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In April, Lola Bute hosted an all-ages 25th birthday party, held over three days at Mount Stuart, the imposing Victorian Gothic family seat on the Isle of Bute. The dress code stipulated “How can you go Lola.” Guests, including actress Sienna Miller and makeup mogul Charlotte Tilbury, were encouraged to flaunt their sheerest, shimmeriest dresses in honor of their hostess.
“Dressing myself is a big part of who I am,” says the model and designer, who when she was five asked her director to address her as “Cinderella.” Her own custom party looks included a lace dress by Tom Ford alum Alessandro Francalanci and a minidress made from a 1920s silver Egyptian fabric, topped with a feather fur coat. She pulled out a matching pink jacket to wear during the day. “Seeing everyone I love in one room, in such amazing, extravagant outfits, made me so happy,” she says. No wonder The daily telegraph He called him “the real one.” salty burn”.
This month, just in time for the holiday season, Bute is introducing a festive capsule with Debutthe new fashion brand she founded with her half-sister, actress Jazzy De Lisser, 33. Debute, a direct-to-consumer company, is inspired by the sisters’ love of vintage, in turn inspired by their fashion designer mum Serena Bute (when they were little, she regularly returned from her local flea market on Portobello Road armed with bags of loot); The line launched last month with tailored dresses, tartan sets and baby T-shirts, quickly followed by a striking line of underwear with British brand Stripe & Stare. While De Lisser describes herself as the most “discreet” of the sisters, she still delights in a good dress, often opting for the color red or a trusty LBD. “The party capsule is really just about trying to make fashion fun again,” he says. “It’s our glamorous side,” Bute adds enthusiastically, “so it’s a little more nude and a little brighter.”
Drawing from their personal archive, a heady mix of ’20s flapper and ’90s Cavalli, known as “the wardrobe” to their friends (who borrow looks in rotation), the sisters have designed a floor-length slip dress in three colourways, with a draped bodice and fitted low back (from £250). It is produced in London using deadstock fabrics, including a black chiffon from Chloé from last season with gold flecks and black and red silk from Valentino “for the daring,” says De Lisser. Bute admits a penchant for shortening dresses, so minis are likely to follow. For now, both sisters want to keep deliveries small (about 30 will be produced in each colorway) and stay away from luxury pricing, noting the rising cost of vintage pieces in recent years.
“Considering that most of our fights used to be over clothes growing up…” (De Lisser lets slip that Bute stole some dresses to go to boarding school) “We’ve been pretty good,” De Lisser says on the subject of work with family “We’ve learned a lot from each other,” adds Bute.
As Christmas approaches – the fourth without Bute’s father, former racing driver John Crichton-Stuart, who died in 2021 after a battle with cancer – they are conscious of injecting a little “fun” into the air. What does that look like? Lots of games, table dancing, a debut Christmas party and, of course, many glamorous nights, the sisters say. As De Lisser notes, “One thing about Lola and I is that we love to celebrate anything.”