Fashion
William and Kate Aim to Set a New Template
When Kate Middleton and Prince William stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to greet the crowds mourning Queen Elizabeth II’s death last month, they sent a crystal-clear message about the sort of senior royals they want to be.
Prince William, first in line to the throne and with the new title of Prince of Wales, put aside his well-publicized differences with his brother and sister-in-law in the name of duty and respect for the late monarch.
A few weeks later, he made it known that he didn’t want a formal investiture ceremony as Prince of Wales like the grandiose one his father had in 1969. Instead, he said he wanted to win the trust and respect of the people of Wales.
On Sept. 27, the royal couple made their first official Welsh visit with their new titles. They visited Anglesey, an island in Wales, where they resided between 2010 and 2013, when William was a helicopter pilot for the RAF. The mood was informal and upbeat, marking the end of the royal mourning period.
The Millennial Prince and Princess of Wales have made clear from the start that they want to be modern royals, in touch with their subjects and with the issues of the day. They want to be seen as compassionate change-makers, advocates for British charities and people and strong parents to their three children.
They are worlds away from their parents’ generation and from the former Prince and Princess of Wales, Charles and Diana. They also are carrying out their duties at a time when the idea of royalty seems outdated to many, and when some members of the British Commonwealth are eager to break away.
The couple — like William’s father King Charles III — are having to modernize the monarchy in real time, out of a sense of duty and respect for their ancestors and because they need the institution to survive.
According to a survey by the British Social Attitudes, 14 percent of those under 35 feel the monarchy is not very important, in comparison to the 44 percent of those aged 55 and older who feel it was key for the country.
But preserving the crown is a difficult task.
Over the last four decades, the monarchy has seen major shifts — pre-1980s, the Firm was a dusty establishment with no real zhuzh. Their image was so old-fashioned that they agreed to a television documentary in 1969, letting cameras into their daily lives and breaking the so-called fourth wall.
The renowned English presenter David Attenborough, who controlled the channel BBC 2 at the time, insinuated that the film could have kill the monarchy because “the whole institution depends on a mystique and the tribal chief in his hut. If any members of the tribe ever sees inside the hut, then the whole system of the tribal chiefdom is damaged and the tribe eventually disintegrates.”
Queen Elizabeth got the message: She later had the documentary banned. It hasn’t been shown on British TV since 1997.
When the ’80s rolled around, the royal family’s most eligible bachelor, Prince Charles, found a wife in the young Diana Spencer, who gave a glamorous boost to the family and kept them in the tabloid headlines with her marriage woes, separation from Charles and life as a divorcée.
By the time Diana died, the lives of the royals had become a British soap opera, and the monarchy’s future was again under threat. Many Diana supporters questioned whether Charles should even be king and castigated his behavior and relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles.
But William and Middleton, who married in 2011, represented a fresh start, a couple with a happy marriage that was going to do things differently and try not repeat the mistakes of the past.
It has not been easy for William in particular.
He is ferociously loyal to the Firm, in public and private. His marriage is a unified front; his philanthropic causes are aligned with Middleton’s; and he has been vocal when it comes to defending the institution he’s been brought up in.
But the family can’t seem to escape one misstep after another. There was Prince Andrew’s scandalous involvement with sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein that tarnished the entire monarchy. Then there was William’s brother Harry’s marriage to Markle, which brought Hollywood glitz into the monarchy but the couple, with Markle’s star power and clear eagerness to be a royal player, threatened to overshadow the heir to the throne. Harry and Markle’s public row with the family only made matters worse.
In 2021, William responded publicly to his brother and Markle’s claim about racism within the royal family by saying, “We are very much not a racist family” during a visit to an East London school.
The royal couple are confident in their priorities: the environment, mental health awareness, education, art, history and photography. It’s clear to them that just being royals by association no longer cuts it, especially for the younger generation that’s growing up with them.
There is no rulebook or template to follow. There’s Britain as a country at hand, as well as the Commonwealth, which from time to time challenges the monarchy. For example, in November 2021 Barbados voted to remove the queen as its head of state.
