September 23, 2021 3 min read
I am Lucia Hatten – the founder and designer behind Lucia Josephine. Firstly, I just wanted to thank you so sincerely for following along our brand journey for the last couple of years. It truly warms my heart to have your continued support. I started my label six years ago to provide a different offering to the fashion landscape in an industry where "fast fashion" was at its peak. This began with a simple vision: To provide custom and quality occasion-wear to the everyday woman.
Through this journey, my drive led to genuine connections with women who had a strong sense of their aesthetic and appreciated high-quality fashion. I had a deep passion for those who were uncompromising in their pursuit of individuality, and who were advocates of transparent and ethical production practices. These values continue to drive the brand today.
From here, my dream quickly led me to open a small sample room with a beautiful team of talented couturiers in my mother’s birth country, Manila, Philippines, and so the journey continued. In those first few years my intention was for each woman who put on their custom piece to look at themselves with a new form of desire: self-love and adoration; and I wanted my pieces to complement and empower them for any occasion. Now, with our entire production based in Australia (a difficult decision due to COVID-19), we have made this dream come to life online.
Led by my value for connection, I took this process slowly. I knew the next chapter would be a defining moment for our brand – the pivotal next step - making the leap from bespoke orders to online. It was so important to not compromise and get it right. Having produced so many beautiful pieces and being fortunate to showcase them in fashion weeks locally and abroad, I wanted to ensure that I wasn’t contributing to the noise of the fashion industry - by producing bulk pieces in a world that doesn’t really need more clothes. Through my reflection, I struggled to reconcile with the possible waste that traditional RTW models produce (an exponential volume that has seen a rapid increase in the last decade or so), but a waste I always felt I was not contributing to with our custom offering.
So, I took my time in making sure I was opening my online store & RTW ranges with a clear purpose, as I didn’t want to be just another stale e-commerce site. This wasn’t easy, holding off on selling my garments, and facing confusion from my makers and industry peers asking, “Where is your next collection?” (When I had barely marketed my first), was challenging – but then COVID-19 struck, and the pandemic-induced industry took a step back to catch their breath – confirming that it was okay to take the time to reflect, before we opened our LJ doors online. In fact, watching stores being overloaded with deadstock fabrics and surplus stock, I felt assured that we weren’t one of them.
Re-introducing Lucia Josephine, and experience shopping digitally with us. Our new website is based on YOU, as a customer, to ensure that shopping online will never compromise the heritage of custom that we provide here at Lucia Josephine. Everything you will see has been deeply explored and thoughtfully curated to ensure your experience shopping online with Lucia Josephine remains fun, open, honest, and experimental.
I’m so excited to welcome you to celebrate with us on these three beautiful Chapters. Whilst you may see some familiar looking pieces online, the difference is that we have handpicked and evolved each of these garments from their first debut. On our website we show art meeting commerce, allowing you to purchase from our world through an editorial and fully customisable lens. Each and every piece is produced as a made to order garment, in line with our custom heritage and keeping our carbon footprint in check!
Today and ongoing, craftsmanship and fit will remain at the core of our label. We will draw inspiration through conceptualised ideas of what it is to be desired today. It's an exciting sneak peek at the beginning of our next chapter, and a hint toward what is still to come. Exploring a new brand direction through our latest collection, Chapter III "The Queens Reign.”
We appreciate your support for our independent label more than you know.
Lucia x