During a preview of her pre-fall collection, Ulla Johnson said that pre-season collections have become as significant as runway to her growing, highly crafted brand as it continues to expand with retail and celebrity placements. She’s currently working on another store and plans to open retail with more frequency, while Beyoncé was recently spotted in Johnson’s brand’s over-the-knee suede boots.
It’s evident she treated pre-fall with the same manner of craft and thoughtfulness as runway, seen through this season’s incredible amount of variety, which expands beyond her campaign’s 36 looks. Johnson said working with Italian mills, while continuing artisanal partnerships such as one with a women’s clamp dying cooperative in Bangalore, has inspired her to push into new categories with higher price-points, such as eveningwear. She is also elevating her growing core business beyond her initially well-known woven dresses through to elevated knitwear, feminine utility layers and denim, to name a few.
Within each category, Johnson emphasized the idea of “effortless with impact,” as seen through fluted edge compact knits with eyelet cutouts and a strong grouping of compact viscose pointelle dresses and sets mixed with floral crochet for day. Weightless silk chiffon jacquard scarf dresses and delicate metallic lace numbers added to the dressy impact with ease.
“It’s a new approach to taking super ancient techniques and mixing them with capabilities of the current time,” she said, which also applied to hand-loomed cotton dresses with long printed chiffon hems and head-turning, animal patterned jacquard styles (a blazer, skirt and dress) and a gilded jacquard ruffled top, each designed to echo raffia, complete with fringes.
“I found that I actually like fabrics that somewhat announce themselves — it whispers as you walk,” she said of the striking, swishy assortment.
As with all seasons, a story of Johnson’s travels was embedded within. Here, this meant linen dresses embroidered with golden Victorian lace inserts inspired by a tablecloth she sourced from a third generation lace-maker in Portofino this summer.
“My commitment to this slow fashion or future heirlooms — things that get more beautiful with age, is something that I’m more and more devoted to in a time where there’s so many things that people just acquire for the sake of it. I want the things to have meaning,” she said. The sentiment rang true across the fine collection.
