Conner Ives has been a name of note for some time. The American-born, London-based designer tallied some major career moments before even graduating from Central Saint Martins and his fashion trajectory has ascended ever since.
Dressing Adwoa Aboah for the Met Gala in 2017 kickstarted his global exposure, but it was Rihanna who really got the wheels turning. The singer was an early fan of Ives’s deconstructed T-shirt dresses, which remain a brand signature to this day, and recruited him as one of the inaugural members of her Fenty design team.
With Rihanna’s seal of approval, Conner has continued to produce reconstituted dresses made from deadstock T-shirts that he carefully pieces together. Working with the oversized fits of the original tees, he mixes and matches graphics to create an entirely new garment – albeit one with sustainable credentials.
Nowadays, he sources all tees by hand, scouring vintage wholesale warehouses up and down the UK for pieces that he can transform into gems. Customers can rest assured knowing that every T-shirt in production is hand-picked by Conner or a member of his team. For Conner, the hunt is the “best part of the process; as you rarely ever see a T-shirt twice,” he explains. “Some are hilarious, some are bizarre. It’s a testament to us as a society; I guess we would put anything on a T-shirt. It’s such a literal and direct form of communication; I love it.” The fit is important, too. “With this dress, I really wanted to capture the comfort and ease of a broken in T-shirt but in a dress,” he says.
Unsurprisingly, they’re a bestseller. British Vogue’s commerce director Naomi Smart has been wearing Conner’s T-shirt dresses for several years – from Vogue House to dinner and beyond. “It’s safe to say that my Conner Ives cycle dress is the most worn dress in my wardrobe,” she says. In place of conventional maternity wear, she sported the stretchy versions of the dresses, that are made from upcycled spandex cycle jerseys, throughout her pregnancy. “Conner’s dresses are seasonless, timeless, and have taken me from work events, road trips in France and Ibiza to pregnancy (can’t beat that stretch!) and back again.”
The wider Vogue team have followed suit. Deputy director of Vogue’s global fashion network, Laura Ingham, and shopping editor Jess Gerardi have bought into the recent drop, and have worn them on more than one occasion to the office. “It’s the perfect day-to-night summer number,” says Jess. “I’ve fallen for the sleeveless style, which I wear with short-shorts or trousers.”
Conner credits the success of the T-shirt dresses to the ingenious simplicity of the design. “I think they represent what I stand for so perfectly,” he asserts. “Regenerated items, a bit of wit and humour, all in a simple silhouette that is simultaneously entirely unique.” The best part? You never know which one you’re going to get.
Expect drops of the four-panel T-shirt dress styles later on in the year, and head to Conner’s e-shop to browse pieces from the new autumn/winter 2022 collection: from scarf tops to shirting and tees.
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Originally posted from “British VOGUE” by Alice Cary
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