On William and Middleton’s Caribbean tour, the strategy was to win favors with the region; instead they were greeted by anti-colonial protests, which forced the couple to cancel their first official Belize event, while in Jamaica, leaders rejected them from visiting the island.
An open letter backed by 100 figures from the country to William and Middleton read: “During her 70 years on the throne, your grandmother has done nothing to redress and atone for the suffering of our ancestors during the entire period of British trafficking of Africans, enslavement, indentureship and colonization.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton announcing their engagement in November 2010. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage) WIREIMAGE
The couple responded with a diplomatic statement when they arrived back in the U.K. “For us that’s not telling people what to do. It is about serving and supporting them in whatever way they think best, by using the platform we are lucky to have,” it said.
Despite the couple modeling themselves after the queen, it can only go so far. The old adage of “never complain, never explain” is not one that works for the present-day royals.
Being silent in the age of using and finding one’s voice can mark them as complicit. In their new roles, William and Middleton are looking to amplify their voices rather than hushing them. They have embraced their social media channels to relay their messages and the causes they care about.
In 2021, Middleton paid tribute to Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old woman who was murdered, by writing her family a heartfelt letter and attending her vigil off-duty, a move of great compassion that her late mother-in-law often showed to the public.
Lord William Hague, chair of the couple’s charity, The Royal Foundation, told Sky News: “Certainly in the royal foundation, we’re not changing tone, you know. If anything, we’re going up another gear with a tone that’s well established of how to help with certain issues of some of society’s deepest problems where we need to bring people together to work on.”
He added that despite the royal family being non-political, it’s “absolutely right for a royal family that’s engaged with the world and wants to help people and serve people to get involved with.”
The Age of Elizabeth II has ended, with its highs and lows. What’s to come will be different from what history has witnessed.
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GIGI, PART DEUX: Gigi Hadid’s collaboration with Self-Portrait continues, as she appears in the brand’s latest fall 2023 campaign shot in Paris by British photographer Tyrone Lebon and styled by Marie Chaix.
The contemporary fashion label, which counts Kate Middleton, Naomi Campbell, Jennifer Coolidge and Blackpink among its fans, had worked with Hadid in London and New York on previous campaigns, and according to Han Chong, brand founder and creative director, “it felt only right that we join her in Paris for our latest campaign shoot against a backdrop renowned for elegance and romance.”
In one of the shots from the campaign, Hadid poses behind a grand classical wrought iron balcony while wearing a fuchsia tweed jacket with a matching bar top and a pleated skirt from the brand’s fall 2023 collection. In a separate image, Hadid gazes down at the camera in a sequined asymmetric aquamarine dress.
Commenting on the latest campaign, Chong praised Hadid as “everything the modern Self-Portrait woman stands for — free, spirited, and joyful.”
“Being able to shoot in Paris is always such a dream…it’s one of my favorite cities in the world, filled with so much charm and magic. And to be able to shoot with the Self-Portrait team who have become such incredible partners and friends, made it an even more memorable experience,” Hadid added.
Launching together with the release of the campaign, the fall 2023 collection will hit stores worldwide from Tuesday.
For fall, Chong offered a balanced collection that caters to both the sensual new vibe, as well as those who buy into straightforward pretty, and elegant outfits for their everyday lives.
Standouts in the collection included sequinned, embellished high-glam evening options, many of which came with sleeves, a detail that’s appreciated in the modest community.
The denim pieces were cut for a younger and cooler audience, while the abundant supply of tweed jackets and coordinated bra tops and skirts have already won over fans including Selena Gomez, Princess Beatrice and Zhao Liying, Self-Portrait’s first Chinese brand ambassador. — TIANWEI ZHANG
JUMPING THE GUN: Kirsten Dunst couldn’t help herself from leaking the news about her upcoming collaboration with Coach when actress and comedian Ayo Edebiri was spotted wearing pieces from the Observed by Us x Coach line.
The actress shared the news on Instagram with an image showing Edebiri wearing a white top with dinosaurs on it.
The collection, which will be released to the rest of the world on Wednesday, features ready-to-wear, bags, footwear and accessories printed and embellished with original, hand-drawn illustrations by Jessica Herschko, a Los Angeles-based illustrator and designer of Observed by Us, and Dunst.
