Lulu Guinness returns to London Fashion Week with Surrealist lips

Lulu Guinness is back at London Fashion Week after more than a decade away.

The British accessories label marked the return with a breakfast presentation at Fortnum & Mason, the London department store. The event appears on the official London Fashion Week schedule as an invite-only accessories presentation, London Fashion Week schedule.

The centrepiece was a Surrealist-inspired sculpture based on her signature lips design, WWD. Guests saw it alongside the new collection it inspired. The brand is also running a pop-up at Fortnum & Mason to sell the range.

The lips started in 2004 as a crimson snakeskin clutch. That shape became the label's calling card. The new version keeps the pout but softens it into a more rounded, sculptural form.

That sculpture has now been turned into a series of clutches in rainbow colours and metallic shades. The wider collection also includes glossy, crinkled leather handbags. Prices on luluguinness.com run from £225 to £395.

Jewellery is part of the offer too. The line includes demi-fine gold jewellery, meaning gold-plated pieces made to be worn daily, including tiny lip stud earrings, a gold cuff and a statement necklace.

Film played a role in the presentation. Guinness made a retro-style short inspired by images from Man Ray and his Surrealist associates. It nods to the art movement, the early 20th-century circle known for strange, dreamlike images, that sits behind the new lips.

There is also a tote called the “Delulu”. It is made from recycled materials and carries an antique-looking needlepoint print.

The business behind the return has a new hand at the tiller. Managing director is Jo Staveley, formerly of Cath Kidston, the British retailer known for floral prints.

What makes this stand out is the direct link from artwork to product. One sculpture, many bags. For shoppers, this means the Fashion Week moment is already on sale, in store and online.