The raucous laughter could already be heard as one approached the dimmed lights of rustic eatery St. John in Clerkenwell. “It’s a misnomer that the fashion world is full of unpleasant people. Tonight we are surrounded by some of the nicest to celebrate the launch of Hillier Bartley,” said Matches Fashion’s charming Ruth Chapman (dressed in a claret satin pussy-bow blouse from the collection), greeting the 80 guests gathered to celebrate the London duo Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley, with her husband, Tom. A true sign of friendship? They had held their dinner for the fashion flock coming from the Versus Versace show.
The pair have been chums and working together since the ’90s, and their industry friends and collaborators joined them, including an energetic Stuart Vevers (straight from New York after his successful show), Judy Blame, Camille Bidault-Waddington, and Olympia Le-Tan. The ravenous crowd enjoyed a locally sourced feast of platters of roast shallot and goat’s curd and roasted chicken with bread sauce. A sprightly Bartley sprung up from the table to make an impromptu speech—“You said we didn’t have to do this?” deadpanned Hillier, who quickly followed her and thanked everyone for coming (a stylish pack that consisted of Alexa Chung, Laura Bailey, and Dree Hemingway). Henry Holland joined the gang after his show, before the revelries migrated to Chiltern Firehouse. This tomboyish yet feminine collection is proving as popular to the ladies—with several of the items already sold out online. After breaking bread (literally), each guest took home a delicious bag of St. John foodie treats.
But the night was hardly over after dinner. Walking into 9 Adams Street just off the River Thames last night, one got the feeling of stepping back in time. The new era? A child’s ’80s, which architectural footwear designer Nicholas Kirkwood had resurrected in all of its playful, beta-techy glory for his 10th-anniversary celebration. A special capsule collection of spectacular platform heels inspired by favorite elements the creative had introduced in the last decade and quite fantastically, things Kirkwood loved when he was 10, took center stage. The world we were entering—a multileveled club modeled off an ’80s arcade center with free-flowing Negronis and just as much dancing—was a grown-up’s reflection of a late-’80s child’s dream.
“I was looking back into the first 10 years of my business and a certain 10 styles, and also at the first 10 years of my life,” said Kirkwood from the neon-lit staircase, as Sofía Sanchez de Betak, Alexandre de Betak, and Hemingway made their way into the club downstairs. “So it was kind of like growing up in the ’80s—there’s a lot of ’80s arcades: Star Wars, Pac-Man, and toy figures and fast cars. I based this collection all around that, and how those two kind of worked together.”
The 10 pieces in the numbered-edition capsule collection—with prominent signature Kirkwood platforms and nods to Pac-Man (a gold-jeweled Pac-Man sits at the shoe’s base), Star Wars, Back to the Future (a heeled, laser-cut, sneaker)—were displayed in individual cases throughout the club space.
“I wanted to make them almost like objects—even things that you could kind of collect and bring in your house,” said Kirkwood, pausing to note the DeLorean outside (“I don’t know if you’ve seen, but I’ve got a little Back to the Future number going on out there,” he grinned). “Yes, you can actually wear them, but yes, they can be treated like design objects in your house.”
The energy of the night—youthful, playful, more friends and family than anything else—was refreshingly warm. As for what’s next for Kirkwood? “I’d like to be able to expand the range and start doing jewelry or handbags or leather goods,” he revealed. “Something else around the body. I’d love to apply my aesthetic to that and see how it’s a natural extension. I think probably I might even start with jewelry—because essentially, it’s about working around body parts. It’s about sculptural shapes.”
The only shape featured at the Versus Versace show was an asymmetric slash. After the runway show, it was time to party and who better than Donatella and creative director Anthony Vaccarello to lead the pack? Joining them in the festivities were FKA twigs, Jourdan Dunn, Lottie Moss, and Paloma Faith, who all grooved to the tunes of DJ Isaac Ferry. With London just starting, things are clearly swinging.
By: Emma Elwick-Bates, Ashley W. Simpson; and Edward Barsamian
The post Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley Toast Their New Line; Nicholas Kirkwood Celebrates 10 Years; and Versus Versace Hosts a Post-Show Party appeared first on Vogue.