KATIE HILLIER and Luella Bartley have announced the launch of their own collaborative luxury brand called Hillier Bartley, following the closure of Marc by Marc Jacobs last week where they held the positions of creative director and womenswear design director respectively.
The new label comprises ready-to-wear, bags and accessories and, despite the news of Marc by Marc Jacobs only prevailing last week, the debut collection for autumn/winter 2015 has already been created.
Read more: Hillier And Bartley: We'll Take Manhattan
"Luella and I have always worked together in different ways, now we are finally putting all our experience into making something that's a reflection of us, of what we want to wear," Hillier said this morning. "I'm really proud of what we've made - the craftsmanship, attention to detail and design. It's been a real labour of love and I am really looking forward to seeing women we admire carrying our bags and wearing our clothes."
Said to be inspired by classic English references, the Hillier Bartley collection uses "velvet, silk, merino wool and shearling across tailoring, dresses and separates," with the clothing made in the UK and the leather bags crafted in Italy.
Read more: Marc By Marc Jacobs Autumn/Winter 2015 Ready-To-Wear
"Hillier Bartley is a very personal project which Katie and I have been working on for years," revealed Bartley. "It is a culmination of everything I have learnt as a designer and a woman and is purely and defiantly about the clothes and fabrics. We have also looked at the women we admire, what we would want to wear and the inspirations that have been close to us for ages. It's ultimate heroine lies somewhere between Ian McCulloch and Katherine Hepburn. It's about a woman our age, indie by heart, rakish and irreverent by nature, who is maturing into refinement and naturalness."
