks to an exhibit at Gallagher's and an upcoming biopic starring Sienna Miller) might have worn. Bartley also upped the luxe quotient with ostrich bombers and slim skirts. And, of course, there were her collectible bags. This season, in keeping with her mostly seventies theme, she sent out plenty of studded, grommeted, and fringed styles that are sure to fly off the shelves.
5 February 2005
Luella Bartley's woman doesn't just walk. She strides, and occasionally stomps and stamps. In other words, she's got a righteous dose of rock 'n' roll attitude fueling her every move, and the wardrobe to make it work.Bartley started her spring collection with a dose of the classics, done her way: full-leg trousers slouching low on the hips, a crisp oversize shirt tucked into tiny shorts, a kilt cut short enough to qualify as a belt, a skinny polo dress worn with a claw necklace, and of course, a pair of her superskinny jeans with a schoolboy blazer patterned in her trademark apple print. The colors started out in country club neutrals like white, navy, and khaki, with some doses of kelly green and bright blue. It wasn't too long, of course, before Bartley turned to her own classics: more of those skinny trousers and blousy men's shirts, now in hot colors (orange, pink, lime), plus lightly flounced minidresses, wild python motorcycle jackets (worn, for example, over a minuscule bikini), and lots of her covetable handbags—all shown atop high-heel spectator pumps perfect for announcing your arrival.
11 September 2004
Luella Bartley’s delightful fall collection was inspired by one of the most beloved English archetypes—the bohemian aristo who wears a cashmere sweater with Wellies, drives a Range Rover filled with muddy dogs, and can tell equally risqué personal anecdotes about the Rolling Stones and Henry VIII.Bartley’s fall basics for this character (and all who would emulate her) include drainpipe jeans, cut tight right down to the ankle and worn with frilly voile blouses or a short, sporty navy car coat; little tweedy blazers that end at the top of the hip; and motorcycle jackets in black or pale lavender goatskin. That’s for mucking about in the stables (or roaming Portobello Road); for tea time, she goes a bit more feminine with indigo blue or acid-green sheer mini-caftans over tights or trousers. Popping up to town for a day calls for the jersey and suede cardigan over a neat little pencil skirt, worn with chunky high heels tied on with wide satin ribbons. She trucks this all around in one of Bartley’s ever-popular leather “Gisele” satchels, decorated with all sorts of whimsical stencils and leather charms. After all, noblesse oblige means never being seen carrying any old grotty handbag.
9 February 2004
London-based Luella Bartley designed her collection this past summer as Europe was enduring its vicious heat wave and she was coming to the end of her pregnancy. So it’s no surprise that her spring line was full of breezy pieces meant to float off the body while keeping spirits from wilting.The title of the collection was “a tribe called Luella,” a group which clearly shares some anthropological traits with the clan of Bananarama: There were outsized overalls worn over tiny tops; loose, lightweight cotton and silk blouses; dresses wrapped with ropy braided belts; and generously cut menswear pieces, like a giant V-neck sweater worn as a mini or a billowing blue cotton shirt with soft drawstring trousers. And though there were some tweeds worked into the mix, they steered clear of serious; Luella’s tiny minis and flaring boleros piped in Day-Glo are in no danger of being mistaken for Chanel (although her increasingly great handbags could start their own cult).For decoration, Bartley strung her models in fetishes of all kinds: cheery leather skulls, crossbones, smiley faces, and hearts, as well as a few tiny Net MD Walkmans supplied by her corporate sponsor, Sony. If 2004 brings another cruel, cruel summer, at least the Bartley tribe will be dressed for it.
13 September 2003
Luella Bartley is not one to dawdle. She gets a feeling for a season, she puts it on the runway, and then… bang, she's onto the next thing. Case in point: While her spring collection was packed with bubbly, body-conscious fashions inspired by athletics, fall's line is aimed at serious urban hipsters who have the lyrics to "Clash City Rockers" committed to memory.In a season where clothes are getting shorter and tighter, Bartley pulled a 180, showing supersize boyfriend jackets over ripped-up Levis, generous overcoats and full-cut pinstripe trousers with platform winkle pickers. (There were, admittedly, some slimmer looks, like fitted sweaters and knit dresses ornamented with big toothy zippers, and slim knit pants tucked into socks.) Lest anyone forget that she has a taste for fine things, Bartley added some luxury pieces, like an army duffle coat augmented with fur and worn over a black and gold bias-cut dress. For those seeking traditional sex appeal, meanwhile, there were satin minis and a black pencil skirt cut tight enough to be a girdle. Bartley even has a new handbag line, making it possible for loyal customers to carry a piece of the designer's inimitable aesthetic at all times.
8 February 2003
In contrast to her last collection, a valentine to hippie romanticism, Luella Bartley turned out a hard-edged show influenced by everything, said the designer, “from surfing to motocross.”Bartley opened with a series of low-waisted minis paired with semi-sheer, French-cut leotards that came off as tough, somewhat trampy and very clubby. Her affinity for denim was evident throughout, and those pieces were among the collection’s strongest, particularly a drop-waisted, button-front number with distressed patches that lent it a (calculated) thrift-shop flair. The suits—one in neon yellow, the other with Carnaby stripes—were well cut, if blinding.Sorbet-colored jackets and shirts had a cheeky air augmented by embroidered legends like "Tornado" and, of course, "Luella," while customized pink-and-white checkered Vans staked out a rebel-teen territory somewhere betweenBlue Crushand the East End of London.
