All those perfect polka dot dresses? The punchy bows and tulip silhouettes from Luella Bartley’s SS10 collection? They basically don’t exist anymore.
The label’s ready-to-wear producer Carla Carini closed last month, unexpectedly, which put a stop to all SS10 production. Whether or not that’s worse than this morning’s news that Luella’s lost their licensee, too, we’re not sure.
Club 21, which has licensed the Luella brand for almost seven years, is done investing in Luella (the brand) and it will stop trading.
The designer told Vogue UK, “This is a very disappointing situation for everyone involved with the brand…It is upsetting not to be able to protect jobs in this difficult economic climate. I love the Luella character and hope that after we have survived this challenging time the Luella girl can have an exciting future ahead of her.”
So if you’re on her side of the ocean, get thee to Luella, before it’s too late. We’ll have to settle for pouting.
posted by guest
Nov 10, 2009 10:53AM
I don't get why Luella hasn't done better as a brand. The stuff is cute and accessible (if over-priced for what it is: compare Luella prices to the prices of other Carla Carini produced stuff), and they even had an It bag for a minute. Luella herself has tons of industry good will and connections.
Yet they were never able to have another successful bag after the Gisele, and they've never had solid distribution in the States. I shop a lot and I feel like I've never seen Luella on a rack.