Lover is an Australian

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

label launched in 2001 by designers Susien Chong and Nic Briand. The label began as a weekend stall at Bondi Markets"Loving It" - Who Magazine
with a ten-piece collection of random separates. Since then, Lover has risen to prominence in Australia and internationally. In November, 2017, it went into voluntary administration while administrators

Ferrier Hodgson Ferrier Hodgson was a firm specialising in corporate recovery, corporate advisory, forensic accounting and forensic IT. The firm has a specialist management consulting arm called Azurium. Ferrier Hodgson was established in 1976. It became on ...

assess the financial position of the company ahead of the pursuit of a prospective sale.

Background

Lover's collections all draw upon inspirations from the worlds of art, music, film and pop culture. Designer Nic Briand says each collection "has a narrative and central character".Refinery29 "Behind the Collection: Lover
Influences on the duo include

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran� ...

, early

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

films, Black Flag,

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

. Nic Briand's influences tend to be "heavier" such as the

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close affili ...

, comic books and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

, whereas Susien Chong's are "softer" elements such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'', ballet and

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the Billboard Magazine, ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like M ...

.Susien and Nic

Collections

Melodies (SS 2004)

Features a palette of cream, pale blue and black with polka-dot motifs and the Lover trademark oversized buttons. ''Influences:'' *

Meg White Megan Martha White (born December 10, 1974) is an American former musician and singer who was the drummer of Detroit rock duo The White Stripes. Her music career began when, on a whim, she played on her future White Stripes bandmate Jack White' ...

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career of ...

Miss Francoise (AW 2004)

Black, white, red and midnight blues are used, with oversized buttons and satin. The collection has a masculine edge with pieces such as crisp white shirts, cuffed wide-legged pants and suspenders.

Broken Hearts (SS 2005)

The Broken Hearts collection features tailored, classic, simple staples in a basic palette of black and white with splashes of red and pink. Lace began to creep into their designs with an off the shoulder number that was featured in

Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...

magazine (US). Chong has commented that she was inspired by "lovelorn girls working their way through the crowds at gigs around Sydney".Susien Chong

Performance (AW 2005)

Performance tells "the story of a shy schoolgirl violin player who is awakened by the sounds of her brother's

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

and

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

records" according to Nic Briand. ''Influences:'' *

Freaks and Geeks ''Freaks and Geeks'' is an American teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season. The show is set in a suburban high school near Detr ...

Ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

* 1970s Rock

Black Magick (SS 2006)

Pinstriped denim cuffed shorts and the "it" dress of the season, the white lace Black Magick dress. Velvets, denim and folk-influenced floral trimmings made this collection hippie. ''Influences:'' *

Folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed a series of nine murders at four loca ...

Tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...

Cards *1960s

Lover Loves Levi's (March 2006)

The jeans featured an oversized button to fasten the jeans, a black

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

patch on the back, contrast stitching and a Lover monogrammed lining along the inner waistband. The jeans were made in a limited edition of 1,000 pairs. The jeans were accompanied by a tote bag featuring the Lover monogram and a key ring with a large button motif. Lover was drawn to the collaboration with the denim giant due to the fact that "Levis rock'n'roll youth culture heritage was a perfect fit with the mood of" their A/W About A Girl collection.

About a Girl (AW 2006)

About A Girl featured bleached-out white, grey/purple plaids and black. Patterned lace tights and skivvies were the base for many of the collection's looks. Vests, pinafores, floaty blouses, playsuits, oversized buttons, cuffed shorts and a stand-out white lacy dress were the threads that linked Lover with their past collections. ''Influences:'' *

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

Black Rose Army (SS 2007)

The Black Rose Army collection depicts a transformation from innocent and "rich heiress to sex-bomb renegade"; this is the

Patty Hearst Patricia Campbell Hearst (born February 20, 1954) is the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. She first became known for the events following her 1974 kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was found a ...

story. Set to a discordant and raw soundtrack by the Kills the runway show depicts four periods in the Patty Hearst kidnapping saga. The first is innocence; represented via the use of white dresses, blouses and frocks. The next phase is Hearst at college; slogan tees, cuffed shorts, bandanas, denim and louder colour accents such as red, yellow and blue highlight this change, while the slow seeping of black into the palette suggests the darkness which will come. The third period is during her period as a fighter with the SLA; uniform-like khakis drench this radical phases pallet. The last phase is purely black, featuring black corsages to symbolise the death of Patty's innocence. ''Influences:'' *

Symbionese Liberation Army The United Federated Forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a small, American far-left organization active between 1973 and 1975; it claimed to be a vanguard movement. The FBI and American law enforcement considered the SLA to be the ...

