What's new: Native Youth, Edit and Riyka
So often, it's the other way round. A womenswear brand does so well, it decides to try out menswear. Not so Native Youth. Three years after its launch, the menswear brand launches its first womens collection for SS15, translating its formula of clean shapes given delightful filips in fabrics and cuts for the girls. These are pieces for the girl who likes to move: androgynous, sportswear-inspired silhouettes fused with Japanese style details and Scandinavian prints. Cute, funny, fresh - perfect for summer. www.native-youth.com
I'm thrilled to see one of my favourite new labels Edit, has found itself another UK stockist, apart from the gorgeous Liberty of London. The Hong Kong-born brand - positing a precocious but laid-back femininity - lands at online store luxe-layers.com with a small but perfect collection of crop tank tops and 1950s style skirts and dresses. We like the painterly white and blue strappy full dress, modelled so prettily by style consultant Yasmin Sewell at New York Fashion Week last September. www.luxe-layers.com
One to watch, Riyka is a young label founded by UK-born, Israel-raised designer Rebecca Johnson. The label offers sophisticated staples built out of complex paneling and cleverly combined natural reclaimed and organic fabrics such as denim, leather and cotton. Contrasting bands of colours and soft, clean silhouettes create echoes of sportswear - loose organic gabardine shorts are trimmed with white, leggings have knee blocks - but the effect is also resolutely modernist. Check out SS15 at www.riyka.com