The Yellow World Is Bringing an Intimate Retail Experience Back
Growing up in West London, Evie Henderson developed a love of shopping at a young age. “I used to act when I was little and when I got my first ever paycheck, I went to Marc Jacobs children and spent all my money,” she recalls, “It’s just always been something I loved—buying nice things and cherishing them.”
A stint as a shop girl in Alex Eagle’s Chelsea store cemented Henderson’s fascination with the anthropological and imaginative possibilities of a good boutique. “I just really loved watching how she curated things, how different people were drawn to different things, and the relationships they built with shopping,” she muses. “I was talking to my godmother about how she saw a coat at Dover Street Market and was like, it was literally winking at me. It was whispering to me that when the designer made it, they were thinking of me.”
Some years later, the London It-girl is putting her obsession to good use. During the first lockdown, Henderson introduced The Yellow World, a curated Instagram shop with twelve capsule collections a year, designed in partnership with Henderson. Each month, Henderson drops a special, limited edition collaboration with a different independent designer. This might be last summer’s tangerine and bubble gum pink bikinis created with Hailey Bieber-favorite Hunza G, lace pink lingerie designed with Fruity Booty (launched last week), or a set of bum candle holders in dusty rose and burgundy from cult ceramics maker Anissa Kermiche.
Camille Charriere debuted her homeware collection—a set of artful plates with ceramicist Laetitia Rouget and Henderson—on The Yellow World. Antoine Peduzzi and Luisa Orsini, the Franco-Italian design duo behind elegant knitwear and bag line TL-180, introduced youthful halters, minis and flared hand-knit trousers during Paris Fashion Week.
“She has a strong and unique vision and knows how to communicate it,” the best friends Peduzzi and Orsini say of Henderson. “We are really connected and everything is so easy and natural between us.”
There’s an attention to color and a playfulness to the capsule collections, each of which has a small run or is made to order to guarantee the uniqueness of the items.
“All the jewelry will be made to order but there will be a maximum people can get,” explains Henderson, mentioning that clothes come in runs of 50-100. “With Rosa De La Cruz, I designed a sunshine ring, and ten can be made. Jewelry is a really personal thing. I think it’s one of the only things you can wear from 18 to 80. Personally, I don’t want to have the same jewelry as everyone else.”
In many ways, The Yellow World is a return to an intimate and curated approach to shopping more common in earlier eras—an anti-mass produced, anti-fast fashion contemporary alternative. It may just be the most modern and sustainable way to shop today. (That Henderson finds many of her designers via Instagram is not a shock).
Some projects are very personal – Henderson created The Yellow World’s Sophie Keegan collab, a collection of gold jewelry inspired by her favorite Australian flower, because she couldn’t visit her family back in Australia.
We can look forward to a line of shirts with buzzy Turkish brand Siedrés (Emily Ratakowski is a fan), a new release with Hunza G (two unique styles), and perhaps most exciting of all, in-person pop-ups around the world.
“I think that’s something people really miss,” says Henderson. “I don’t think there’s really much special shops that people go to and find gems or discover smaller gems. Those places are few and far between now. By having the pop-ups, you get to meet the designers and they get to tell you their stories and then you become more invested in the pieces you’re buying. Then, subconsciously you might look after it better.”
You Might Also Like
