According to Rebecca Hessel Cohen, these are the house codes of LoveShackFancy: pink, bows, lace, tulle and flowers. Every LoveShackFancy design has at least one. Most have two. Hell, some have three or even four. “More is more for us,” said Cohen. “Our girl is going from day to night and bringing out all the stuff. There’s no stopping her.”
She often uses the term “girls.” Part of this is to be factual. LoveShackFancy attracts a wide age range, including teens. Head to any of their stores—17 worldwide and counting—and you’ll see daughters shopping with their mothers, and vice versa. (“Babies to eighties,” said Cohen of her clientele.)
It’s also because in the LoveShackFancy universe—filled with tea parties, tiered cakes, and historically-revised Marie Antoinettes who are carefree and un-guillotined—is supposed to be aspirational in its blissful, romantic-bohemian lifestyle. “Women” implies some sense of adult responsibility, some seriousness. It’s not the word you use for a brand that’s built on fun and frivolity. This brand is meant for the Wendys in Neverland that, just for a moment, want to escape the feeling of grown up. “We have the good girls and the not so good girls— but then they’re still good girls,” Cohen said.
Yet, for her fall 2024 collection, it was women that Cohen wanted to appeal to more. She balanced all the pink with some black, for starters. It was still done in a LoveShackFancy way: a leather jacket’s belt was tied with a bow, another was lined with pink shearling. A minidress came with a tulle skirt, a lace bodice with floral paillettes, and a bow. (Four codes and counting.) Then there was the corsetry. One of her idols, Betsy Johnson, told Cohen a few years back that she needed to “step up her corset game.” So Cohen studied the fashions of Parisian cabaret dancers during the Victorian era and the années folles. Then she went to work.
LoveShackFancy’s corsets were certainly more tame than their historical counterparts, coming in ballet pinks, creams, and bridal whites. Some show a playful innocence. Others felt oddly juvenile, especially a pink-and-floral corset mini dress with bows and a lace skirt. There’s a fine line between coquettish and childish.
