Witchery has released its first-ever designer capsule collection with Australian fashion royalty, Kym Ellery.
The 35-piece, limited-edition collection features a new interpretation of the silhouettes synonymous with Ellery, inspired by Parisian couture - where Kym Ellery is now based.
The idea for the collaboration emerged through COVID, Witchery MD Simon Schofield told Ragtrader, after the brand had time to explore the concept fully.
"We've been talking about designer collaborations for a little bit and we've always thought it would be something that would be wanted to explore.
"It's another of those things that came out of lockdown, after having that little bit of time to reassess," he said.
On choosing the first collaborator, Schofield said the brand admired Ellery's work and felt it aligned with the Witchery aesthetic.
"A lot of my team have long admired Kym's work, and we really felt that her structural, clean, sculpted aesthetic had a real synergy with what we do at Witchery.
"So we were absolutely thrilled when she said yes," he said.
From there, the wheels were in motion.
However, with the challenges of COVID and an international collaboration, Schofield said the project took 12 months to come to fruition.
"It was a bit backwards and forwards and doing everything virtually with Kym in Paris and us here in Melbourne," he said.
"A lot of late-night Zoom calls and packages flying across the world," Schofield commented.
But the late nights paid off, with the collection launching early to members on March 09 and to the general public on March 10.
Priced from $59.95 to $349.95 the collection offers customers luxury styles at Witchery prices.
Schofield said his picks of the collection include the fringe dress, the tailored flare pant and an ombre print shirt.
"Kym's been so generous by going back to her archives and what she's known for and allowing us a glimpse back to that in this collection.
"These pieces really hark back to some of those amazing Parisian runways that we've seen from Kym over the years," Schofield said.
Anticipating a strong success with its first designer collaboration, Witchery already has another in the works, Schofield added.
"We're looking at first samples of that at the moment and we're aiming to launch it some time later in the year," he said.
Before that though, Witchery will launch its annual White Shirt Campaign, which will again be in partnership with a designer, following the first co-designed shirt by Toni Maticevski in 2021.