Coach creative director Stuart Vevers worked with the duo to create the line of T-shirts, hoodies, floral dresses and jeans whose inspiration was based on pieces found in Dunst’s closet. Key pieces include a wool pointelle crop top, overalls and a straw hat — each printed and embellished with original, hand-drawn illustrations by Herschko. Additionally, the pieces feature “storypatches,” a signature of Coach, in Herschko’s handwriting that tell the stories of illustrations in the collection.
“Creating this collection with Kirsten and Jessica was delightful,” said Vevers. “We got to celebrate our shared love of imagination and playfulness. Kirsten, and her style, have often been an inspiration for me. So to design alongside her and Jessica — and to blend their vivid storytelling and color with our own American heritage design language and craftsmanship — was really inspiring.”
Vevers added that he was introduced to the duo by a mutual friend and the collaboration “evolved quite naturally from there. I was immediately drawn to Jessica’s illustrations and their imaginative use of color and playful themes, but also to the way Kirsten and Jessica joyfully celebrate the beauty in the everyday — a theme I love to explore also. The collection is charming and pretty. The idiosyncratic embellishments feel both personal and expressive. There’s also a found quality and vintage feel that adds a sense of ease and cool.”
Vevers said what he likes most about working with other brands is that it allows him to try something new. “Every collaboration I’ve done is different,” he said. “I think that’s what I enjoy most about collaboration — it’s about trying something new, and working with someone else can give me a chance to challenge myself. Whether it’s with heroes of mine, contemporary artists or iconic imagery it’s also about an element of surprise. Something I’ve not done before.”
“We started Observed by Us to create clothing and other items with images that evoke a special, happy feeling and a sense of appreciation for both the natural and the man made,” said Herschko. “It was very fun to collaborate with Coach because, much like us, they see a world of possibility in the small details and have the ability to execute that perfectly.”
The collection will range in price from $20 to $595 and will be sold on the Coach website as well as in select Coach stores. — JEAN E. PALMIERI
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Four hundred guests will attend the spring 2024 show, where models will walk the runway in tropical print bikinis, shirts and seersucker suits. Yes, there will be Beach Boys on the soundtrack, as well as Beyoncé, and cocktails will be served — grapefruit basil martinis, which will be the featured drink at the new Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa opening later this year in Indian Wells, California.
An unlikely product of the Pacific Northwest, Tommy Bahama was founded in 1992 by Bob Emfield and Tony Margolis, two garment business veterans who met in Seattle in the ’70s, when they were sales reps for Brittania Sportswear Ltd. The company is named after a character they invented after buying houses on Florida’s Gulf Coast, where they dreamed of living life as one long weekend.
Now owned by Oxford Industries, Tommy Bahama — which delivered top-line growth of 5 percent in the first quarter — has become a lifestyle empire that extends from coast to coast and now includes clothing and licensed accessories, home products such as rugs, bedding and upholstered furniture, restaurants — and soon, a hotel.
There’s a unified vision for it all.
For spring 2024, St. Barths was the seasonal inspiration for the 60-member design team based in Seattle, who travel to vacation locations for research trips. On the mood board are photos of the island’s red roofs, sunshine yellow mini Mokes, leafy patios and deep blue infinity pools.
“When I first started, the men’s, women’s and accessories teams didn’t really connect very much on the beginning of the season, and they all looked very different. So we started creating a seasonal destination,” explained design director Bradley O’Brien, who joined in 2014 after a decade at Ralph Lauren, four years at Old Navy, six at Lands’ End and four at Sperry Top-Sider. “We look at everything, from the architecture to the culture to the food and the artisans. We get a lot of inspiration from handicrafts, and flora and fauna of the particular area. We take lots and lots of photos and pull together concepts for the art department that really influences the color and the prints.”
The men’s and women’s collection will feature lots of novelty dresses, including a new Johnny Collar style; linen suiting; seersucker tops, skorts, bombers and blazers; swimwear, and stretch denim with sun protection. (Tommy Bahama has seals of approval from the Skin Cancer Foundation, and has raised more than $500,000 for the organization in its stores.)