, (SLA) *

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

in the 1960s *Nic Briand commented that Black Rose Army was influenced by the last half of

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

's documentary ''

No Direction Home ''No Direction Home: Bob Dylan'' is a 2005 documentary film by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th-century American popular music and culture. The film focuses on the period between Dylan's arrival in New ...

'' about

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

The Kills The Kills are an English-American rock duo formed by American singer Alison "VV" Mosshart and English guitarist Jamie "Hotel" Hince. They are signed to Domino Records. Their first four albums, '' Keep On Your Mean Side'', ''No Wow'', ''Midni ...

, ''

Zabriskie Point Zabriskie Point is a part of the Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 mil ...

'', the first two

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe p ...

albums,

Glen E. Friedman Glen Ellis Friedman (born March 3, 1962) is an American photographer and artist. He became known for his activities within rebellious skateboarding and music cultures. Photographing artists Fugazi, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, Minor ...

's photos of the LA punk scene, the box set of ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...

'' with Charlie Brown, Joseph Szabo's ''Teenage'', early blues players Son Lightnin Hopkins and Robert Johnson and ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televisio ...

''.

Altamont (AW 2007)

''Influences:'' * Altamont music festival *

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

*1970s

One Plus One (SS 2008)

This was a swimwear line featuring 12 styles in lace knit, French stripe or denim. Reflecting the interest in 1970s skate culture the line was intended to be "At home on the bleachers of a lazy suburban swimming pool mixed with denim jeans or sitting on the beach". To accompany the collection Lover used All-white

Vans Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...

hi-tops and Authentic Vans in white. Lover" - Oyster Magazine, Issue 72, 2007/ref> ''Influences:'' *

Dogtown and Z-Boys ''Dogtown and Z-Boys'' is a 2001 documentary film produced by Agi Orsi and directed by Stacy Peralta. The documentary explores the pioneering of the Zephyr skateboard team in the 1970s (of which Peralta was a member) and the evolving sport of ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in the 1970s * The

Z-Boys The Zephyr Competition Team (or Z-Boys) were a group of American skateboarders in the mid-1970s from Santa Monica and Venice, California. Originally consisting of 12 members, the Z-boys were originally sponsored by the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zeph ...

skating crew * 1970s skating culture *

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New H ...

3 Women ''3 Women'' is a 1977 American psychological drama film written, produced, and directed by Robert Altman and starring Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule. It depicts the increasingly bizarre, mysterious relationship between a woman (Duva ...

Harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

* Prayer of Death by Entrance *

Electric Ladyland ''Electric Ladyland'' is the third and final studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the final studio album released before Hendrix's death in 1970. A double album, it was the only record from the Experience produced by Hendrix. The ban ...

Imagine Our Love ''Imagine Our Love'' is a studio album by the Los Angeles-based folk band Lavender Diamond. It was released in May 2007 by Matador Records. Track listing #"Oh No" – 3:47 #"Garden Rose" – 5:04 #"Open Your Heart" – 3:11 #"Side of the Lord" � ...

Lavender Diamond Lavender Diamond is an American, Los Angeles-based band, fronted by singer Becky Stark. History While living in Providence, Rhode Island, Stark began performing as Lavender Diamond in a play that she and puppeteer Xander Marro wrote, created ...

Brightblack Morning Light Brightblack Morning Light is a musical group formed in Northern California by guitarist Nathan Shineywater and pianist Rachael Hughes, both of whom are from Alabama. The band has been "linked to a spirit of folky 1960's revivalism," and they were ...

Electric Ladyland (AW 2008)

Love Bomb (FW 2008/SS 2008.09)

The collection includes bell sleeves, velveteen jackets, leather short pants, neck detailing and a tailored jumpsuit.

Sacred Hearts College (FW 2008/SS 2008.09)

White Moon Rising (FW 2009/SS 2009.10)

The Harvest (SS 2010/AW 2010)

Untitled (FW 2010/SS 2010.11)

A Dance For One (SS 2011/ AW 2011)

In 2011 the label celebrated its ten-year anniversary with a runway show - its first in five years.The Australian Ten Years of Lover
/ref>

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lover (Clothing) Clothing brands Clothing brands of Australia Companies based in Sydney Clothing companies established in 2001 Retail companies established in 2001 Australian companies established in 2001