Mulberry (Q3455)
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
fashion company founded in England in 1971, known internationally for its leather goods, in particular women's handbags
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Mulberry |
fashion company founded in England in 1971, known internationally for its leather goods, in particular women's handbags |
Statements
2008
Creative Director
2005
creative director
designed a line of bags
Mulberry creative director Johnny Coca has been in a quintessentially English groove for the past few seasons. The showroom where he presented his latest collection in Paris today was populated with all manner of traditional plaids, many derived from the archives of the British brand—specifically those which once lined the handbags. Neat ’60s-leaning plaid coats and skirts suits were furnished with posh gold buttons for good measure. Coca also has a soft spot for punk—what could be more British than a spot of anarchy?—and the chunky, gold-capped boots were a fitting counterpoint to the spiffiness.Elsewhere, the most essential pieces in the collection were deliberately devoid of any bells and whistles. Known as the Portobello, the new minimalist tote is the brand’s first sustainable handbag. Stripped back entirely—that means no hardware, lining, toxic finishes or adhesive—the piece is made from eco-certified leather in Mulberry’s factory in Somerset, England, and first launched before the holidays, selling out in a matter of days. Now the Portobello is being reintroduced for fall in three sizes and a variety of new colors.The most significant news, however, has little to do with newness at all. Known as the Made to Last program, Mulberry’s new buy-back and repair service addresses the conversation around the circular economy. As Coca tells it, Mulberry fans have been turning up in droves to have their bags refurbished—those pieces that are beyond repair can be exchanged for credit toward a new purchase. As fashion begins to wade through the moral quagmire of the throwaway economy, initiatives like these are a step in the right direction.
26 February 2020
Creative director Johnny Coca has cycled through several recognizable British-style archetypes for inspiration during his four-year tenure at Mulberry. Lately he’s been in the mood for polished punks, and today he continued that streak at the brand’s Spring 2020 presentation in Paris. The check and plaid trench coats and biker jackets of last season took on vibrant red-white-and-blue tones this time around and were finished with a bit more attitude thanks to heavy-metal chain belts.Still, accessories are the main event here, and they were hardly what you’d call anarchic. Aside from a sprinkling of pyramid studs, the new styles erred on the traditional side with the prettiest of the bunch printed with a new, romantic floral motif. The brand’s new Bayswater belted satchel had a classic feel that fell in line with the current yen for retro and reissued purses that have been surfacing at leather goods houses all over the map. Coca added a few customizable trimmings to his designs that could put him ahead in the game, however. Known as the Iris, the soft holdall bag has a detachable strap that comes in more than 30 different colors—if you factor in the varying size options, then the math is pretty compelling. With almost 200 possible iterations, there’s more room for a bag to have personality.
25 September 2019
Fun fact: Kensington Palace and Mulberry HQ are practically neighbors in London. On most mornings before work, creative director Johnny Coca sees ducks running around Kensington Gardens—and also swans, creatures that hold a special place in the United Kingdom: Under British law, all swans in open water are owned by the Her Majesty, and there is an 800-year-old annual tradition of counting them. All that is to say, the feathered print in the new collection, which appears on soft chiffon dresses and pleated silk skirts, was directly inspired by the Spanish-born designer’s working habitat.The other motifs in the collection—checks, plaids—pulled from a more instantly recognizable lexicon of British heritage fabrics. Like many designers in London this season, Coca had been exploring the line between anarchy and tradition. Still, his idea of punk is admittedly on the tame side—think: a moto jacket cut from technical tartan or a cropped black skirtsuit covered with metal grommets.Mulberry is the latest luxury brand to jump on the fashion sneaker, and the new collection had an unexpectedly sporty streak. Their new printed puffer coats were covered in ’70s-style men’s tie motifs and were a charming take on the popular outerwear trend.There were precious few airs and graces in the accessories department either. Of the new styles on offer, the unstructured, unlined handbags were the strongest. With detachable gold chains and soft dimensions, the “Iris” was a modern reimagining of a classic lady bag. They seemed nicely suited to a minimalist notion of British elegance. In other words, fit for a certain American-born duchess.
1 March 2019
Mulberry creative director Johnny Coca has drawn on Britain’s aristocratic traditions for inspiration in the past (high tea rituals, English country garden parties, the Royal Ascot, and so on), but this season he looked towards a significant countercultural movement in the nation’s history, namely swinging ’60s London. That mood was instantly defined by a thigh-grazing mini look and glorious psychedelic patterns, specifically marble prints, a more refined version of the tie-dye motifs that have popping up everywhere. Coca’s mood board was populated by all the most familiar people and places of the era—Penelope Tree, Twiggy, Carnaby Street and King’s Road in London.The mod-style shapes were a far cry from the oversize aesthetic of Coca’s debut, though the neat silhouette seemed in step with Mulberry’s leather-goods heritage overall. Coca took a ’60s approach to the accessories, too, with neat box bags furnished with appealing quirky trimmings. There were larger, graphic hobo styles for those who are ready to ditch the mini-bag trend for the foreseeable future.Mulberry produces 60 percent of its bags in the U.K. and between its two factories it’s now able to create a larger selection for limited-edition capsule collections. The artisanal and highly Instagrammable touches of those pieces are likely to attract a new generation of fashion magpies.
