After the tornado hit, and Dorothy stood up and took a look around. She gave a gleeful cry at the delightful clothing surrounding her. Remember Luella? Designed by Luella Bartley, the brand lived on, mostly associated with London style, from 1999 to 2009. Luella signified a period of fun and carelessness in the fashion industry. Plus, it was quintessentially British in the best possible way.
All the cool Brit girls wore Luella. Kate Nash, Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Sienna Miller, Alexa Chung, Pixie Geldof, Kate Moss and of course, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Luella Bartley was a former journalist and fashion editor of British Vogue and Evening Standard newspaper, when she decided to attend Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and launch her Luella line in 1999.
Luella Fall 2008 was one of my absolute favorites. I’m not quite sure if the Wizard of Oz helped inspire Luella Bartley with this collection or not, but it kind of reminded me of that. Some of the outfits were even topped off with witches hats. It seemed like there were three parts of the collection, possibly representing the pair of bad witches, Glenda the good witch, and Dorothy.
According Business of Fashion, Luella is still active in the industry: “Katie Hillier and her longtime collaborator Luella Bartley are widely regarded as pre-eminent designers and creatives. In May 2013, Hillier was appointed the creative director of Marc by Marc Jacobs , while Bartley was appointed womenswear design director. When Marc by Marc Jacobs closed in 2015, the two launched Hillier Bartley. In February 2017, Bartley was appointed head of global design for Calvin Klein Jeans.” Still, nothing feels like the OG Luella felt. Although, she did recently do drawings for Miu Miu which makes total sense — the aesthetic of Miu Miu is probably the only label vaguely similar to Luella today.
Oh, and if you haven’t read Luella’s book, Luella’s Guide to English Style’ (2010), you simply must. It’s amazing.
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