17 September 2002
After a brief excursion across the prairie this Spring, Luella Bartley returned to the city for Fall, with a smart collection aimed at prepsters with a rock 'n' roll edge.Bartley clearly spent time in study hall; she has the preppy vocabulary down cold, from three-quarter coats with toggle closures to navy poplin pieces with red topstitching. Also on the syllabus were pinstripe shirts, chunky wine-colored sweaters, soft corduroys and lots and lots of denim (including the show opener, a mini-trench worn by Gisele).Although the collection was entitled "Some Girls" (the Rolling Stones were featured on a CD given out to accompany the show), Bartley can clearly be mother's little helper, too. Sweet jersey dresses, a simple navy sweater that buttons up the sleeves or a swinging, boxy black-and-white jacket easily jump the generation gap. And moms with hippie inclinations will definitely want to sneak into their daughters' closets for the superfly fringed belts by Katie Hillier or the nifty white sheepskin jacket.While some of the '70s references were stretched too far—like a poncho made from red leather hearts crocheted together—the collection as a whole put a fresh, modern spin on some ever-popular classics.
9 February 2002
It seems that prairie girls are here to stay, at least according to Luella Bartley, who decamped to New York this season. To a blaring soundtrack that included everything from “Sweet Home Alabama” to “Get Ur Freak On,” the London designer sent out a cavalcade of country gals decked out in trailblazer skirts, embroidered dresses, off-the-shoulder tops, frayed denim skirts, and Navajo-inspired wrap coats in vivid colors.The American West motif eventually gave way to an array of candy-colored looks that included a playful pink-and-blue striped blazer, a piped rose sundress and several bright yellow knits that will be just the thing for a summer weekend in Malibu. Bartley’s accessories also hit the mark: The outrageous combination of Pocahontas leather socks, pink cowgirl boots, wide-brim floppy hats, multicolored woven belts with streamers (courtesy of Katie Hillier), dangling fur tails and feather embellishments somehow managed to make perfect sense.If the audience’s gaze occasionally strayed off the runway, don’t blame Bartley. The sight of Venus and Serena Williams in the front row, the next day after their historic U.S. Open match, proved too much for most to resist.
8 September 2001
“Seventeen and not yet a woman” were the appropriate lyrics that openedLuella Bartley’s fun, pop-themed and hard-edged presentation. Along with newly appointed Bottega Veneta designer Giles Deacon and her stylist Katie Grand, Bartley is intent on bringing London attitude to staid, somber Milan.And it’s a welcome change of pace. Channeling early ’70s English street style, Bartley showed tiny denim dungaree dresses, drainpipe jeans, frayed miniskirts and oversize men’s jackets. Striped shirts with matching ties, mohair duffle coats and massive bombers in suede and sheepskin showed that skinheads can appreciate a bit of luxury as much as anyone else. Accessories included massive denim patent-strap bags; all looks were shown with classic Dr. Martens combat boots.Bartley may not be at the forefront of innovation, but her well thought-out, carefully planned collection scored plenty of hits and provided a strong conclusion to a sometimes dreary Milanese fashion calendar.
5 March 2001
Ex-BritishVoguewriter Luella Bartley has become the darling of London's new generation of "It" girls, so it's no surprise she snapped up models Kate Moss, Malgosia, and Frankie and Missy Rayder for her runway ode to the '80s.Backed by an upbeat Go-Go's soundtrack, Luella offered graffiti-printed denim suits, skirts and bathing suits; and leather sleeveless tops and tube dresses trimmed with fluorescent stretch knit bands. There were also strong-shouldered motorcycle jackets, glittering pantsuits and a white tuxedo with white lapels. A seemingly innocent print revealed itself to be, upon closer inspection, a skull with the number "87" inscribed on its bony forehead. Liquid Sky-inspired streaks of neon over the eyes finished off the look.It's clear that the '80s are a major influence this season, and Luella certainly capitalized on the trend. But, while her show was poppy, well-styled and undoubtedly fun, it was also too literal. Claude Montana, an obvious source of inspiration, should have been Luella's guest of honor.
25 September 2000
"Daddy, who were The Clash" was the jokey little title of Luella Bartley's first catwalk show. Indeed her models wouldn't know—they were dressed like the hippest teenage schoolgirls, and probably born around 1987. It was hard not to adore the clothes—or the attitude. A neat houndstooth check dress was as proper as could be until you saw the zip up the back, which opened at both ends, and up on the arms. Hot pink drainpipe jeans with the word 'darling' written in tiny crystals on the back pocket and worn with a pink blouse and perfect-black jacket showed us all how the hip crowd will wear tailoring next season. There was even a striped school blazer worn with a white shirt and skinny trousers. Luella is way ahead of the pack. She's stylishly brought back the mod teenager, added a splash of Blondie and created an ultracool image for her label.
14 February 2000