28 September 2018
After a big and bold consumer-facing fashion show in London, Mulberry unveiled its latest collection with more hushed tones in Paris today. The presentation space in the Marais was made to look like the inside of a mirrored boudoir and was filled with all manner of froufrou trophy pieces, including the requisite marabou-trimmed mules. Mulberry creative director Johnny Coca has a healthy appetite for kitsch, drawing on English floral wallpaper prints for his candy-color ’70s-style looks this time around. The idea, as Coca explained it, was to inject some sunshine into the doldrums of a Fall wardrobe. The lurid house dresses and nighties were cut with the same exaggerated proportions as in seasons past, and were set in motion on a film screen with the help of artist Sharna Osborne.Mulberry has had repeat success with Coca’s Amberley bag designs, and there was a slew of new versions to choose from, including a few that were coated with colorful glitter and one studded with jumbo pearls. Coca made a name for himself in the accessories division at Céline, and it’s clear that bags continue to be his strong suit. The new jewelry box–style purses had a bijou-like charm that managed to toe the line between practical and pretty where other trendy micro bags have failed. In other words, they fit all the surprisingly large smartphones many of us carry these days along with everything else. Mulberry has yet to confirm whether it’ll go with a see-now-buy-now affair in London again next season. In fact, there seems to be talk of an international event on the agenda. Wherever the brand decides to show in the future, it’s worth noting that it still has roots in British manufacturing—many of its bags bear a made-in-England stamp. It would be nice to see that heritage celebrated in a bigger way.
28 February 2018
Mulberry’s Johnny Coca set the scene for an English country garden party at the brand’s presentation in Paris today, with cucumber sandwiches, piles of strawberries, and tea brewing in fine china pots in the lobby as guests arrived. The Britannia theme continued upstairs with a video installation by director Sharna Osborne inspired by Royal Ascot Ladies Day. Think models leaping into the air in slow motion with surrealist confectionary-like hats perched on their heads. The ruffled, ruched dresses and linen suits that dotted the room had a sense of levity about them—both literally and figuratively—that the collection has lacked in a past. It was a nice way to set the mood, particularly combined with the cheery citrus palette that included lime green, a color that’s been popping up all season long.Coca hasn’t abandoned his experimentations with voluminous proportions altogether. He evolved the college stripe that covered many of his oversize Fall looks, drawing on the idea of deck chairs instead and incorporating them onto billowy ruffled blouses, midi skirts, and spaghetti-strap sundresses. Those silhouettes were printed with blue-and-red Wedgwood-style patterns as well, though the most eye-catching use of that porcelain-china motif was at the resin heel of Mulberry’s new midi pump, which looked something like an upside-down teacup. Indeed it’s fair to say the accessories took center stage in the showroom today, with endless iterations of that charming novelty shoe, often trimmed with mink and embellished with crystals. There were some great new bag options in the mix as well, including a soft take on a traditional lady bag that had a gathered finished and chunky chain strap. The smaller, pouch-style bags looked especially good finished with those deck-chair stripes—stylish pick-me-ups that will go the distance once garden party season is over.
28 September 2017
Great bags, great shoes. Best to reassure the folks back at Mulberry HQ their all-important accessories business will do just fine next season, before going on to note this afternoon’s show by the brand was a bit of a puzzle. It was plain enough that Johnny Coca, the brand’s creative director, was enamored of the oh-so-English heritage codes that dominate the Mulberry vernacular; it was less clear what message he was trying to send by means of them.The home counties references dominated this collection, from the generous helping of brownish check to the quilted capes inspired by horse blankets. Evening looks had a bit of the black-tie-for-dinner manner that’s custom at country houses after a shoot. But for all the familiarity of these motifs, they had an alien effect here, thanks to Coca’s preference for attenuated or vastly oversize proportions. To wit, Thatcherite check skirt suits paired with pussybow blouses featured oddball hemlines and strangely exaggerated shoulders. (It must be noted the Iron Lady herself never required an exaggerated jacket shoulder to assert her presence in a room.) The evening dresses, which featured some magnificent fabrications, were distended to such a degree they almost completely effaced the underlying female form—an effect amplified by Coca’s eiderdown-like blanket capes. In theory, this kind of space-taking should read as authoritative, but as a general matter, there wasn’t enough of a sense of specificity to Coca’s silhouettes to see anything except, well, largeness.In a funny way, this very polished collection felt unfinished. There was a plethora of good ideas here—terrific fabrics, as noted, some wonderful play with color, and some interesting perversions of the horsey-set look—but too many of these garments seemed to swamp the models wearing them, and they should have been refined further to ameliorate that effect. Toying with proportions like these is a tricky business, and not many designers do it well; those who do have one eye turned, at all times, to the woman they envision wearing the clothes. Coca, on the other hand, was going for impact. As a result, this may turn out to be one of those collections that do better in the showroom, where the clothes being wholesaled showcase good ideas, properly distilled.
