Tallulah & Hope is a niche clothing brand selling luxury kaftans, ponchos and accessories exclusively on line. The brand has just launched so “Blink” thought we’d get in there first and interview the creative duo behind this exciting new label.
Lisa Ispani and Zoe Holborough met 9 years ago. At that time Lisa was a PR, and Zoe was a stylist. They became instant friends; but continued to work independently on various projects.
Lisa worked for years with Versace and other luxe clients. She organized fashion shows in Milan and Paris amongst other insanely fancy events, and also helped launch new designers and brands. In 2006, she went freelance. Amongst other projects worked with her husband’s award-winning restaurant group Canteen and launched his visionary design studio Very Good & Proper.
Zoe, meanwhile, worked with Brit designer Russell Sage, Parisian hipster and super-stylist Camille Bidault-Waddington, and as personal stylist to the entire Osbourne family. Three years ago, she launched ‘Lady Sew and Sew’, a local sewing class which rode the vanguard of the hip ‘make do and mend’ movement. Zoe has held sessions at art previews and private events, and she had her own ‘Lady Sew and Sew’ tent at Camp Bestival.
In 2008, while holidaying together, Lisa and Zoe began discussing dream holiday wardrobes- and envisaging the perfect kaftan. It would be so well cut that it would fall perfectly on whoever wore it. It could be worn in a multitude of ever more stylish ways. It would be the one piece you ever need to take away with you; the one thing that could be relied upon to make you look amazing without investing any effort at all. This was the dream that led to the creation of Tallulah & Hope. It took two years to perfect an this year, they made their fabulous kaftan collection a reality. Lisa and Zoe are particularly devoted to their print designs, which are entirely exclusive, and very limited edition. Each print will run until it sells out– after that, it’ll be gone. Well, that’s a ‘call to action’ if ever we heard one!
Do you think that wear-ability is more important than creativity?
Ideally you need them both! The most successful design is about having both beauty and function. Tallulah & Hope is all about beautiful garments that are also really useful and wearable. At every stage in the design process we have been led not only by aesthetics but by the ease of wear and practicality.
Which comes first for you, personal style or trends?
Personal style every time, as you move into your 30’s you develop your own understanding of what works best for you. High fashion trends are always interesting to watch but ultimately its about your individual style.
We love this quote from Lauren Hutton “Fashion is the zillion things you are offered each season; style is what you choose”
What is currently tempting you into making a purchase?
Chanel brown leather clogs for SS2010, Stella McCartney’s linen piquet trousers and a pair of 1978 ‘Bang On’ Vintage sunglasses from Oliver Goldsmith.
What’s the best thing about your job?
Doing what we love, making beautiful garments, being our own bosses and hopefully building a successful business and brand.
Can you share with us your most fabulous fashion moment?
Lisa- For me it was when I working as fashion PR. I was collecting Sharon Stone from the airport in Milan, as she was a guest at one of the shows. I was waiting for her to come through the arrival gate. Like a vision from a movie she come striding through wearing a full length fur coat with sunglasses on, hands in pockets and a trolley piled high with 20 Louis Vuitton cases followed behind her.
Zoe- when I was working with Sharon Osbourne when she was judge on the X Factor, I would regularly drive around central London with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of precious jewelry from Bond Street. On one occasion, as I didn’t want to leave the jewelry in the car, so I wore nearly million pounds of jewelry to get my legs waxed!
What season are you currently working on and how is it shaping up?
Our focus is on introducing new and exclusive prints every few months. Our launch collection features two signature prints ‘Sandgrouse’ and ‘Starlings’ in two different colourways. We are now finalizing our new print stories and colourways which we will release later in 2010.
Any final words of advise?
If it feels good, it is good.
Thanks so much to Zoe and Lisa, not only for this interview but for putting so much temptation our way! Now all we need to do is book the holiday worthy of such a stunning wardrobe… We wish Tallulah and Hope the amazing success that it most definitely deserves.
Tallulah and Hope
Tallulah and Hope
Tallulah and Hope
