First Look: Lulu &Co.

Lulu Kennedy had rainbows on the mind when dreaming up Lulu & Co’s Fall ’14 collection—specifically how they perfectly represent the seventies Beat generation and the intellectual hippie who defined that era. “The Beat generation was all about spiritual leaders expressing themselves in a counterculture way: They were protesting at rallies, writing poetry, and generally making a lot of noise. It was like old-school social media,” Kennedy told Style.com. This translated into studied seventies looks, created via blouses with exaggerated collars, flared trousers with tiny rainbows, and mid-length denim skirts. Hexagonal prints on dresses, crystal floral details on belts and collars, and subtle Lurex trims kept things interesting and modern. Then there were those rainbows, which appeared on sweatshirts, dresses, and the trims of pockets and sleeves.

Every season, Kennedy collaborates with a creative, and this time around she chose Chad Wys, the very young American artist with a painterly, surreal aesthetic. A sweater boasting a Marie Antoinette-like figure, but with three slashes of paint across her body, is a standout. A Vermeer-esque landscape scene on a dress is given the same treatment. The whole effect is a jolting one, the collection what Kennedy considers a perfect fusion of two of her favorite things: art and fashion. Seems like many agree. At Net-a-Porter, 70 percent of the Spring ’14 was gone four days after it became available. And judging by what we’ve seen, Fall ’14 may well top that impressive statistic.

This collection also comes from a nostalgic place. “My parents were hippies and I grew up in this kind of environment, so it was fun for me to re-create my childhood memories. Also, while we were working on the collection, I was pregnant, and from early on I knew what her name would be.” The little girl (who’s just 3 weeks old now) is called Rainbow. Looks like the “Co” in Lulu & Co just got a little bigger—by 7 pounds and 3 ounces, to be exact.

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