A style for the thinking woman, by way of Wall London, from Peru
Global clothing label, Wall, has a wide range of famous fans, says Hilary Alexander.
BY HILARY ALEXANDER | 22 MARCH 2010
What could the Icelandic singer Björk, 44, have in common with the aristocratic author Lady Antonia Fraser, 77, apart from the fact one wore a swan to the Oscars, and the other presumably knows all there is to know about the penchant in Tudor times for roasting them for dinner?
And what links the Hollywood actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, 51, and Harry Potter's screen mother, the British actress Geraldine Somerville, 42? Or our own Queen of Mean, Anne Robinson, 65, and Titania Hardie, the forty-something Australian author renowned for her novels about spells, fairies and witches?
What this group of diverse women have in common is that all are customers of Wall , one of fashion's better kept secrets, and often called "the thinking woman's label".
Founded in 1997 by the Peruvian-born Hernán Balcázar and his wife, Judith, now design director, Wall cleverly tapped into that market which is so often misjudged by the average high-street brand and which is all but ignored by high-priced designer labels: intelligent, high-quality, accessibly priced clothes for the woman who does not want to look like mutton dressed as lamb or fall into the 1950 trap, ie 19 from the back, 50 from the front. Wall's fashion mission also extends to being non size-specific. Most of the 50-piece spring/summer collection, for example, is available in small to large (from 8-10 to 16-18), with certain pieces available in XL (18-20). Some tops come in an all-encompassing one size.
The brand is particularly renowned for its luxury separates, such as knitwear (made and hand-finished in Peru using pima, one of the most superior blends of cotton); hand-painted, pure silk shirts; tunics and de luxe linen trousers and jackets.
There is generally a strong feeling of the East in the clothes, whether it is in the small mandarin collars and square-cuts of the jackets and one-size tops; the delicate, ikat-inspired Japanese knot-dyeing technique which gives a blurred transparency to the silks; the drape-and-fold, silk-jersey dresses or the long, shirt-over-trousers silhouette. Judith Balcázar calls it "global clothing, not designed to overtly sexualise, but which gives an accomplished elegance to the woman wearing it".
Despite the emphasis on quality and hand-finish, the prices remain well within the sensible range: a linen/cotton, hand-finished cardigan is £129; a pure silk, modern art-print, ''oblong'' shirt, £119; and a silk, halter-neck, mid-calf dress in the knot-dye technique, £185.
The couple can keep their prices reasonable by working with independent, small manufacturers and cottage industries in South America, China, Mongolia and Europe.
"When we started, the business plan was underpinned by our experience of living and working in Peru. We wanted to do something that could create more employment," says Hernán Balcázar. "We also have a stringent code of conduct. Our aim is to improve conditions in the supply chain and to be responsible for our role. Employers must agree to ensure conditions for workers are safe, that they are paid a living wage and that they can work free from harassment. Wall will never use suppliers who are unwilling to meet these standards."
It's now so much the company's fashion philosophy that customers see this social conscience as an intrinsic part of the product they are buying. "Wall's clothes will not be found on the high street," says Hernán, "because we are not interested in making disposable fashion."
Wall London, 1 Denbigh Road, Notting Hill, W11 2SJ; www.wall-london.com; 0844 850 7373
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