19 February 2017
Johnny Coca's tenure atMulberrygot off to a rocky start. It wasn't altogether surprising that the newly minted creative director flailed a bit in his debut last season—after all, Coca had made his name as an accessories designer, and he was taking the reins at a brand built on accessories. There really wasn't a script for Mulberry ready-to-wear, aside from a dictum to adhere to codes of "Britishness"—codes about as ill-defined as you'd expect, in a country where no one's quite sure what "British" is, or means.Long story short, Coca had a job on his hands. And he did much, much better with it this season. The Mulberry catwalk played host to a bunch of appealing looks—slouchy tie- and pajama-stripe silk separates, dresses and pinafores with big, sculptural ruffles, fluid evening frocks in super-reflective velvet or lamé (the hands-down standouts at today's show). The collection could have used a stiffer edit, but what it demonstrated was Coca's desire—and Mulberry's—to be in the fashion conversation. With that in mind, this collection worked overtime to infuse Mulberry's home counties aesthetic with some of that au courantVetements-y cavalier-ness. As a long-term strategy for the brand, it's not clear how well this approach will hold up, but it did serve the purpose of injecting the Mulberry show with directional energy.Meanwhile, as ever, the accessories were the point. That much was reaffirmed by the inclusion, in certain ensembles, of hilariously massive handbags. What is a designer to do, when the clothes are an accessory to the accessories? Build a fantasy world around them, one supposes. Johnny Coca's Mulberry world remains TBD—but he laid down some foundations this season.
18 September 2016
More than two years have passed since the last timeMulberryshowed its collection on the runway. In the interim, the house installed a new creative director—Johnny Coca, previously the wunderkind accessories designer atCéline, and a man thus seemingly destined to rejuvenate Mulberry’s all-important handbag business. The anticipation was palpable this afternoon, as attendees took their seats at Guildhall, a space with a rich sense of occasion. Could there be a location more fitting for Coca’s debut than this ancient building nestled among the gleaming glass skyscrapers of London’s financialized city? After all, what was Coca’s task today, if not to translate Mulberry’s English heritage vernacular into a forward-looking point of view?Job one for any Mulberry designer is to offer must-have outerwear and leather goods. Coca nailed that stuff, no question. His wool felt coats were terrifically natty, with their punctuating military-inspired studs or stitch detailing, and his shaggy Mongolians introduced a warm, bohemian note to the proceedings. Meanwhile, the wide variety of bags Coca showed were all pretty lust-worthy, and ranged in scale from an evening purse approximately keychain-size to a capacious, chain-handled holdall.That snappy assortment of bags will likely grease the skids as Coca gets into his comfort zone as a ready-to-wear designer. He’s new to designing clothing, and in some ways that showed. The tone of this collection was right on target—clearly, Coca was trying to give the heretofore frothy Mulberry look some fortifying European edge, which he did by means of some punkish elements, and graphic touches such as pop-color oversize fishnet and layers of beaded mesh. But not all the themes he toyed with cohered. The pop-color fishnet looked bracing and fresh, for instance, but didn’t seem to belong in the same world as, say, the handkerchief-like pleated cocktail dresses. But if Coca seemed a little unsettled regarding the Mulberry ready-to-wear, that’s only fair: He’s taken the lead at this very British brand at a moment when the very idea of Britishness is contested. Two days ago, Prime Minister David Cameron called for a referendum to determine whether the United Kingdom will leave the E.U. How could Coca, a Spaniard educated and previously employed in Paris, know what it means to be British today, when that’s a matter of hot debate among the natives of the land?
