Lucinda Chambers and Molly Molloy enlisted the artist Blue Farrier to create prints for their new Colville collection. Farrier was a student with Molloy at Central Saint Martins in the 1990s; her remit here was to do something “really bold,” and she probably made close to 100 paintings. Two of them ended up in the new lineup; one, in swirls of aqua and bordeaux on a silk draped top and matching skirt finished with a striped sash woven in Mexico, and another in more primary shades of red and blue that they cut into a cotton drill dress.
“Really bold” is an apt way to describe the entire Colville outing. Asked how the long months of lockdown, which forced them to work via Zoom, impacted their outlook, Chambers said, “I think we feel braver.” That manifested not just in lively prints and colors, but in fabric development and their continued efforts around upcycling, both of which are driven by their belief in sustainability.
Among the novelties on the material side was an easy tiger stripe dress in cotton and wool jacquard. The usual thing to do would be to use polyester for the three-dimensional stripes, but it was important to them to use only natural fibers and dyes. “After the summer of extreme weather we’ve had, we have to be responsible,” Molloy said. The collection’s wide-leg trousers were cut in a hemp and linen blend. Women will buy them for their terrific fit, but they’re also a boon to the environment; both require significantly less water to grow than cotton.
Upcycled pieces have been part of Colville’s DNA since the beginning, but they pushed the concept this season, piecing used t-shirts into a tidy, but fun long dress and a ’70s-slim button-down, and cutting a lovely ’30s-ish number with different swatches of fabric that they picked up on IRL and eBay-based vintage trawls. There’s also a cool new bag patch-worked from colorful track suits, as light to carry as it is lively. A showroom reveals that they’re broadening their exuberant vision to include home design. A collection of colorful tables will be ready by next year’s Salone del Mobile. Chambers and Molloy have creativity and ingenuity in spades.
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