Narrowing the range down to ten pieces can’t have been easy. Over the past decade, this independent, not-for-profit fashion collective has nurtured an impressive roster of design talent including Roksanda Ilincic, Marios Schwab, Jonathan Saunders, Richard Nicoll and Holly Fulton, earning Kennedy her ‘fashion’s fairy godmother’ nickname. As style.com states: ‘Fashion East is such a reliable next-big-thing barometer that it’s no longer an off-schedule quirk but one of the official London Fashion Week schedule’s hottest tickets.’
The Lulu & Co range is a combination of some of the Fashion East designers’ best-selling archive work and exclusive catwalk pieces. Fulton offers a slinky art deco print maxi dress, Ilincic an asymmetric jersey cocktail frock and Saunders, the only designer with two dresses in the collection, a figure-hugging ‘Totem’ dress from 2004 and a stunning, chiffon flame detail evening gown – a sell-out when released in 2007.
‘Putting the collection together was such good fun,’ says Lulu.
‘Designers like Henry Holland are really easy to work with. He never seems to get stressed and Aggy and his gang of friends always keep things lively.’
The best advice Kennedy has ever been given came from Professor Louise Wilson, director of the MA fashion course at Central Saint Martins: ‘You can’t just expect something to be brilliant, you have to put the hours in and work really hard at it.’ Now one of the British Fashion Council’s Power 25 and the founder of MAN (a collaboration with Topman), Kennedy has forged a remarkable career in a notoriously cut-throat industry by following Wilson’s counsel. And although the Fashion East director has been mentoring young designers herself for ten years, she still suffers from insomnia and admits to feeling ‘as nervous as hell’ in the run-up to London Fashion Week.
‘I think by nature I am a worrier but it intensifies around showtime because I feel so responsible towards the designers we’re representing –
I want everything to be as perfect for them as possible,’ she says. But the support of her loyal Fashion East family, together with ‘a stiff drink’, helps alleviate any pre-show jitters.
‘It’s important to build a strong, positive team around yourself, people who believe in the brand,’ she adds. This advice, gleaned from years in the industry, is something Kennedy now passes on to her young designers: ‘Don’t try and do everything yourself, it’s all about teamwork.’
Victoria Beckham turning up at the Fashion East SS10 show was the highlight of Kennedy’s fashion decade. ‘We knew she was supposed to be coming but I thought she might cancel,’ Kennedy says. ‘When she actually arrived, I was thrilled.’
So how does fashion’s fairy godmother see the next ten years panning out? ‘London Fashion Week will continue to go from strength to strength,’ she says. ‘We really do have a group of world-class designers and the British high street is going to get even stronger, as is the online shopping trend.’
As for Lulu & Co, it’s a closely guarded secret – but don’t be surprised to see Lulu Kennedy herself getting involved in the design process. ‘Oh yes, we’re already playing around with that idea for next season,’ she says.
Lulu & Co will be stocked in Harvey Nichols London from today and
will also be available online at www.matchesfashion.com