21 February 2016
When Johnny Coca presents his first full runway collection for Mulberry next February, it will be two and half years since Emma Hill's still-mystifying adieu. The interim has at best been a purgatory and at worst left this fine firm looking as battered as a Bayswater bag that has been too loved for too long.The new man arrives soon, but apparently too late to assume full authorship of Spring 2016—although he will be master of its imagery. In a way this Resort collection was a prefiguring of the cleanish slate that Mulberry's existing team hopes to present him with. They ran through this last Coca-less proposition today.While hobbled by the lack of license to define an imprimatur of their own, the design team sketched a solidly sellable holding pattern. Hill's good-time, uptown (but might-wake-up-downtown) raucousness has been put away, presumably under direction. Mulberry has gone lady, and pretty pleasantly so. The zigzag opening was inspired by the work of artist Marlow Moss—a neglected, jodhpur-wearing, school-of-Mondrian, St. Ives modernist who is well worth a Google—as well as the silhouettes of beach huts. The pajama-piped crepe de chine separates, slouchy oversize-collar Aran, deck-chair-striped Bermudas, and duffel-touched cashmere parka were soft whispers of the Cornish Riviera. The pink sash-stripe on the fine-gauge orange knit referred back to pictures of 1920s tennis parties, while the wide collar on that striking green blouse was pure austerity-era schoolboy. The designers put a bird on it via a pretty-enough print. Although not in this lookbook, there were some fine rope-strap shoes with rubber-tip heels of turned wood, burnished as richly as any deck in Salcombe Bay. And the team produced a good-looking, squarish-bottom bucket tote named the Kite that has a clever and versatile strap arrangement and half crumples most winningly in a black croc print.The team is playing it somewhat safe, understandably so. Mulberry is in quiet recovery after its dangerously overambitious, management-led push to set prices far too high. That, more so than the departure of Hill, shook the Rookery. To emphasize that those dark days are over, the company provided a price list. Steer clear of the neon yellow ostrich and that Kite could fly.
8 June 2015
Mulberry is at a curious impasse. Since the departure of former creative director Emma Hill a year and a half ago, the brand has dispensed with any real sense of ambition in its womenswear, except to the extent that its design team has become increasingly obsessed with the make of their clothes. Today, for instance, you had to be impressed by the craft behind, say, a shearling coat with checks created via intarsia, or the collection's alpaca sweaters, which had been thistle-brushed 20 times to draw out the material's underlying fluff. Cashmere Donegal knit, hand-painted filigree, a double-faced wool-and-calf-hair coat rigorously needle-punched to half-reveal a band of liner check. Etcetera. If you focused on process and materials, the Mulberry collection was remarkable, indeed. But the ends to which those processes and materials had been put were largely shrug-worthy by contrast. The prints and patterns, inspired by the stucco of Georgian architecture, were nice enough but didn't make any kind of lasting impression. The silhouettes, meanwhile, pretty much seemed like an afterthought. Conservative shoppers with deep pockets may gravitate to Mulberry's trim trousers and gently flared frocks and skirts, but if the label continues in this vein, even the most risk-averse consumers will get bored.
22 February 2015
Mulberry's attempted reconceptualization as a luxury powerhouse temporarily shook it loose from its moorings, so the recent focus has been on a back-to-basics effort to relocate what made the company work so well in the first place. The answer? Bags. Lots of them. Leather goods make up 70 percent of Mulberry's sales, with the Alexa, the Lana, and the Cara being particularly successful building blocks for the business. Pre-Fall saw some equally promising additions to the range: the Willow, for instance, with its zip-off clutch; the Freya hobo bag; the Darby satchel; and, best of all, the Delphi, a bag that ingeniously reverses, from calfskin to suede, say, or even crocodile.The collection of clothes that accompanied these accessories fell effortlessly under the umbrella of "heritage ready-to-wear," a predictable but safe stand to take while Mulberry bides its time until the arrival of new creative director Johnny Coca next year. The label may be a mere newbie compared to classic brands like Burberry and Pringle of Scotland, but its calling card has always been its Britishness. The reference points here were the wallpapers and curtains in country houses, William Morris-influenced Arts and Crafts-iness in oak-leaf prints and lace, Fair Isle knits, and fisherman's sweaters. Lace versions of an old village street scene looked like traditional doilies. That old-lady-ish association hovered over the collection. We were invited to imagine the wardrobe of a woman who'd aged through the 1920s to the 1950s. So a drop-waist cocktail dress in dégradé Lurex (hint of Jazz Age decadence) rubbed shoulders with the kind of no-nonsense tailored topcoat an austerity-minded war bride might have worn.
8 December 2014
It's been a year since Mulberry parted ways with Emma Hill, its game-changing former creative director. On the surface of things, the brand chugs merrily along—there's a Cara Delevingne collection of bags now, an It-girl evolution from the iconic Alexa satchel—but the presentation at Mulberry HQ today served as a strong signal of the brand's scaled-down ambitions. The shoes and bags lining the walls were the real story, while the new apparel, displayed on mannequins, was as safe as could be. The theme was English gardens, with a particular emphasis on delphinium, cornflower, and cow parsley, which inspired the prints and the seriously luxe jacquards. The pieces made of cornflower blue towel jacquard were memorable for their texture, but the overall effect was still prim. Elsewhere, the very fine Swiss-lace looks, like a halter dress in white, stood out for their prettiness. The treacle was cut, somewhat, by more utilitarian garments—polished anoraks, military-inspired blouses, a Lurex tracksuit. All very commercial-seeming, and yet, as one retailer wandering the premises commented, the Mulberry prices are exceedingly high. Will anyone buy?
