Bye Bye For Now, Luella: Did The “It” Bag Seal Your Fate?

It was announced this morning that British fashion label Luella has stopped trading, meaning that no orders for the Spring 2010 collection will be fulfilled.

Luella Bartley said that her financial backer VSQ Limited–a subsidiary of Club 21, a global licensee–pulled out after the Italian manufacturer used by the designer closed last month.

Bartley, no doubt, will eventually find another financial backer. But those who step in will need to do a bit of restructuring. Yes, financial conditions seem to be at the core of Luella’s troubles. But there were signs of weakness long before the market crashed.

If you’re not familiar with Luella, here’s a quick summary: Bartley is a fashion journalist-turned-designer who creates quintessentially English-girl clothes. Her collections are a magpie mix of country florals, punk leather jackets and school-girl skirts, appealing to Alexa Chung-types. For fall, she did a fun collection replete with preppy wool blazers, secretary blouses and corseted mini dresses.

While Bartley’s clothes are certainly lovable (and priced fairly; a dress is about $800), it was her “Giselle” bag that made the brand known beyond the London scenester set. Introduced in 2003, the Giselle, shown here, fell smack into the middle of the “It” Bag craze. However, its novelty soon wore thin, and it’s rarely seen today.

From this knowlege, I infer that Luella was able to receive plenty of financial backing based on the success of the Giselle bag. When sales for this bag fell, though, the rest of the company declined with it. This suggests that, while accessories can make a designer brand financially stronger, they can’t save it if trends change drastically.

Will the Giselle, like Marc Jacobs’ Stella or Chanel’s 2.55, someday become a classic that stages a comeback every few years? Probably not. Next time around, the suits will have to look at what’s truly at the heart of the Luella brand–to me, it’s the playfulness of each piece–and try expanding on that, rather than some flash-in-the-pan product.