LoveShackFancy (Q4658)
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American Fashion Brand
- Love Shack Fancy
- LSF
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | LoveShackFancy |
American Fashion Brand |
|
Statements
LoveShackFancy is going global. This is meant both literally—the New York brand recently found a European distributor, allowing its signature “girls just want to have fun” aesthetic to be sold from France to Italy—and figuratively: founder Rebecca Hessel Cohen said that the muse for her pre-fall collection is a “global goddess” who changes multiple times a day. “She’s really traveling, she’s really on the go,” Cohen added from her Flatiron showroom.To where, exactly? Cohen says Lake Como, for starters: flowy boho dresses are lined with Venetian lace, whereas matching pink gingham scallop sets give off a retro Roman Holiday-inspired air. Another dress features dainty watercolor Amalfi lemons. The next stop on the LoveShackFancy customer’s euro girl summer is St. Tropez, where airy blue-and-white maxi dresses evoke the iconic tablecloth prints of Le Club 55. (“My favorite place ever,” Cohen said.) Then it is off to Ibiza to have some fun in the sun; one standout dress is intricately sewn with 50,000 shells, sequins, pearls, and beads. “It took weeks to make,” she added. That over-the-top garment is an outlier: Cohen said she didn’t want this collection to be “fussy”—and indeed, much of it looks like something you could throw over a swimsuit as you head to lunch. “We wanted a dreamy, soft, neutral summer palette,” Cohen explained. Eventually though, it's time to board that Delta flight back to America—and, when she lands, she’s ready for ice coffee, air-conditioning, and a hearty dose of red-white-and-blue. Blue jeans come with cherries near the pocket, as does a frilly mini-dress. (The latter is a bit juvenile, but it is supposed to be: Cohen has previously said the age range of her brand is “babies to 80s.”) “We leaned into America's sweetheart—a little pinup, a little kitschy, but also fun and girly,” she said. Still, a black dress with lingerie-like edges suggests that one day that sweetheart might grow up, rebel, and start a new life that involves smoking cigarettes in Paris.
4 December 2024
On a sunny Sunday in September, the LoveShackFancy showroom is abuzz. Yesterday, singer Lana Del Rey walked into their store on New York’s Bleecker Street and bought one of their halter dresses. Within hours, paparazzi photographed her wearing it to Karen Elson’s wedding.It was a surprise to the brand’s founder, Rebecca Hessel Cohen. But it wasn’tsurprising: LoveShackFancy started in 2010 after Cohen designed the bridesmaid dresses for her own wedding. Her friends then asked her if she could make custom designs for them, too. Fast forward 14 years—and 17 stores—and Loveshackfancy dresses can be spotted everywhere from Bridgehampton to Belgravia. Hyper-feminine events dressing? It’s what they were meant for.The timing of Del Rey’s debut was also stylishly serendipitous. The brand’s spring 2025 collection was an ode to its wedding season roots, introducing a number of styles designed with nuptial guests in mind. There were silk cut bias midis adorned with delicate floral prints, baby blue taffeta gowns decorated with bows. Others had an on-trend boho air: a powder blue dress with billowing long sleeves, another in rose cut in flowy, diaphanous silk. (For those walking down the aisle, Cohen included something for you too: her salon style runway show closed with a bride in a white chiffon dress with chantilly lace.) “I live for weddings. I live for love. Love love,” said Cohen.She found inspiration for this collection after visiting Christian Dior’s atelier and apartment in Paris, designed by Victor Grandpierre. (Look closely at her moodboard, and you’ll see photoshopped images of LoveShackFancy models at Christian Dior shows in the 1950s and 1960s.) The city’s legendary flea markets, too, proved fruitful for her fashion: one pink dress with bow embroidery was inspired by a satin sheet set she found from the 1930s.However, LoveShackFancy doesn’t have a store in Paris (yet). So much of the collection was meant for women that shop the various high-end main streets of America: a pale blue cropped moto jacket in leather with ruffle detailing felt destined for the Kemo Sabe hat wearing influencers of Aspen (where LoveShackFancy open a store in 2025). Flouncy floral mini dresses, meanwhile, will likely be a coveted party look for the teen girls of Charleston and Texas. Many of the clothes this season came in what Cohen described as sorbet colors and fall just above the ankles. (“Tea length for a tea party,” she said).
Cohen may describe her clothes as existing in the la-la-land worlds ofAlice in Wonderlandor Dior’s 16th arrondissement. But she’s making them for reality: ”We’re thinking about what's going on in the spring—Easter, graduation, weddings, all the galas,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone.Then back to that fantasy: “She’s ready for her debutante ball in Paris!” Cohen added, giddy, as she pointed to a pink gown with rose appliqués and a train.