14 September 2014
Mulberry has been without a creative director since 2013, and the label has also been the subject of persistent gossip regarding sluggish sales and the departure of its CEO. With that backdrop, today's Resort show was a positive surprise. Head of design Frances Stringer took inspiration from Kew Gardens (one of London's most treasured parks) and played off the enduring British obsession with gardens, making reference to lush overgrowth, wicker, canopies of green, and ticking stripe.The show started with a silk georgette dress in a rich ivy green. Its lattice pattern mimicked the ironwork so often found in English gardens, and the silhouette was flowy yet flattering. ("We were thinking about girls who are not self-conscious," remarked Stringer.) Then came a regal creamy tuxedo suit in a canvas mohair weave, evoking Marlene Dietrich sipping Pimm's at an English summer garden party. Colors like "dusty Coraline" (muted orange) and "camomile" (yellow) were introduced, the latter on a jacket shaped like a regimental uniform. Highlights included a merino wool sweater that felt like silk and a reversible sweater-vest. A figure-flattering jacket in fil coupe had a superb drape detail on the waist and featured a gently embossed leaf pattern as the base, flecked with a petal in mid-fall.Mulberry is known for leather, and a latticed kimono coat, a skater dress, and a biker jacket were all featherweight. The handbag range designed by Eva Sneve was also impressive: The Blossom and the Darcie bags are new additions, and there was a very clever finish on a Cara bag—a blink-and-you'll-miss-it camouflage pattern. (Incidentally, the leather was sourced from the same tannery that supplies the British military.) After a rough patch, things seem to be improving for Mulberry: The accessory collection is expanding, they've opened a second factory in Somerset, and there are plans to open nineteen stores in the next twelve months, including in Las Vegas and Dallas.
5 June 2014
Mulberry is currently steward-less. Former creative director Emma Hill's last collection was for Spring '14, and the brand hasn't yet filled her slot. But commerce must soldier on, so Hill's team stepped in to design the Pre-Fall collection. The result was a fine, fairly straightforward bit of Mulberry-ana, to be filed under the usual category headings of Cute and Pop. The team channeled menswear, picking up traditional English men's styles (Arran knits, houndstooth, paisleys) and giving them a girlish goose. Those paisleys were sequined and appliquéd onto a matching top-and-pant set, the houndstooth writ large onto an oversized coat with drooping lapels (the best examples of which came with button-out leather-and-shearling vests). The knits were the strongest in terms of immediate appeal—including solid Arran entries into the newly hot fisherman's sweater competition, with split seams and turtlenecks—while the scarf-tied pieces came off a little sweet. But as this is a business built on bags, that's where the real news was: in a wider, buckled version of the Bayswater and a two-tone Campden envelope clutch. They ought to keep sales brisk until a new designer is named.
10 December 2013
"Over and out. And I really do wish this brand the best." That was Emma Hill's parting message today as she showed her final collection as the creative director of Mulberry. Over the past six years, Hill has established the voice and aesthetic of Mulberry as the brand is understood now, and it's been a lucrative tenure. The question hanging in the air at this afternoon's show was: Where does Mulberry go from here? That remains to be discovered, of course, but in the meantime, Hill's swan song was a signature effort.The looks here were typically cheerful, a polished paean to the English stately home with a whiff of the sixties in the prints and silhouettes. Hill's characteristic move is to create a sense of buoyancy in her collections by magnifying elements of the clothes—blowing up a print, slightly oversizing a sleeve or a pant leg, exaggerating a collar, etc. The effect was muted here, but the rule still applied; note, for instance, the enlarged Marimekko-esque floral on several silk pajama-style ensembles, like the one shown in pale blue on Sam Rollinson. Or consider the broad tonal stripes, executed either as an intarsia knit or by paneling strips of suede and leather. There was a nice sporty mien to those pieces, especially the long striped shorts. Elsewhere, Hill introduced a very pretty—and relatively sedate—silvery gray jacquard, and added a touch of sparkle to that shine by applying tiny sequins to some quilted white floral pieces. All very sweet, in the Mulberry style. And as a kind of parting gift, as well, Hill debuted a new handbag on the runway: the Kensal, a briefcase-locked shoulder bag. She's going to be a tough act to follow.