“The great part about a runway is it’s not necessarily the real way, and so you can put things out there and style them in a way that makes people think, ‘Oh, I never thought of that.’ Like pairing a linen suit with a bikini,” she said.
The brand’s customer demographic is age 35 to 60, with the sweet spot in their 40s and 50s, and the women’s business is now growing faster than men’s. As a percentage of sales over the last five years, women’s has grown 53 percent, while men’s has grown 22 percent.
Dresses and knits are the two biggest categories and, surprisingly, women’s suiting is not far behind. ‘We’ve always done linen suiting for men and we can’t even keep it in stock now. There’s definitely a trend happening in women’s as well all around the blazer and the suit. So this is the first time that we’ll be offering really great suiting for her as well.”
Performancewear under the Island Zone franchise has also been key to the brand’s success, and the spring 2024 collection is taking inspiration from “court and course,” with clothing that can be worn from the golf course to the pickleball court.
“The fabrics keep you dry, they stretch, they’ve got great details, pockets and things that help you stay active,” said O’Brien, adding that the Palm Coast Polo is a top seller.
The brand has also hit with a woven fabric that’s perforated, used for camp shirts. “It looks like a silk camp shirt but it performs really well, is super lightweight and stretches and keeps you dry. It’s been so popular, we’re introducing it for women. That’s what’s fun about being a dual gender brand.”
Spring will also mark the debut of a performance seersucker fabric, alongside a traditional woven one, leaning into fashion’s return to prep and the old money trend.
“We absolutely look at the runway in the beginning of the season, and scour through some of the shows of the tried and true brands. Then we put it through the Tommy Bahama filters.…Our guest is not about fast fashion but wants to be relevant. And so if puff sleeves are definitely trending, we might put a puff sleeve on something that we already know she knows and loves in a fabrication that she already has in her closet to get her to buy into a new version.”
What are the Tommy Bahama filters?
“We talk about quality, artistry and craftsmanship, and especially in the imagery, we always want to show up looking like sun and sea and sky and sand. And then when it comes down to the product itself, it has to be effortless. Sometimes things will have one or two details too many.…You just want to be able to throw something on and feel super comfortable and relaxed,” O’Brien said. “And then the last thing that we say is we always want to have ‘a sprinkle of sand.’ It’s just a cute detail that makes the customer smile.”
For some fresh inspiration, the brand has partnered with the New York-based nonprofit Fashion Scholarship Fund on a design contest, and on Wednesday will award three $15,000 scholarships to students whose work will be included in the 2024 Tommy Bahama Artist Series.
“They’ll be representing their artwork and will have their apparel on mannequins, and everybody will be able to meet them and understand the inspiration,” O’Brien said. “Coming from the East Coast, and having a career at brands that are household names, I wanted Tommy Bahama to be a household name. And what better way than to gain awareness and recognition with these students? We just launched an internship program as well…so the talent of tomorrow wants to come and work here, too.”
One of the female executive’s proudest achievements has been elevating Tommy Bahama’s women’s profile. “It’s nice to see the perception is shifting,” said O’Brien, who favors the brand’s dresses, jeans and flirty tops for work. “And when you’re in stores, you also see families coming in. So it’s definitely a brand the entire family engages with.”
That’s thanks also to the Tommy Bahama Marlin Bars, which debuted way ahead of the latest wave of fashion-fronted restaurants like the Polo Bar and Tiffany Blue Box Café. Three more Marlin Bars are opening on the horizon.
“We do see that the stores that are attached to those, the sales are really, really strong in those doors. So the guest likes to come in and enjoy being a part of the brand and then shop it as well,” she said.
Soon they can also be able to live it at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa, opening in November outside of Palm Springs, California, with 215 rooms, three pools, and a 12,000-square-foot spa.
“That’s going to be a big moment,” O’Brien said. “I was lucky enough to work with our home wallpaper and fabric licensee to help pick out all the fabrics and wallpapers for each of the suites and the rooms. And we are going to have our artists go down and create signature murals for them.”
The hotel property will feature a 1,200-square-foot retail store, even though it’s within miles of Tommy Bahama stores in both Palm Springs and Palm Desert. O’Brien said, “We’re thinking of it more as a lab, where we can test elevated product.”
Tommy for the big 4.0.
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