words Alexa Wang
I found myself really drawn to the Rabbit label on seeing the latest collection ‘Lovesick’. The clothes are the stuff of fairytales and magic. They are all about craft and wonderful materials which clash and enhance when worn together,
The label is all the work of Sophie Spratley the 25-year-old Graduate of Kingston School of Art. She grew up in a rural town called Marlow on the river Thames. Some of her earliest memories are of climbing tress in the local forest and tending the family allotment as she grew up.
There is a vintage quality to the clothes. They are influenced by different eras of history and imagined tales of yore. Sophie takes her approach from the ideas behind the Arts and Crafts movement that her grandfather studied. She favours techniques powered by the body including screen printing, crochet and domestic knitting. They have a crafted quality to them which is part of the aesthetic but also part fo the ethos behind the label. For AW22 all of rabbit’s knitwear has been handmade by the designer and her assistants, whilst the dresses and bodysuits have been produced by hand at a tiny atelier in the leafy British countryside.
Sustainability is also important as is the sourcing of materials. The textures and feel of the materials are supposed to be a sensual and sensory experience. British Shetland wool. Luxurious silk velvet meets cotton muslin on the empire line hem of the alluring Cidella dress.
Her twisting and telling of fantastical tales continues with her latest collection ‘Lovesick’ where the charm and craft, as always, shines through.
fashion 
