Need a punchy run-through of the best new fashion brands for SS17 (yes, including Alexa Chung’s)? Welcome to Marie Claire’s summer style lowdown
Best new fashion brands for SS17: words by Jess Wood
Style à la Alexa Chung. (Yep, her debut fashion line has finally launched…) Alexa style stalkers among us need wait no more – her debut fashion label Alexachung drops on 30 May. ‘Music has had a huge influence on my work,’ she says. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever stop finding musical magicians compelling.’ Think Brian Jones-inspired flares, vintage-vibe peacoats and Bowie-esque flourishes throughout. Plus, T-shirts featuring hand-drawn illustrations by Chung and her crew, including her dad. Prices may be in the entry-level designer bracket, but if you covet Chung’s tomboy look, they’re key investment pieces. See the full collection at Alexachung.com
Meet this summer’s must-have accessory: the fan They’re fabulously flamboyant, but unless you’re an Austen heroine or Karl Lagerfeld, fans are tricky to pull off IRL. Worry not: Gucci’s bamboo style was a SS17 runway star (and Style Bulletin fave), and now PR Daisy Hoppen has started her own brand, Fern, with textile designer Amanda Borberg. Made in Spain from birchwood and cotton, Fern fans are created sans flamenco-kitsch and ‘they have a language of their own,’ says Hoppen. Luckily, Fern also provides a cheat sheet. That alone has to make Fern one of the season’s best new fashion brands, non? Prices from £50, Fernfans.com
The hot new store openings creating a buzz Chloe is celebrating the launch of its Bond Street flagship store with an exclusive ‘Pearly Queen’ version of the ‘Faye’ bag, called the ‘New Bond St Faye’, £2,200; New York’s Rag & Bone is opening a five-storey emporium on Beak Street in Soho, and H&M’s curated market-style shopping concept Arket will debut its first store in London this autumn. Don’t you just love new beginnings?
Return of the (Millie) Mack(intosh) (see what we did there?) In case you didn’t get the pun, Millie Mackintosh has relaunched her label. Already the number-one selling brand on ASOS, Mackintosh is taking it up a notch with a new design and production team. Expect a more polished look, with suits, coats and knits, alongside her signature boho pieces.
Cool jewellery designs storming the season Satisfy your aristo ambitions with a historic-looking piece by Foundrae – this chunky serpent signet ring, £2,860; foundrae.com (above), is off the scale. Or hit Sophie Lis for gold-vermeil designs inspired by the cosmos – check out the Lightening Bolt hoops, £425; sophielis.com. For DIY jewels, see Gildedlab.com to customise everything from the metal to the gems. We're all over their delicate earrings, from £375.
Scorching pop prints at Warehouse Warehouse’s makeover under design director Emma Cook just gets better. The Escape Shop launches this month – a dedicated holiday collection that includes swimsuits and bandeau bikinis in Cook’s pop prints, plus raffia beach bags, cat-eye sunglasses panama hats and perfect leather sandals. Prices from £14; warehouse.co.uk
The customised coolovers you’ll love…
Malby Bird Fine artist Jan Teplan has joined forces with his girlfriend Sanaz, a chic ex-Chanel stylist, to paint whatever your heart desires on a bag, purse, phone case… Style bulletin newsflash: He’s already put a pomegranate on Cleménce Poésy’s purse. Prices from £150; malbybird.com
Medium Rare Tatsugo Yoda, the former owner of boutique Aloha Rag NYC, has teamed up with his Japanese vintage dealer son to offer bespoke vintage Louis Vuitton carryalls. Prices start from £2,100 at brownsfashion.com
Mon Purse Lana Hopkins’ design-your-own-bag brand now has a dedicated shop in Selfridges, with even more colours to choose from and a custom-decorating service, courtesy of a talented team member dubbed ‘Angie Warhol’. Check out uk.monpurse.com and selfridges.com for the latest collection.
Anya Hindmarch Build A Bag is just as it sounds: choose from two sizes and a range of colours and leathers, pick the handle and a detachable shoulder strap, then add as many key fobs, charms and stickers as you like. Visit anyahindmarch.com
Rae Feather Its woven straw baskets with hand-painted initials have become a jet-set (and style bulletin) must-have – and now you can get espadrilles to match. See raefeather.com
Summer saviours: the fash pack beach buys These new drops from some of the season’s best new fashion brands are so chic, you’ll want to pack them immediately. And then book an actual holiday…
Best new fashion brands, we salute you. Now all that's left to do is go forth and shop…