14 September 2013
There was a subterraneanAlice in Wonderlandvibe to the Mulberry presentation today. Under normal circumstances, that's the kind of cutesy/kooky look this brand works overtime to telegraph, in very non-subterranean ways, but in this instance it was accidental, a byproduct of the collection's theme of enlargement. After a while, watching all those swollen sleeves, giant sweaters, magnified checks, and mega-size pleats come down the runway put you in mind of a shrunken Alice, searching for the pill that would make her big again. The emphasis on disproportion was conscious here; one suspected that the slightly surreal effect was not.But then again, who knows? With this collection, Mulberry's Emma Hill seemed to aim for a new mood, a brooding tone atypical of her distinctly chipper style. The palette was almost uniformly dark, with an emphasis on black, wine tones, and a very pretty deep emerald. Aside from some accenting hits of yellow, there was nothing bright on the runway. And Hill's best prints, dense florals that she also executed in jacquard, had a weird, moonlit quality, as if one were sleepwalking through a garden at night. The enveloping rich and fuzzy textures hinted at something similarly uncanny. So there was a strangeness to this collection, which was welcome, but it wasn't quite strange enough. As a whole, the show communicated Mulberry's upbeat party line, which is that a gentle eccentricity is best celebrated through clothes that are a touch girlish and very natty and polished. The most reiterated silhouette was a short skirt with giant, cheerleader-style godet pleats. This season, the cheerleader was summoning a dreamy, dark attitude. But you never got the sense she wouldn't make it to the pep rally on time.
16 February 2013
"Let them eat cake." It's too bad, in a way, that "let them eat cake" is the most famous thing Marie Antoinette never said. Because if you remove all the sour, anti-plebe connotations, "let them eat cake" would be a pretty good summary of the Mulberry ethos and aesthetic. Except, in Mulberry-speak, it would be: "Let them eat cake!" Because Mulberry and its creative director, Emma Hill, really, truly believe in the mood-boosting effects of a good sugar rush. That's why their collections are always so calculatedly sweet.Anyway. There was cake at Mulberry today. There were also a giant poodle in a peacoat, chinoiserie jacquard, pastel floral lace, halter-strap sundresses, and wide-leg leather pants. And, as the infomercials say: all this, plus so much more! Mainly, the "so much more" meant bags, lots of bags. (Only twice today did models come down the catwalk at Claridge's empty-handed. "No bag!" said a VIP front-rower, sotto voce, the first time it happened.) And Mulberry will do well with its shrunken Alexas in this season's jacquards and floral leathers. The floral leather motorcycle jackets will be a brisk seller, too—ditto the little waistcoat jackets, which had the right ease for Spring. Elsewhere, the non-outerwear leathers came off rather heavy, and the flower hardware on jackets read as particularly twee. Still, finding fault with Mulberry's sweetsiness is like getting mad at a cupcake. Is there a rusty nail in it? No? Then what's the problem? As Marie Antoinette once never said, "Let them eat cake."
17 September 2012
Early this morning, Mulberry announced its new bag, the Del Rey, inspired by much debated singer-slash-muse Lana Del Rey. That elicited groans from a few editors. But hey, isn't fashionall aboutmanufactured image? A perfectly lovely structured leather flap bag with a top handle doesn't need indie cred.At today's show, Del Rey was only one spot in the celebrity power strip of Elizabeth Olsen, Michelle Williams,Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery, Bill Nighy, and Lagerfeld-approved rapper Azealia Banks. It's arguably one of the best front rows in the city (Burberry gives it a run for its money), and the soup-to-nuts staging of the season's inspiration is like buying a ticket to luxury Disney World.For Fall, it wasWhere the Wild Things Are, which gave you shaggy black sheepskin-covered benches and two inflated Wild Things standing like sentries on either side of the runway. And on it, the look was deliciously autumnal and appropriately furry. There were beastly Mongolian coats and skirts, rabbit-trimmed hooded coats, and knitted fur pieces—gilets and a full dress—that looked light as air. Even the Maisie messenger bag was recast in black shearling. Those textures mixed it up in belted layers with bright tweeds, big chunky hand-knits, tiger prints, lace, and slick lacquered wool. As for bags, the surprisingly simple Del Rey came in sparkly blue embossed croc and a gold snake print, and joining it were new versions of classics like the Lily and the Alexa, some made to coordinate with the clothes.You sometimes sit at Mulberry calculating how much the accessories behemoth might have spent on the full runway production, the adorable food and drinks, the wrangling of A-listers. Then the Muppets song "Mahna Mahna" closes the show and it all falls away. Ultimately, you have to hand it to a brand that delivers its infectious message in such a watertight and frankly fun way.
