Luella Bartley said a photo of Manolo Blahnik had started her chasing the lost spirit of ’70s West London bohemia, which is threaded though the Hillier Bartley Spring 2017 collection. "He was in a suit, but wearing different-colored shoes, one blue, one pink," she explained. "It made me think of those times when things were so flamboyant and eccentric, and there was that crowd around West London, people like Ossie Clark, Celia Birtwell, David Hockney, Patrick Proctor, and Zandra Rhodes." Bartley called Blahnik personally, and he was delighted to make the flat suede pumps to accompany the designers's lookbook.
Bartley has spoken before about the masculine/feminine orientation of the lineup she’s evolving with her partner Katie Hillier, who designs the bags. “We’ve always wanted to give women a kind of swagger—women in wolves's clothing,” she said. “This is still that, but we've kind of gone softer, more delicate.” Thus, there are full-length kimonos and short jackets in pinky-blue prints, inspired by what David Bowie and Brian Eno wore; a bloused Pierrot look; a smattering of ostrich feather; and eventually, a tendril-y, printed chiffon top, which Bartley said, laughing, “is my love letter to Zandra.” One of Hillier's bags, painted with a drawing of an eye, chimes with the mood.
Still, the theme is arguably less important here than the continuity—the Hillier Bartley brand identifiers that will help women focus on what they offer. After a few seasons, it’s becoming easier to pick those attributes out: the shape of the long-sleeved silk dresses and tops; the fringed scarves, sometimes tied as belts; the shape of the high-waisted mom trouser; and the Savile Row–inspired tailoring. A standout was a white linen suit with a pink windowpane check—just the sort of thing that might have stepped out of the wardrobe of that impeccably dressed dandy Manolo Blahnik himself.