11 September 2024
Loveshackfancy’s Rebecca Hessel Cohen had two separate mood boards for her resort 2025 collection. The first was filled with photos of the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” ballerinas at the Palais Garnier, and Cohen’s own bow-clad Christmas tree. The second was covered with modern yet mythical siren-esque women who wouldn’t look out of place in Li Galli.It would be easy to say Cohen is capitalizing on trends: balletcore and mermaidcore are just two of the coquettish styles that have recently spread like wildfire on TikTok and Pinterest. But it’s just a marketable way to mask a keen business decision: This collection will be delivered during the holiday season. Loveshackfancy’s customer, Cohen explained, looks to the brand for event dressing. With around half of her 18 stores in cold-weather locations and the other half in warm-weather spots, she needs to make New Year’s Eve dresses that’ll work everywhere from New York City to Palm Beach. Then add in the wide age of her clientele—Cohen has said she dresses “babies to 80s”—and you have a lot of boxes to check.So let’s start with the pieces that were, as Cohen described them, “Nutcracker at the core.” Those included ruffle plaid dresses in reds and greens, available in maxi and mini lengths. A winter white tweed set was adorned with faux pearls and sequins; a black velvet dress was accented with rectangular crystals. There were plenty of tulle skirts, and bows were put on everything from puffer jackets to gowns to cardigans. (“Bows, bows,” Cohen said while going through her rack. “We’re going heavy and strong with that, as we typically do.”) Here, most of the selection felt like it skewed younger—for the Claras, if you will.Meanwhile, mermaidcore is more for the woman who stays up past midnight on New Year’s Eve, and then some. “She’s having a good time. She’s in St. Barts on New Year’s, and she’s waking up on the beach,” Cohen said while showing off a midi-dress covered in iridescent light purple paillettes. It also comes in pink; ditto for an ombré minidress in sequins.Loveshackfancy, which traditionally focuses on ultrafeminine and romantic designs and romance, is also veering slightly into more practical territory:pants. “This is new,” Cohen said while gesturing to a pair of white trousers. She admitted that she, for one, isn’t going to wear the item—at five feet two, she much prefers skirts and dresses. However, they’ve been selling really well.
But don’t expect there to be a dedicated rack at Loveshackfancy anytime soon: “We’re not overoffering the selection,” she added.
14 June 2024
According to Rebecca Hessel Cohen, these are the house codes of LoveShackFancy: pink, bows, lace, tulle, and flowers. Every LoveShackFancy design has at least one. Most have two. Hell, some have three or even four. “More is more for us,” Cohen said. “Our girl is going from day to night and bringing out all the stuff. There’s no stopping her.”She often uses the term “girls.” Part of this is to be factual. LoveShackFancy attracts a wide age range, including teens. Head to any of their stores—17 worldwide and counting—and you’ll see daughters shopping with their mothers, and vice versa. (“Babies to 80s,” Cohen said of her clientele.)It’s also because the LoveShackFancy universe—filled with tea parties, tiered cakes, and historically revised Marie Antoinettes who are carefree and un-guillotined—is supposed to be aspirational in its blissful, romantic-bohemian lifestyle. “Women” implies some sense of adult responsibility, some seriousness. It’s not the word you use for a brand that’s built on fun and frivolity.Thisbrand is meant for the Wendys in Neverland that, just for a moment, want to escape the feeling of being grown-up. “We have the good girls and the not-so-good girls—but then they’re still good girls,” Cohen said.Yet, for her fall 2024 collection, it waswomenthat Cohen wanted to appeal to more. She balanced all the pink with some black, for starters. It was still done in a LoveShackFancy way: a leather jacket’s belt was tied with a bow, another was lined with pink shearling. A minidress came with a tulle skirt, a lace bodice with floral paillettes,anda bow. (Four codes and counting.) Then there was the corsetry. One of her idols, Betsey Johnson, told Cohen a few years back that she needed to “step up her corset game.” So Cohen studied the fashions of Parisian cabaret dancers during the Victorian era and theannéesfolles.Then she went to work.LoveShackFancy’s corsets were certainly more tame than their historical counterparts, coming in ballet pinks, creams, and bridal whites. Some show a playful innocence. Others felt oddly juvenile, especially a pink-and-floral corset minidress with bows and a lace skirt. There’s a fine line between coquettish and childish.When shown together, the clothes could also feel confusing: a semi-sheer sequin and bow dress was definitively mature and fell into the “naked dress” category that’s still very much in fashion. A black dress with a lace cutout too displayed just the right amount of risqué.
