Evie from Evie and Anna The Label: A Conversation
1. Your first collection, The Power Collection, is full of double breasted jackets, peak lapels and pinstripes. It's a fantastic combination of modern style mixed with almost Italian mafia characteristics, like femme fatale meets mob boss. What was the process that goes into designing your suits, and what was the inspiration for this collection?
Designing a suit collection is quite complex compared to designing other garments. It takes a lot of precision when trying to nail the fit, length, feel, fabric and small details. For us, it’s been quite a long process because we have worked with suits our whole adult lives and we really get obsessed with the small things.
For example, Where the tag is put, and how big will we make the internal pocket? Does the fabric stretch enough for our customer to be comfortable? Is the lining luxurious enough?
We test ran everything with our friends and finally came up with a perfect product. We wanted to separate ourselves from the rest of the market, with quality being a major point of difference with our pieces.
It’s one thing to say your product is such high quality, but another to really mean it. Producing a garment that isn’t high end quality is just not acceptable for us.
A lot of our design inspiration comes from 80’s and 90’s movies, but the inspiration to start the entire brand was from our grandma. She is a woman that has been through so much, yet manages to make life look so effortless. She’s a boss lady in our eyes, not to mention the most creative little 4 foot 11 designing genius you can come across.
2. Is your grandmother still involved in the business after inspiring you so much as young adults?
Our grandma is still involved in the business and makes all our first samples before we send them overseas. She is such an asset to have in our business and she loves what she does, not to mention she really understands the brand aesthetic and as a 76 year old she has some amazing style. She is like the older version of both of us.
3. What makes for a good suit?
You know it’s a good suit when it’s your go-to. When all other outfits fail, you run to that suit because it always has your back. You feel taller, stronger and more powerful - ready to conquer the world around you.
These suits all have certain things in common: the shoulders fit perfectly, making you look really sharp, the lapel is usually peaked and not too slim, while the fabric is wool or a wool blend instead of polyester, and the length is perfect for your body type, and you are so comfortable in it because the person who made it actually gave a shit about what they were creating.
4. Ultimate suiting outfit on a woman?
The ultimate suit look on a woman is a wide peak lapel, double breasted blazer with nothing but a bra underneath and flared trousers to match.
5. What can we expect in the future for Evie and Anna?
You should expect to see new British fabrics and new suit cuts from us soon. We will continue as a suit brand. We want to be the brand that all women run to and remember when it’s time for a new suit.