Biz Buzz: Luella, the show you won't be seeing

Biz Buzz keeps its fabulously accessorized ear to the ground to provide breaking fashion news coverage.

Recession has meant the demise of many labels, but few closures have come as such a shock as that of Luella. Created by the Central St. Martin College’s grad Luella Bartley, Luella was among a rare few (along with the likes of Marc by Marc Jacobs) to create looks that were girlish yet geeky in the best possible way: 50s prom queen meets comic book hero.

 

Goodbye, Luella

News of the impending closure surfaced in early November, two months after the showing of her Spring/Summer 2010 collection. Spokesmen for the label went into talks with new potential backers, but no firm agreement was established. Since then, pieces from the collection have been marked down to drastically low prices and no further bids have been made public. Ironically, during the height of her label collapse, Luella was placed on the Queen’s “2010 New Year’s Honours List,” and set to become an MBE, or Member of the Order of the British Empire.

Though we won’t be seeing her in 2 weeks at London Fashion Week, Bartley’s career is far from spent. She has recently penned a book that promises to teach readers (Brits and non-English roses alike) how to work the best elements of Anglo style into their own wardrobes.  The book will hopefully be released around September, in time for the next round of London Fashion Week. Ultimately, Luella’s influence will live on in the throngs of fashionistas lacing up their Doc Martin’s each morning and brandishing oversized glasses.

- by Emily Montgomery

Biz Buzz: Luella Forced Out of Business

Biz Buzz keeps its fabulously accessorized ear to the ground to provide breaking fashion news coverage. 

On Tuesday, Club 21, Luella’s global licensee and distributor for ready-to-wear and accessories, announced that its subsidiary, VSQ Ltd, decided to withdraw from its relationship with the Luella Bartley brand. 

Thus, as the six-year relationship comes to an end, the label is forced to cease trading.

A Spring 2010 look from Luella Bartley. Photo: NY Magazine.

According to the backer’s statement, spring orders for the brand could not be fulfilled after last month’s unexpected closure of Luella’s Italian production company, Carla Carini.

While changes at Luella have reportedly been brewing for the past six months, industry insiders also speculate that the business was not hitting its profit targets, according to WWD. Still, the decision comes as a surprise to some; Luella Bartley, the brand’s British designer, was named Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2008.

“This is a very disappointing situation for everyone involved,” Bartley said Tuesday, as reported in The Independent. “I have had an incredible team around me…and it is upsetting not to be able to protect jobs in this difficult economic climate.”

The brand has been said to be vitally connected to the return of British fashion, with its “punk” pieces and party dresses sported by the likes of Alexa Chung, Lily Allen and the Geldof sisters.

Five people within Bartley’s design studio and 13 in distribution are said to be among those affected in the decision as they face losing their jobs.

- by Jasmine Thomas