Colville made a new breakthrough in the world of fashion, especially in the world of fast fashion. When British Vogue alumni Lucinda Chambers left her position as fashion director in May 2017, after spending 25 years in the fashion world. Now exactly a year later, she returns with the eclectic luxury women’s clothing label, made in collaboration with design directors who have worked at Marni, Molly Molloy and Kristin Forss.
These three founders of Colville saw fashion through the same lens but with different eyes. “We start from the fact that we want to design the clothes that we really want,” said Chambers, who met Molloy and Forss more than ten years ago when arranging and consulting for Marni – a job she had been working on for two decades.
Although Molloy and Forss were approached by a number of luxury fashion house owners to head up the design after they left Marni last year, and Chambers was busy with styling work at Vogue America and a number of independent magazine titles, taking the opportunity to launch Colville was the right step for them.
David Hockney’s influence in Colville
Colville, a name that comes from their favorite area in West London, which happened to be a hangout place for David Hockney in the 1970s. They explored themes around traditional identity and craftsmanship seen through 30 works ranging from sporty shirts to graphic shirts to double-breasted wool coats that were all sold exclusively at MatchesFashion for their first season. Matchesfashion.com is an e-tailer, this is a bold strategy that is run exclusively to help the label maintain its exclusive touch like a boutique, and distinguish it from global brands that are mass produced.
Each piece of clothing will come in limited numbers and have a handwritten edition number on the label, resembling a work of art. But more than just fashion brands, the brand’s approach to their clothing will revolve around seasonal evolution, not revolution. “We feel that this is the opposite of fast fashion because it adds to your clothes, so when we release the next collection, it will not negate this one,” Chambers explained.
Colville and Marni
“One wonderful thing at Marni is that we never made anything that we thought would be the best-selling. “I don’t think that strategic ideas come from where we came from, but instead they come from love, passion and desire,” Chambers added.
It’s amazing, that the three who are ex-Marni managed to find consensus to create a typical Colville aesthetic that united in creating the type of clothing that you can see, finding feelings in each of their works or waiting for them to say something.
