VivaSync

Since sweeping the board during Awards season this year, with her extraordinary directorial debut, Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell has been the name on everyone’s lips. But, while the double BAFTA and Oscar winner may be dominating headlines across the world, there is another lesser known Promising Young Fennell, Emerald’s talented fashion designer sister, Coco, 32.

Coco’s eponymous labelis famed for fun, easy-to-wear vintage-inspired garments (think Rixo and Reformation style frocks and cute t-shirts) and is a cult hit amongst the A-list, with her designs having been worn by the likes of Rihanna, Kylie Minogue and also appeared on Carey Mulligan as Cassie in her sister’s award-winning film. The Fennell sisters grew up in West London and went to boarding school (Kate Middleton and Jack Whitehall’s alma mater, Marlborough College,) in Wiltshire.

Creativity runs in the girls’ veins as their parents are both highly successful; their father, Theo, is the celebrated society jeweler beloved by Elton John and the Beckhams and their mother, Louise, a successful author. And while they may have had a gilded upbringing, there is no denying the Fennell sisters talent, drive and passion.

GLAMOUR caught up with Coco from her East London studio to learn all about her background, upbringing and fashion label and how her sister’s encounter with Paris Hilton on Oscars night (and posted on her Instagram) was, for her, almost ‘better’ than her sibling taking home the coveted golden statuette.

Coco, thank you so much for speaking to us and also obviously, massive congratulations to your sister!

Thank you, I know, it's mad! We spoke to her like the next day, but it's just so surreal! I don't know if we can ever get our heads around it.

And meeting Paris Hilton too all on the same night!

[Laughing] Oh my! that was almost better, wasn't it? That is like a 2003 fever dream of mine. You're at the Oscars. You got your Oscar. You met Paris Hilton!

Obviously, while the world now knows who Emerald is, we're really interested in hearing about the other Fennell sister: the superstar fashion designer. Tell us how you got into it?

After school, I did a foray of terrible courses that I was really bad at. And then I did a graphic design course, which I really loved. And from that, it was something I started as a side business while I was doing graphic design work. I didn't ever think it would grow to what it is now. I wanted to make clothes that I didn’t really think were on the market at that moment, which were affordable, fun and super flattering dresses. And that's always been my ethos: things that make you feel good; things that if you're having a bad day, you don't worry about it being too tight or unflattering. With my graphic design knowledge, I set up the website and had a friend photograph another friend in my flat [in the dresses]. And it was all quite lo-fi, and then it just took off! It’s now in its 10th year, so I'm doing a 10-year archive collection this September, which will be fun.

How has your business been during the pandemic?

What’s great is it’s all still online, so over lockdown, it’s been amazing no to be beholden to big shops. It's been really busy and I think people have been very kind supporting smaller businesses, and also buying online of course. It's been very affirming. I feel very much more sure in my path, since the pandemic actually.

Describe your aesthetic and what's your inspiration?

The aesthetic is vintage inspired. I love embroidery and florals and ginghams. Anything that’s fun and doesn't take itself too seriously, that’s comfortable and flattering and you can wear it daytime or nighttime.

And you've got this amazing home as well that has it’s own Instagram account, would you consider doing home interiors?

That's something that I would love to do, but it's not something I'm doing at the moment. I just love collecting things. I just love like kitsch stuff and memorabilia, and Americana and neon. Just anything mad.

Watching Promising Young Woman, it feels like a lot of the style and the aesthetic of the film was very similar to your look. And also you dressed Carey Mulligan too?

Emerald very kindly like asked if I could send stuff in, but I didn't have any say on what they would use. I didn't know if they were going to use anything until the early rushes. So that was super exciting and was fun to see it on film.

They pulled a stylist, Nancy Steiner, who's amazing and has done films like The Virgin Suicidesand they used a dress and a T-shirt, which I made, it's a collaboration with an artist called Ceal Warnants. The T-shirt is a little boy with a gun on his back with a deer who's been shot. It sounds awful, but all of Ceal's work looks like a kind of Enid Blyton illustration. They're all like a dark fairy tale. It resonated with the theme of the film actually, I didn’t really think about that until later, but it fitted well. It's great because I think it really fits the aesthetic of the film. I suppose [Emerald and I] just have a similar aesthetic.

You come from a super creative and talented family. Growing up, did your parents instil in you and your sister anything for you both to become so successful?

I suppose seeing them and being around them must've inspired us in some way, but I think it's just that we're all really, really close and we're all great friends amongst family. We just got along so well that I think that the nurturing environment, and the love, and the support, and the trust between us gave us the confidence to go on our own paths.

Who are your creative inspirations today?

So many people. I have so many friends that are in creative industries that are different from mine. My family are amazing too, and other clothing brands. I love all the stuff of Rixo and Reformation. To be honest, I just love any vintage prints or designers.

I heard that your mum's eighties wardrobe was an inspiration to you as well?

Oh my God, stunning. She was just like beehive and big glasses. Maybe she'd given up smoking by then, but let's say like Patsy Stone, but not drunk!

It's a really interesting time for women at the moment. What makes you feel empowered and what have you noticed in your industry that you'd like to change?

I think it's so amazing that so many of my female friends have their own businesses. And I think it's so freeing that we can have these online businesses and work for ourselves. And potentially if you want to have kids, you could do your business around it. I feel like really big goalposts have changed and fashion is becoming so much more inclusive and diverse. It's a very much more friendly, lovely, inclusive vibe compared to when I first started.

Even from my Instagram, I just feel like there's such a lovely, nurturing friendship between girls in business and girls with other brands. I know it can be a really toxic space, but for me I've found it really lovely.

So what next? Would you ever want to do like costume design on film?

I think I'd probably leave that to the pros because it's such a hard job. I want to increase the amount of collections I do every year. And I would absolutely love to do like homewares at some point, but at the moment I'm just very happy sticking to what I know.

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