John Lewis launches first ever luxury ready-to-wear label

This autumn winter 16 John Lewis will launch its first ever luxury, ready-to-wear label, modern rarity. Redefining luxe for today’s modern woman, it offers a move away from disposable, fast fashion and instead presents a rare take on luxury with an ethos of fewer, better pieces.

The label redefines wardrobe staples as unique pieces with sophisticated cuts, luxurious fabrics and understated silhouettes creating an effortless, contemporary look that is affordable and dedicated to the very best quality and design. The label will arrive in stores and on johnlewis.com on 8th September.

The Journey of the Label

Designed in house and created by Jo Bennett, head of buying alongside Iain Ewing, head of design; the duo set out to create a luxury label that offers relaxed confidence and celebrates femininity. They contemplated every stitch and considered each and every cut, fabric, silhouette and texture to create a 90 piece collection for launch.

Every season modern rarity will create effortless pieces that complement each other, taking a fresh look at wardrobe staples, as well as nodding to the catwalk trends. Creating unique pieces that are non prescriptive, designed to be worn in many different ways; the label offers a fluid style that the modern woman of today can make her own.

The autumn winter 16 collection features pared back tailoring, luxurious knitwear and key outerwear. The colour palette is soft and sensual featuring rich muted and blush tones. The finest materials have been utilised including Italian spun cashmere and heavy-weight sandwashed silks to create modern, well designed wardrobe staples that are rare to find, will stand the test of time and will be cherished for years to come.

Our rare finds for Autumn / Winter 16

To add to the individuality and unique spirit of the label, modern rarity will seasonally invite guest designers to collaborate and give their own twist and build on the collection for that season – creating limited edition, rare finds.

For launch, modern rarity has invited renowned, Central Saint Martin’s trained, shirt designers Levi Palmer and Matthew Harding to design five contemporary white shirts, priced from £100 to £150. The capsule range plays with the language that palmer//harding have built their reputation on; innovative pattern, cutting and draping techniques along with internal belting, all features which have made an appearance to create modern, impeccably crafted shirts that focus on structure, volume and silhouette.

Jo Bennett, head of womenswear buying for John Lewis, comments,

“To shape the modern rarity label, we set off with a mantra of ‘fewer, better pieces’, with the knowledge that our customers are wanting quality pieces that have design substance. We wanted to create a brand that could cater for everyday modern classics in a luxe way – pieces that are thoughtful, beautifully designed and crafted with care. I want our customers to feel that they are investing in a collection that celebrates and helps them to continue to build their own style.

“We are also really looking forward to exploring and building modern rarity with friends every season and are delighted to be launching with the renowned “shirt boys,” palmer//harding. Their brand resonated many of the same values as modern rarity – attention to cut, quality and detail, combined with a true passion for interesting design and intriguing silhouettes. We cannot wait to bring their designs exclusively to our John Lewis customers.”

The 90 piece modern rarity collection is exclusively available in all John Lewis shops and online at www.johnlewis.com. Prices within the modern rarity collection range from £50 for a jersey roll neck to £900 for a long shearling coat.