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Fashion Special: Lucy In Disguise

Lily Allen and Sarah Owen

Lily Allen and Sarah Owen’s new label is hitting Harvey Nicks. Anna Britten zips up her retro jumpsuit.

Last time Lily Allen rocked up in Bristol, we commented on how her signature sartorial style had inspired a ninja army of identically dressed young women. Inevitably, the singer soon took her fashion savvy one step further, last year opening vintage hire shop Lucy In Disguise, with sister Sarah Owen, in Covent Garden – all tears, strops and stock issues being captured in the Channel 4 documentary ‘Lily Allen: Riches to Rags’.

Explains Owen: “We bought loads of clothes that we thought were really amazing but not quite perfect – maybe they were the wrong material or the wrong cut. We wanted to make them more wearable for the modern girl, so the next step was to start our own label.”

Now, Bristol’s not exactly short of excellent vintage clothing stores – Gimme Shelter, Cox & Baloney, RePsycho and Uncle Sam’s to name but a few – but it’s still news to set a fashion bunny’s heart aflutter that the new Lucy In Disguise label has just launched exclusively at Harvey Nichols.

Lucy in Disguise

More than just a snazzy name, LiD is also an imaginary muse. “Lucy the character is a time-travelling fashionista,” explains Allen. “The idea is she is inviting you into her wardrobe and showing you clothes she has collected from the 1920s to the 90s. Dressing up and having fun is the ethos of the collection.”

Suspicious of slebs turning their hand to tailoring? Worry not. As always in these cases, serious rag trade muscle backs up the whole shebang. Long-time Oasis creative director Nadia Jones helps the sisters create the styles from whatever vintage pieces they fall in love with – merging favourite details from, for example, the neckline of a dress or hem of a skirt to create their modern, wearable designs with a strong, retro flavour. The 18-piece collection features mini, maxi, 20s beaded and 50s prom dresses as well as other items, priced from £95 to £350.

We foresee a flock of Zanzibar jumpsuits down Start The Bus this summer, and a flurry of Regatta dresses sipping Pimms in Clifton Village. The LiD toiletry range and lunch box are doubtless forthcoming. You have been warned.

 

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