18 February 2012
Mulberry again pulled out all the thematic stops for its morning of accessories and A-listers at Claridge's. Amid balloon animals and pink lemonade were today's big gets: Kristen Stewart and Kate Moss, a well-known fan of the Bayswater satchel. Curiously, she didn't carry Mulberry to the show, but played her part in a denim shirt and jeans from the label's current Resort collection. No matter—she's still the paparazzi-hounded face that sold a million bags. Are they hoping she'll do the same with denim?Creative director Emma Hill's cutesy, all-things-English fetish took to the festive seaside in a continuation of Resort. There's a joke here about the wetness and less-than-sizzling temperatures of a British summer—thus the ribbed leggings and all those adorable swingy anoraks, Hill's take on a classic kagool. And by that reasoning, great little buttery, cropped leathers made perfect sense.A Mulberry show flips the script, making clothes the accessories that frame the bags. A bomber and skirt encrusted with chunks of blue crystal exists only for its accompaniment of a matching mini Lily chain-strapped bag. Along with updates on beloved classics like the Alexa satchel (now with teddy-bear head rivets) and Evelina hobo (now in lemon or navy patent, and grass green leather) was their new Travel collection, the highlight of which was a neat, boxy little camera bag.
17 September 2011
Unbeknownst to Americans (or at least this one), beachside donkey rides are apparently a major facet of English seaside life. Accordingly, burros show up on sweatshirt-style jumpers for Mulberry's sea-and-sand-inspired Resort collection. The British label has always gone in for a bit of a giggle, so don't be put off. Strict realism isn't in the cards, anyway—hence the new collection's assortment of "Googly Fruits," goggle-eyed produce that appears on conversation knits. Need we even start on a "Beach Bonkers" print, on rompers, bikinis, and mini-shorts?Bonkers indeed. But the reigning dictum at Mulberry is cute, and once the incidental oddities are stripped away, the offerings are mostly just that. A new mac comes in a shortened, car-coat length with elasticized cuffs, and little day dresses in black broderie anglaise pick up the crafty vibe we've seen elsewhere this season. A-line skirts (in button-front and elastic-waist versions), cotton tweeds, and plenty of light denim round out the seasonal offering. It's a little tough to imagine Mulberry becoming the go-to denim destination, but there's no denying it sets the bags off nicely. They're what really make the girls go googly, anyway. This season, the object of their affection will likely be the slouchy, metal-handled Evelina, in hobo or satchel form. Want one? Get your ass in gear.
13 June 2011
After a few low-key seasons in New York, Mulberry summoned up an awful lot of expensive star power and staging for its return to London. The theme here appropriately tapped deep into the well of Englishness, a darling but darkly humored brand of it in the vein of Roald Dahl'sFantastic Mr. Fox.After the show, creative director Emma Hill described a familiar-sounding muse: "She's very English. She's got a dilapidated, stately home. She's got her long party dress on and she throws on a duffel coat." And hopefully she remembers to take her handbag. After all, this may walk and quack like other runway shows, but the real stars (along with Kirsten Dunst, Clémence Poésy, Gemma Arterton, and Nicholas Hoult, all squeezed into the tight space at Claridge's) are those new Alexas, now oversized with diamond quilting and fox-head hardware, and Bayswaters, in ponyskin and covered with tiny fox-head rivets. Also new: the revival of the beloved but discontinued Neely called Polly Push Lock, and a natty little cross-body chain bag called the Carter.As for the clothes, the fresh-scrubbed, boxy sixties and maxi-skirted seventies looks focused heavily on outerwear, a piece of clothing that hews most closely to accessories when it comes to buying habits. Among the winners: the toggled shearling that opened the show, a long buttery-looking bomber, and a silvery gray rabbit-fur car coat.Hill's take on Mulberry's ready-to-wear business is simply to make very appealing clothes. "It's not necessarily making a statement," she said. Fair enough, but given that, a more tightly edited selection than the 37 looks shown today might have had a bit more impact.
19 February 2011
ForMulberry's first-ever pre-fall collection, creative director Emma Hill wasn't inspired by a person (stand easy, Alexa) but by something a bit broader: the English countryside. A boxy dress, with a scalloped hem and sleeve details inspired by the perforation in a golf shoe, was offset by a beautifully tailored coat. A subtly embossed pattern of peace and love signs on a silk shift dress will ensure that the woman who wears it stands out even in basic office gear. For the second season going, Hill showed a trench, displaying a confidence that seemed to say, yes, we can compete with the hero product of that other English heritage company. And for after-hours, there was a nod to the seventies with a fluid pleated metallic crepe dress.Autumnal colors with names like bird's nest, deer brown, and conker (that's Brit-speak for chestnut) popped against intense shades of green and gold. Tweeds, Prince of Wales checks, and school uniform knife-pleat skirts were made fresh with details like jumbo push-lock hardware, chocolate coin-sized buttons, and nearly saucer-sized sequins. The girliness of it all was nicely juxtaposed with some very grown-up accessories. The calf-hair Bayswater with hammered gold detailing will have daughters raiding their mother's closets—and vice versa.
