With 2 designers and a stylist at its helm, Colville is fashion’s hottest new label
Having worked alongside each for more than a decade, fashion director and stylist Lucinda Chambers and Marni designers Molly Molloy and Kristin Forss are re-sparking their highly creative partnership through Colville. Hailed as the ‘antithesis of fast fashion’, the hotly anticipated label operates on creating statement pieces mixed with timeless essentials – the foundation of today’s modern wardrobe according to the trio. “Colville is personal, modern and eclectic, it’s fearless and sensitive, eccentric and rigorous. We are three women coming together with a single vision.” The brand, which takes its name from the West-London terrace where David Hockney resided in the 1970s, launched exclusively on Matchesfashion with a 30-piece collection that includes collaborations with jewellery designer Vicki Sarge and milliner Stephen Jones. Below, MOJEH breaks down everything you need to know about Colville according to its designer trio.
On the name Colville:
Molly and Kristin came up with the name. It’s great because it’s very familiar, it’s a place where we often go and it has lovely art connections too. It also looks good graphically; neither masculine nor feminine – just strong.
On everyone’s roles:
We do what we do best and that can differ and change. Because Colville is based in Milan Kris and Molly work incredibly hard on a day to day basis. We are all involved in the creative decisions and we all do different things at different times, wherever our strengths lie and whatever is needed at that time. Having three of us means that we all feel very supported by each other and always have Colville’s best interests at heart.
On the brand’s aesthetic:
Women feel empowered and unusual wearing Colville. You won’t see it everywhere, it doesn’t wear you, and yet it has a strong signature.
On the one Colville piece every woman should have in her closet:
You can feel smart and chic in say the black coat and then very feminine in the batman dress. You are never going to disappear in the clothes – they give you confidence. And they make you happy because of that.
On their collaboration with Vicki Sarge and Stephen Jones:
There are lots of really talented people out there, designers, models, photographers and artists and at Colville we really feel enriched and excited by collaborating with our peers. And we really like acknowledging that. That’s part of Colville’s strength; we are a collective, always looking out and forward.
On the fashion industry today:
Fashion is faster, more immediate, less isolating and more reactive. It’s definitely more democratic. The great thing is that everyone has a voice and the drawback is that everyone has an opinion. It’s a good thing, but has drawbacks for sure. On the whole it’s a fairer industry and where it isn’t it’s possible now to shine a light on that. Anyone can put something out and quickly. To have such an immediate voice must be a good thing but it can also lead to incredible anxiety; you can’t make mistakes so privately when everything is so public. But it’s like everything, it depends how you use it.
Scroll through the new collection now available on Matchesfashion
