Alex & Eli Team Up with Susie Bubble
Photos courtesy of Alex & Eli
Susie Bubble teams up with Alex & Eli on their Fall 2011 collection.
Burgeoning womenswear line Alex & Eli, designed by Anna Zeman and Aja Singer, has shown its line via presentations and video look books in the past, but this season the design duo decided to take a different tack to unveil their collection: Put it on a blogger.
For Fall 2011, Zeman and Singer tapped Susie Lau (often known as Susie Bubble) of the blog Style Bubble to try on and style their collection, the results of which can be seen in a video on Lau’s site.
“We didn’t want to do a presentation,” Zeman tells FashionEtc, “but we were thinking we wanted to work with someone, and she’s been such a great supporter. She’s got such a great aesthetic and a way of putting clothes together.”
“Susie’s one of the most unique bloggers out there,” says Singer. “Doing this is so different from having a show or even the videos we’ve done in the past. This is a collaboration thing—we really wanted to apply someone else’s perspective to our collection.”
The designers and Lau have been in contact since Lau first mentioned the line on her blog in 2009.
“They do really nice tailoring, but it’s approachable and wearable and not old or stuffy, or too formal,” says Lau. “And they have inspirations that don’t always translate literally—which is a good thing. For instance, this collection is inspired by Star Trek—but the spacey elements are subtle and discreet.”
“Aja and I geeked out,” Zeman says of the Fall 2011 collection. “This season we were very inspired to take a futuristic approach. We wanted more slick, angular lines and details. So we though Star Trek—the original Star Trek.”
“The William Shatner kind of Star Trek!” adds Singer.
We’re happy to report that the collection bears no resemblance to the costumes sported by Spock et al on the Enterprise: sharp pinstripe suits, leather-trimmed wrap skirts, and a suede dress with shoulder cutouts are all perfectly modern, and there are plenty of the brand’s great signature blazers to choose from.
Lau’s take? “I’m wearing it now, actually!” she laughs. “The red suede culottes—they fit really nicely.”
