& Daughter debuts the perfect dress collection
What makes a perfect dress? It’s a subject that & Daughter founder Buffy Reid pored over when she decided to go beyond her signature knitwear to create her debut range of dresses.
Talking about nice dresses might seem ill-advised and frivolous during a pandemic, but – if, if, we do decide to get out of our loungewear and into something that we might once have worn outside - then Reid’s new dress collection would be a good place to start. Comfortable, flattering and timeless, there is a relaxed ease to the pieces that suit not only our newfound world of self-isolation, but will also feel fresh and exciting to wear in front of others when lockdown finally ends.
“Base fabrication is so important, and sometimes in the past the womenswear industry hasn’t concentrated on that,” says Reid. “It has to stand the wear. You don’t want something that, after an hour, makes you really hot because it’s made of synthetics, or it’s easily creased and once you’ve washed it, it always looks rubbish. Cut is so important too, it has to be flattering and define your shape in certain ways. It also has to be comfortable. The moment you find that balance is when you find something really beautiful.”
Reid launched & Daughter in 2013, after working as a publicist at Gap for many years. Turning to design wasn’t a complete plot twist – her fashion career had started with a masters in fashion at Central Saint Martins and her father had worked in knitwear for most of his life, serving as a sales director wholesaling Donegal tweeds and Scottish cashmere to stores such as Browns. Eventually, the two joined forces to set up & Daughter, specialising in knitwear.
You won’t find directional, trend-led items at & Daughter, but rather forever pieces that you will always want in your wardrobe – an Aran knit or an oversized cashmere jumper. The label’s best-seller is the purposely loose Fintra roll-neck with exaggerated longer sleeves and dropped shoulders, which has been restocked four times since September.
“When people find us, they become quite committed,” says Reid. “They test the product, they wear it all the time, then they’ll come back and say, ‘I’ve been wearing this constantly for the past two months.’ That for us defined who we were – useful things, beautifully made. The idea is that you wear this a lot, that it’ll work in your lifestyle, in your existing wardrobe and it’ll work just as well this year as it will next year.”
In the same way she spotted a gap in high-quality, classic knitwear that didn’t come with eyewatering high price tags, she recognised the same issue with dresses.
“My friends and I were endlessly looking for that dress to invest in, but a £300 investment rather than an £800 investment,” she said. “But, I still wanted quality in terms of material and fabric. It needed to look as good at the end of the day as it did the start. We began designing everyday dresses that have a special quality. They’re made with women in mind – they have pockets for example.”
Fabrics are made using organic cottons, as well as surplus materials from previous collections, a testament to the company’s long-standing focus on sustainable and creating pieces made to last. Volume is also key to & Daughter dresses, from sleeveless black midi dresses to white puff sleeve styles.
“There had to be a joy in wear,” says Reid. “Sometimes as women we feel quite constricted by clothes. Trousers sometimes, at certain points in your life, feel uncomfortable. There is a joy in a dress that has volume and a heaviness to the fabrication because it’s very freeing.
“We want to deliver a need,” she concludes. “This isn’t just about mindless consumerism.”
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