Introducing: La Lilouche

Images (c) La Lilouche

It seems like the weather has only just started to turn genuinely summery, and yet in the UK we are already looking towards Autumn/Winter 2011. One of the collections I'm most excited about for the upcoming season is the new range from one of my favourite mid- to high end handmade labels, La Lilouche.

This London and Tel Aviv-based luxury brand is the brainchild of Israeli designer Liya Amar. Armed with a degree in Textile Design, Liya moved to London and began her career designing for high street brands such as Topshop, La Senza and House of Fraser, before eventually going it alone to launch her own label. Using a cute twist on her own nickname, Lilouche, as a moniker, a handmade brand was born.

Apart from foxy vintage-inspired designs, a key element of the La Lilouche look is the use of quality materials like beautiful silks, Chantilly lace, pearls and Swarovski crystal detailing. Whereas many lingerie designers seem to treat loungewear as something of an after thought, I love the fact that Liya Amar has really gone to town on it in her Autumn/Winter collection. The Sophia kimono wrap with the heart cut-out back is to die for! Unusually for a handmade label, underwired bras are also included in the collection, meaning that ladies who want a little more bust support needn't feel left out.

I'm especially enamored of this range because I love, love, love colour, and that can sadly be lacking in fashion in the gloomy winter months. While ivory and the obligatory black are obviously key colours in the collection, I'm loving those flashes and splashes of deep blue, peacock green and raspberry silks. And how often do you see yellow featured in an Autumn/Winter lingerie collection?

For those who are ready to buy into the La Lilouche brand, as well as lingerie and loungewear, there is also a selection of accessories available including wedding garters, bridal pasties and hand-embellished hosiery.

Check out the La Lilouche Etsy store for this and previous collections, as well as information on ordering bespoke pieces directly from the designer.

About Turn?

Having been super busy with 'real life' for the last few weeks, I've unfortunately left this blog to fall somewhat into disrepair. You may have noticed a whole heap of tumble weed blowing around here recently! Well that's about to stop.

Also, a little time away has given me time to have a think about this blog. Miss Narcissus has always been a blog about what I like and what I'm interested in, as far as lingerie and these days, more often than not, this has been handmade lingerie. It's kind of evolved naturally over time anyway, but from now on Miss Narcissus will concentrate mostly (but not exclusively) on handmade lingerie brands.

The luxury labels and interesting lingerie editorials will still get a look in, but I feel that there are plenty of other blogs that cover those subjects much better than I do. Personally, I'm just as interested, if not more interested in a brand that has a turnover of, say, £50 a month, as I am in a brand that turns over £500,000+ a month. Brands of that size already have plenty of people talking about them, so I probably don't need to add to the chatter.

For me, discovering new and interesting small labels is more of an exciting treasure hunt. As far as I know- and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong- there isn't a blog out there focused mainly on handmade and ethical/eco lingerie ranges. This is already my 'thing', so why not turn it into a USP for this blog?

I have been thinking about making this change for quite some time and I feel now's the time to take the plunge. It seems like every other week a new handmade lingerie brand appears on my radar, and many of the ones that I already know about are making big moves with every new collection they bring out.

So, I'm pretty sure that even in this specialist area, I'll never run out of things to write about!