27 January 2011
Redheaded stepchild no more! The gingers got their day at Mulberry, where, to a kicky pop soundtrack, a parade of red-wigged girls bopped around a rose-scattered pool. (If you came back for the after-party, you'd have grooved to flame-haired Brit Florence Welch, of Florence + the Machine, too.) The whole was a bit like a march of dolls, an effect only heightened by the inherent cutesiness of Emma Hill's clothes. And if you'd like them for your dolly, too, Hill kindly obliged with a set of paper-doll cutouts on every seat. With its surfeit of frills, rosettes, and ruffles, the 36-look parade grew a little too sweet. Still, there's no denying the allure of those Mulberry bags, including the newish trompe l'oeil-detailed Tillie, here in every imaginable shade and size. That even came to include teeny-tiny versions, which were hitched to their larger sisters' sides. They're for show purposes only, Hill noted backstage, but all the same:Awww!
13 September 2010
Creative director Emma Hill's eclectic inspirations, according to the program notes, includedValley of the Dolls, naughty English royalty, Hollywood theatricals, and over-the-top animal prints. Most of this could be intuited from the setting alone: It featured trippy pink-spotted walls; gold beaded curtains; giant, glitter-covered panthers; and a techno take on tunes fromThe Jungle Book.Silhouettes switched off between puffy-shouldered, ladylike suits (in electric blue silk or black wool shot through with tinsel) and a three-quarter-sleeve shift that practically screamed "Alexa Chung." In fact, the influence of the former MTV host and unofficial brand ambassador could be felt throughout: T-bar ballerina flats in leopard and studded black, collared silk blouses buttoned up all the way, and, of course, new versions of the Alexa bag. Of the leather goods that debuted, the strongest was the chain-strapped Edna, which came in taupe shoulder bag and tomato red drawstring variations.Although the clothes were cute and fun, this show was really all about the loads of chic accessories—that, and the delightful showmanship.
15 February 2010
"I always have a lot of references," Mulberry creative director Emma Hill said backstage after round two of the label's four mini-shows. For Spring, her list included abandoned fairgrounds, Sofia Coppola'sThe Virgin Suicides, refracted light, and Tim Walker photographs. Hill set her scene just right with a runway that wound around a spooky-sweet circle of carousel horses, with the soundtrack of Air's "Highschool Lover" putting all present into a dreamy fashion trance. That hazy element of Hill's vision was a boon to the collection, keeping its sweet touches of big bows and puffed sleeves from becoming saccharine.The look was Coppola's Lisbon sisters crossed with your cool seventies babysitter, the one with the groovy fringed leather bag. She would have been thrilled to see the swingy strings on the stacked-heel moccasin booties that ended up being an integral part of the postshow chatter. There was fringe on bags, too, but the best was a simple, double-buckled messenger named the Alexa after New York's newest fashion obsession, Ms. Chung. Also of note was Hill's recasting of the label's signature leather jackets, the biker and the poacher. Now in washed soft hues, they're the kind of thing you want to wear every day. Now that's a fashion dream.
14 September 2009
The Cure's single "A Forest" ("Come closer and see, see into the trees, find the girl while you can…") played at Mulberry's Snow White-themed presentation at Soho House, which featured a woodsy, apple-strewn set—as well as a reluctant canine model, hired for the purpose of showcasing the house's new range of dog accessories. Two-legged creatures are likely to be enthusiastic about the colorful clothes, bags, and shoes on offer. Creative director Emma Hill smartly stayed focused, showing a niche collection that had English charm aplenty. With the aim of capturing a "Jackie Onassis meets Miss Jean Brodie" feeling, a navy suit jacket with a built-in bow was paired with a tulip skirt. There was an abundance of outerwear (a logical brand extension for an accessories house), including leather poacher and bomber jackets, and, amusingly among the set's branches and bark, lumberjack plaids. This was a happy case where you could see the forest for the trees.
16 February 2009
"What is Mulberry as a brand?" mused Emma Hill, the new creative director at the burgeoning British leather-goods company. "I think we're warm and fuzzy. Not standoffish. A bit of a national treasure." Hill is a valuable property in the handbag world, having worked for Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Gap, and (last season) Halston, and now she's bringing all those American smarts back home to her native England. Her first move was to put on a series of showroom presentations to introduce the Summer collection for women and men, or, as she put it, "a girlfriend and boyfriend." On the girls' side, she kept everything short and cute, with full-skirted beige dresses paired with shrunken leather jackets, lemon or orange shifts with details like "binocular pouch" pockets, and stack-heeled loafers and gladiators. But this is essentially a handbag house, and Mulberry is now building handbag "family" groups, playing with scale and new finishes to leverage the success of the Bayswater and other house hits. New on the block are a chestnut Mitzy hobo, a giant jelly tote, and hottest of the lot, a generously sized day Bayswater clutch, which solves the problem of transporting the daily burden without ruining your shoulder line with a strap.
16 September 2008