






Leandra selected two pieces to create her ‘Archivist look.’ The first was an organic patchwork knit from AW04 inspired by the 1967 French film 'Belle du Jour'. The second was a panelled lace and hammered silk dress from ss09 inspired by the 1969 film ‘Easy Rider’.
For this Archivist project Leandra worked with Justin and Thea to create the perfect synergy of her style and that of Preens
the combination of weights and fabrics, attracted Leandra to the SS09 dress, with its sheer lace panels and body sculpting structure, through development this became a modern corded French lace and the softest cashmere knit in the colour pallet of AW04 navy, bottle green and grey marl, the result is an effortlessly cool sweater that can be worn throughout the year, from day to evening. We love it and hope you will too.
Editor at Large for Porter Magazine, Columnist at the Edit and Co-Founder of Talitha.
Kim selected three pieces to combine into her ‘ultimate preen look’ The Print taken from AW10, a delicate floral print with black lace inspired by Peter Saville’s album artwork for New Order. She loved the original dress but couldn’t get hold of it, so when she was invited to work with Justin and Thea on her outfit it was the one piece she was looking out for specifically in amongst the archive rails. Secondly she wanted a piece to harden up the silk floral dress. She gravitated towards checked wool coat from AW08 which has a grunge feeling as inspiration for that collection was Kurt Cobain’s 90s style. Keeping the shearling collar, originally from the check coat she then went on to select the silhouette of a coat from AW07.
Kim describes herself as ‘Allergic to matching.’ These two prints, which on paper should not work together, in this instance complement each other so effortlessly. Her look is a true representation of both herself as well as a combination of two of the most signature iconic Preen styles.
The Preen Archivist Project was conceived out numerous requests for Archived Preen styles from past seasons, as well as comments like, 'I still love that wool check coat from AW 09 its my fall back coat every winter' and 'Please can you try to find me one of the yellow Norma dress's from Pre fall 12’.
Thea and Justin worked with key industry women and fashions ambassadors, that they know and respect for both their personal style and modern attitude.
Each Archivist was invited to delve into the Preen archives, working with Justin and Thea to select pieces they loved, prints they remembered, silhouettes that worked for their individual styles, combining designs and seasons together, some times mixing as many as 4 different collections, taking a print or embroidery from one, a coat from a winter collection, a dress from a spring summer and a fabric from another. To create their ultimate Preen look, there were no restrictions.
Each Archivist came with an idea of what they wanted but this often changed as they delved deeper. The final pieces are a true representation of both Preen designs throughout the years and the individual personal styles of each. All Preen Archivist bring a different attitude and strength, all have fantastic personal style, all are truly modern women; we are honoured to be working with all of them. Thea and Justin have loved working on this Project and found it both rewarding and inspiring in equal measure, we hope you love having the opportunity to own one of these unique and limited edition pieces as much as we loved creating them.
Each outfit will be available in Limited edition runs, exclusively on our e-commerce shop, launching fortnightly with a new Preen Archivist.
Sarah Harris Fashion Features Director at British Vogue has such effortless style, that Thea and Justin were thrilled when she agreed to become the 1st Preen Archivist. Sarah wanted a look that was timeless and easy something that she can just throw on for work, weekend, day or night, She selected a grunge inspired plaid print from AW08, a silk pocketed blouse from the SS08, pairing this with a fluid maxi skirt from SS11. Working with Sarah to design the perfect ‘Harris’ look has been an amazingly inspirational process, the result is a perfect amalgamation of the classic Preen style and Sarah's personal style.