When Poplin Met Shrimps

In which faux fur and silk jammies collide.

Shrimps AW14 imagery was a strong affair. Shot by Oliver Hadlee Pearch and styled by Julia Sarr-Jamois, the colours were warm, the execution modern, the clothes – a navy suit, black roll neck and of the moment adidas Stan Smiths – transcending vogue.

It was sort of hard to imagine how Hannah Weiland’s bright faux furs might be bettered, given too, that their initial outing partnered a bare leg and a preliminary hint of a black roll neck.

Then in September Clash went to the label’s debut presentation at London Fashion Week and witnessed the next piece of the puzzle.

Inspired by The Flintstones, the colours of Henri Matisse and architects such as Luis Barragan and Jacques Coulle, Weiland’s yellow, leopard and blue SS15 pieces were accompanied by fantastic Sophia Webster designed heels and subtle silk pyjama’s courtesy of luxury label Poplin.

The latter were adorned with heart shaped shrimps logos and the same hand drawn faces that occupy the label’s packaging; Alexa Chung was so taken with the hook up she was photographed the next day in one of the printed shirts.

Two months later and the capsule line has now made its way onto the world wide web: early Shrimps adopter Avenue 32 has claimed an exclusive, while Poplin’s own site also boasts the line.

Talking to Poplin founder Lucy Guinness over email, we’re assured the partnership was as natural as they come: “We were friends already and talk a lot about design ideas (when we’re not discussing puppies!), so, as clichéd as it sounds, the collaboration came about very organically.”

On a mission to make ‘perfect PJ’s’, the label first launched in 2011 when Guinness was living in Bombay, working as a freelance writer. “I wanted comfortable, sophisticated clothes to wear when working at home,” she offers, “but that was really hard to find, so I started sampling pieces for myself and the idea grew from there.”

And because, you know, not everyone cares to don jersey yoga pants the moment they strip away the office’s smart vibes or unzip those high waisted, barely breathable denims…

The Shrimps collection is “the first collaboration which I feel is a real blend of two independent aesthetics,” we learn, while an earlier line apparently saw Poplin partner a print designer for a Christmas cracker special (another one off for ecommerce platform Avenue 32).

Of the Shrimps range Lucy labels the Shrimpettes print her favourite – “I love that from the distance they look like little hearts and it’s up close that you realise they’re shrimps” – naming the late fashion editor Diana Vreeland and Surrealist collaborator Elsa Schiaparelli as dream customers: “in a completely coordinated boudoir”.

While Shrimps is widely known to be Hannah’s childhood nickname, the branding of Poplin came about via a habit for notebook hoarding. “(I) scribbled the name Poplin down in one of them,” the Oxford graduate states. “It’s an old word that now means a sort of cotton. We use poplin in several of our designs, but mostly I just love how comforting and familiar it sounds, like good PJ’s!”

And what is that makes PJ’s so great exactly? “They’re not about showing off to other people, they’re about feeling amazing yourself,” she claims. “But then, if you do have an exhibitionist moment you can put on some heels and wear them to a party and… Bingo!”

You’ve got one up on your onesie doting housemate. 

Words: Zoe Whitfield

www.poplin.co.uk

—-

Buy Clash Magazine

Get Clash on your mobile, for free: iPhone / Android

-
Join the Clash mailing list for up to the minute music, fashion and film news.