An Arty Endeavour

BRITISH brand Mulberry definitely has a thing for collaborations.


The quirky print from Julie Verhoeven for Mulberry.


Last season, the brand teamed up with British designer Giles Deacon for a capsule collection that saw the normally classic label walking on the wild side with lots of punk styles. This season, British eccentricity comes into play through a collaboration with artist and designer Julie Verhoeven.




Verhoeven had a successful collaboration with Louis Vuitton in 2003, and her recent commissions include collaborations with beauty brand Lancome and fashion brands Topshop and Sketch, as well as music projects with Primal Scream and Fischerspooner.

Famed for her collage of figure drawings which have a quirky, erotic style, this time round Verhoeven has used her signature designs and turned them into print designs for Mulberry. The print is an interesting and striking collage of flowers, faces and graphics in pink, rose and white on a black background.

The collection will make its first appearance on Sept 15 at London Fashion Week.

In an exclusive email interview with StarMag, Verhoeven says she has known former creative director of Mulberry Stuart Vevers for years and was thrilled when he asked her to collaborate.

“Stuart was keen for the collection to be bold and a touch naughty. I played with Expressionism and Surrealism in iconography and application with nonsensical elements thrown in.”

The collection comprises a dress, bag, key ring, T-shirt and scarf and Verhoeven says the core of the collection is the English Rose who is “steamed in tradition but with a thorny stem.”

Verhoeven, who says she is inspired by human behaviour and character, pop music and colour, would love to come out with her own accessories collection and wouldn’t mind doing more collaborations with other brands in the future.


Only the bag from the Julie Verhoeven for Mulberry Collection is available at the Mulberry boutique at Starhill Gallery, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. The bag is priced at RM4,899 and the T-shirt at RM499.


By DZIREENA MAHADZIR
The Star Newspaper - An Arty Endeavour
Sunday, September 9, 2007