However, they were both presented alongside a cropped baby pink sweater embellished with rhinestones or a ruffly hot pink minidress that would be perfect for a Sweet Sixteen. Was this collection for a teen? An adult? A teen trying to act more adult or an adult trying to act like more of a teen?LoveShackFancy is no doubt trying to cater to all of the above. Which is smart: Providing fashions for such a diverse age group is good business. (Maybe even great. As mentioned above, 17 stores and counting.) Yet when it comes to a cohesive lineup, the viewer is left with a sense of cognitive dissonance.During LoveShackFancy’s presentation at Lower East Side burlesque club The Box, a very pink and faux-fur line stretched around the entire block. High heels teetered around dirty snowbanks, dumped by a nor’easter hours ago. A Dunkin’ trunk handed out heart-shaped doughnuts. Inside, models shimmied and danced onstage to “I’m A Good Girl” and “Bette Davis Eyes.” At one point, the place became so packed that they had to hold the door. Here’s the thing: The brand’s fans willalwayslove LoveShackFancy.
14 February 2024
LoveShackFancy’s pre-fall 2024 collection notes open as follows: “Summer is our story. It’s the magic of travel and faraway places. It’s hot days and warm nights. It’s the promise of sun-kissed skin and kaleidoscopic skies. It’s candy colors and sugar sunsets.” That is as good a summary as any of the clothes and the ethos of LoveShackFancy. The girls and women who make up their consumer base love it for its fun and flirt factor.Designer and founder Rebecca Hessel Cohen was inspired by Jane Birkin and Brigitte Bardot, and their French stomping grounds in Provence and Saint Tropez. There are crochet dresses and pale blue stripes that reference antique textiles Cohen found in markets on her own trip to the South of France. The bulk of the lineup consists of breezy frocks, either bias-cut slips or ruffled cotton minis and maxis. For night, they’re embellished with paillettes or beads. The star is a column gown entirely covered in pearls and crystals in the brand’s signature color: pink. The collection also has an Americana interlude, with pink bandana prints and embroidery of red cherries tied in a bow. It’s definitely a departure, but Cohen has never designed for the Fourth of July before, and wanted to try.
12 December 2023
The Refectory at Chelsea Square was filled with roses, arches in the shapes of bows and hearts that acted as photo backgrounds, and passed glasses of rosé. Everywhere you looked there were petals, tulle, and, of course, pink. It could only be a LoveShackFancy party.It was immediately obvious that this is a brand with a massive age demographic. Sure, Rebecca Hessel Cohen has two young daughters—who were in attendance—but it was staggering to see in real time just how many generations the brand speaks to, from Gen-Alpha to Baby Boomers. And they all want to wear the same ruffle mini dresses or lacy slips. As Cohen put it, LoveShackFancy is there for “all the important moments in our girls’ lives, understanding the construction and fit from prom to the first day at the office to graduation to weddings to 50th birthdays.”The 1930s, Edwardian, and Victorian eras are perennial inspirations for LoveShackFancy. The first manifests as bias-cut slip dresses whereas the last comes through in lace-trimmed blouses, high-necklines, and billowing sleeves. Cohen describes these as “easy silhouettes for every age, effortless and timeless.” One of her goals this season was to amp up the Victorian and Edwardian influence while honing in on the quality of fit and the luxuriousness of her fabrics. But the result is never a truly literal interpretation of the era—something like a bustle could easily get inaccessible. In fact, Cohen is broadening her reach with the introduction of printed stretch denim in bustiers, jumpsuits, and wide-leg trousers, and of course by entering the beauty category with three perfumes.“You’ll never believe, our best-selling styles [from fall] are tops, jackets, and pants,” Cohen said a few days before the presentation in her studio. This defies expectations for a brand that launched with three dress styles over a decade ago. Cohen is learning from this. The spring collection offered some new polished blazers, and even her take on a cargo pant, which was embroidered with flowers. Still, this is LoveShackFancy, so the overall effect was one of abundance, via embellishment and print. There was still a mini dress whose giant tulle bow was much longer than the hemline of the skirt; the models wore stilettos with ribbons at the ankle.Most of the clothes spoke to the whole span of the clients, such as a structured blue and white jacket or an orange bias-cut slip dress.
Still, a few pieces felt jarringly more mature—like a structured tulip strapless dress in a pink floral print—or junior (a mini pink dress with a ribbon print and a bow in the back). A pink chiffon dress was available in a mini, targeted towards the younger client, and a maxi for the adult. As evidenced by the crowd, Cohen’s customers all want to wear unapologetically whimsical and feminine clothing. On that, she delivered.
