Fashion
Luella Bartley
Hui-Hui
Peter Jensen
Katie Gallagher

Entertainment
Alan Ball
Summer Bishil
Dr. Dog
Nima Nourizadeh
Chuck Palahniuk
Anthology Recodrings
Marina Zenovich
Zimmerman/Berg

Artists
Desireé Holman
Corndawg
Matt Furie
Molly Landreth
Matthew Lock
Nikolay Saveliev
Christopher Schulz
Darren Sylvester

Fiction
24 Hours on L16
Nobody Eats Oranges...
Some Mornings

“Geek-chic” is a deceptively complex figure of speech in the multi-layered fashion world. When the high fashion racket abandons last season’s trends like so much toxic afterbirth, they’re condemned to a life sentence in thrift store limbo—but not without the possibility of parole. Fashion rebels never fail to unearth amusing, and sometimes beautiful, bastard-child styles, callously cast aside from the mainstream in the name of progress. Inevitably, the industry catches on to any sort of widespread “geek” revival, and the undead style is quickly reincorporated into the dominant power structure, re-packaged as retro and wacky, and drained of its formerly uncool appeal. And then the whole process repeats itself in a feedback loop that erodes the meaning of signifiers like “geek” and “chic” faster than a rapidly melting Arctic glacier.

        But before we spiral into a bottomless pit of Marxist despair, let’s keep in mind that sometimes a geek revival can be executed with far more sincerity and finesse by a legitimate designer than by the snarky neighborhood hipster who thought of it first. Such is the case for Luella Bartley, whose Spring 2008 collection calls upon the art-nerd stylings of the cult-hit indie film Ghost World. When a designer can take inspiration from a flatly ironic style and imbue it with such an appealing sense of glamour and playfulness, you know they’ve got to be doing something right.

        Luella’s latest collection is no fluke: Bartley has been in the fashion spotlight since her debut in 1999, when she left a career in fashion journalism at UK Vogue to start her own line. Scooping up all kinds of awards and accolades over the past eight years, Bartley has always been on the ball with her sly street fashions. With fans ranging from M.I.A. to Lily Allen, and collections influenced by bands from The Clash to The Raveonettes, the girl Luella seems to invoke in her work is just your everyday Brit rock star, with a clever ensemble for any occasion. Luella has been propelled even further down the path to superstardom with a massively popular line of accessories, and widely lauded collaborations with Mulberry, Target, Sony and many other brands. We asked the eponymous designer to give us some insight into her background, inspirations and future plans.

What were some of your earliest fashion inspirations? What was it that sparked your interest in designing?
I remember my mum floating around in Chinese dressing gowns and bright red crimped hair as a child—very Stevie Nicks. My mum would hate me for that, but I always thought she looked very exotic and ethereal, and I loved it. I also remember pictures of my greatgranny looking very proper and aristocratic on horseback, and thinking how beautiful she looked. But it wasn’t really about fashion then. I got into fashion quite late on. I was a really uncool teenager, so maybe I’m trying to make up for lost time.

Do you miss the world of journalism at all? What did you learn from fashion criticism that has informed your tremendous success on the creative end of the spectrum?
I miss writing and the discipline of that. You really have to use your brain in quite a singular way. But the thing I love most about designing is the team effort, and bouncing ideas off people I really respect, and the development involved in that. It’s more about character and creating a story than pure journalism, and that’s what I have taken from my time as a writer. Being involved in fashion criticism made me realize that there might be a place for my point of view.

Your work alludes to a wide array of rock music influences. Who were your favorite musicians growing up? Are there any up-and-coming artists that you think more people should know about?
My mum again informed my first music influences—all the usual ‘70s suspects, like the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. I have been very lucky to have some very inspiring music people in my life. Justine Frischmann of Elastica, who I lived with, gave me a great education in music. M.I.A. was living there at the time, too. Now I’m always eager to find new music, and musicians inspire me all the time. I love the last band that played at my show, Sister, who are releasing their first album soon.

Has anything surprising happened as a result of your exposure to a much broader audience with the Target collection? How has it impacted the way you work on your own personal line?
Just the amount of attention from America—and the pleasure of working with a company like that—a huge, corporate company that sincerely makes an effort on a philanthropic level. Oh, and suddenly having an advert featuring little old me just before the Golden Globes—bizarre...

What are you planning for the future of the Luella empire? Do you see handbags and accessories becoming your main focus, or do you want the clothes themselves to become the most important aspect of your work?
I am very keen for the clothes to become a bigger part, as indeed they are—sales are up, which is great, and we are really getting into our stride with the ready-to-wear. It just seems to get better. The accessories are also important, and the main focus is to keep having fun with all of it and creating new ideas, and hopefully to make a strong business out of it. We have a few more ideas up our sleeve, too—watch this space...

What’s the most important thing that you’d like your customers to take away from the experience of wearing your clothing?
A bit of attitude.