LONDON — What does it take to force Edie Campbell to design a capsule collection?
“I really like that when I went to the factory in Leicester it smelled like tea and biscuits,” the model told WWD of her new venture with British brand Sunspel.
The other factor that convinced her was that the brand designed shirts for James Bond while still operating under a sustainable way of producing.
The small collection he designed is made up of a series of pieces inspired by menswear. Campbell was wearing the mustard yellow sweater on the Zoom call, which he jokingly admitted he had worn for four days.
“The men have a pretty reliable type of uniform, when they put on something well done it looks good. I wanted to translate that into a women’s capsule. It takes a bit of effort to get dressed,” she said.
Campbell, who turned 32 in September, confessed that “now I feel more and more settled in how I dress and how I want to see myself. The clothes in which I feel most comfortable and in which I express myself accurately are the menswear classics.”
Jarvis Cocker, Harry Wormwood (Danny DeVito’s character in “Matilda”) and David Bowie were the muses he looked to when designing the pieces, from the double-breasted checkered blazer to the tweed coat; lightweight knit polo shirts and funnel neck tops, and tailored pants.
The collection was photographed by Campbell’s longtime collaborator, Alasdair McLellan, in the English countryside.
In her own personal life, she remembered the cool girl two years above her in school, from whom she took style cues, like wearing flats.
Now he’s scouring eBay for a bargain. “I found a couple of vendors that I assume are factory seconds. This vendor will have everything from Haider Ackermann to really great luxury stuff,” he said.
“I watch a lot of junk TV. I love reality shows,” said Campbell, listing favorites of his like “Married at First Sight”, “Love Island”, “Below the Deck” and “Selling the OC”.
If you could be on a reality TV show, what would it be? “I’d really like to be in ‘Selling the OC’ or ‘Selling Sunset.’ There’s an English version and I think it might be doing that,” Campbell said.
For now, Campbell will decide to sell Sunspel.