13 September 2023
Between the popularity of Barbie-core and balletcore, it’s the season of pink. But that’s nothing new for LoveShackFancy, whose entire world is shades of cotton candy, bubblegum, and flamingo—and has been for years. There are endless ways to interpret the shade, and for resort 2024, designer Rebecca Hessel Cohen brought the Sugar Plum Fairy into Marrakech.The collection notes set the breathless, lighter-than-air tone: “As she lands in the warmth of Marrakech with tropical New Year’s Eve party looks in tow, she’ll dance under a pink desert sky.” Still, Cohen estimates that this is the brand’s most edited collection, and it continues the grown-up themes that she explored for fall 2023. The goal is to give “much more thoughtful attention to detail and make sure each piece stands on its own.”In the mix are giant pink princess ball skirts and tweed skirt suits and floor-skimming halter dresses with iridescent tiered skirts in a shade called pink sparkle. While the designer herself typically doesn’t wear pants, the brand is building out options for the customer. Several takes on the tuxedo appear in the collection, a nod to Yves Saint Laurent’s le smoking and the home he made in Morocco. The rich textiles, from Battenberg lace to cascading paillettes, are appropriately decadent.The collection is resolutely girlish with a more-is-more attitude. LoveShackFancy has clients of all ages, including moms and daughters who shop together, which explains some of the offerings. A ruched minidress with a frilly hemline and bows at both the waist and the bust makes sense when you imagine it in the context of a homecoming dance. On the other hand, there are some mature offerings that don’t sacrifice the brand identity: a hot pink strapless dress with an ankle-length tulip skirt; the pale pink slip dress adorned with a bow pattern made out of rhinestones; the tawny paillette midi and matching top. Cohen is adept at creating a fantasy in which the customer doesn’t have to sacrifice anything—not a single bow or ruffle or tier of tulle. Where is that attitude more appropriate than in a holiday collection?
8 June 2023
An accidental trail of pink frills led the way to LoveShackFancy’s presentation in the Plaza Hotel. While looking for the correct entrance, guidance appeared in the form of a woman stepping out of her yellow cab wearing a pale pink halter top with chiffon tendrils leading down to her ankles. The building’s most famous resident, six-year-old Eloise, would have been pleased.The presentation was packed with red, white, and pink roses (fitting for Valentine’s Day), balloons, and hordes of the label’s fans, influencers, and editors. You could hardly move in the gallery for people taking photos and videos of themselves and the models arranged around the room. That made perfect sense. LoveShackFancy, in case you haven’t heard, is a phenomenon.The brand was founded by Rebecca Hessel Cohen in 2013, and it found massive popularity over the pandemic, especially among Gen-Z customers. Cohen launched with just three dress styles—the Love, the Shack, and the Fancy—and since then has partnered with American Girl Doll, Target, and Goop to name a few. She has opened 12 new stores since 2020, all profitable, according to the brand. Cohen has created a world of unabashed pink ruffles, bows, and frills for her customers to dive into, whether they’re an aspiring sorority girl at an SEC school (#BamaRush was big for the brand) or a professional fashionista taking on New York. “Our quintessential girl is the younger girl, but we have women of all ages,” Cohen said the day before the presentation. “This is the ultimate cult designer for her. We’re growing with her. She discovered us through her mom’s closet, then bought all her mini skirts and dresses in the summer.”LoveShackFancy has faced criticism for its lack of diversity in its marketing going back to 2020, which the brand addressed in an Instagram post at the time. Cohen said before the presentation that the label has “made such strides,” and pointed to its joining the 15% Pledge as an example.Fittingly perhaps, the fall 2023 collection’s overarching theme was evolution. “Our girl is growing up,” Cohen said. “She’s traveled the world, she’s the last one on the dance floor. She’s this sweet girl who has a bit of an edge now. Before she was innocent, now she’s evolved. She wants to mix in that edge for fall. She’s carefree, she’s spontaneous, she’s loved and lived and is evolving into that.
”Cohen cited her own time studying in London as inspiration, which felt appropriate as many of the young women who discovered LoveShackFancy a few years ago are perhaps now considering a semester abroad. What did this newfound maturity look like? It included a more robust offering of pants, for one. There were also double breasted blazers with flared hems, coats with pink cuffs peeking through, and “edgy” details like gunmetal crystals, raw edges galore, and leather jackets. “Imperfect perfection” is what Cohen said she aims for. LoveShackFancy’s aesthetic has an Instagrammable, non-spinster Miss Havisham quality to it that’s appealing and breaks up the preppiness (Cohen called it “shipwrecked”). The bespoke offering of a white bridal outfit made from upcycled tablecloths and lace captured this best. But sometimes it went a bit too far: the ever-present raw edges made some of the ensembles look unfinished or unraveling. The sequins, high-low skirts, and mini dresses paired with sky-high platforms—while on-brand—didn’t always succeed in creating the effect of a well-traveled woman. Still, tweens and gray-haired women alike snapped pictures of the models.
16 February 2023