Elizabeth Stewart, the international celebrity stylist, is collaborating on a capsule collection for Lilysilk, which is known for luxurious silk clothing, sleepwear and home essentials.
The capsule, which includes 11 styles, will launch Friday online at lilysilk.com and at Lilysilk’s first flagship at 654 Hudson Street in the Meatpacking District in Manhattan.
Stewart, who has styled A-list celebrities such as Cate Blanchett, Julia Roberts, Gal Gadot and Sandra Bullock, knows a thing or two about making people look good. After starting her career in the Paris office of WWD and W Magazine, Stewart spent 12 years at the New York Times Magazine and Style Section before moving to Los Angeles and launching her celebrity styling career 20 years ago.
Asked how she got together with Lilysilk, Stewart said, “They’re a great blouse resource. I was using their blouses for my clients. I try to do as much as I can to be sustainable. I try to make it an opportunity and not a burden. I noticed in starting to work with them [Lilysilk] they do their best in using sustainable suppliers, they’re a member of GOTS (The Global Organic Textile Standards) and I like that.”
Founded in 2010, Lilysilk is based in China.
In designing the collection, Stewart was thinking a lot about herself and her own lifestyle and designed a couple of travel outfits. “My favorite piece is very me, it’s a denim wide-leg pant and matching jacket that’s kind of finished. I just finished a trip that was London, Paris, Palm Beach and then New York and then back here [L.A.] two days ago. I didn’t wear it because I want to save it for someone else to wear, but it’s the kind of thing that is sort of comfortable on a plane but looks finished.” She said she wouldn’t call it a sweatsuit, but it’s more of a leisure suit.
A look by Lilysilk x Elizabeth Stewart.
Courtesy of Lilysilk x Elizabeth Stewart
The other thing she thought about was creating clothing that’s perfect to wear on Zoom. She said Lilysilk has a lot of neutral colors in their collection but in their collaboration, they gave her fantastic colors such as bright turquoise and hot pink for pajama-based looks that would look good on a Zoom, said Stewart.
To create the capsule, she used deadstock fabrics and mismatched prints to create some of the pajama looks.
A look by Lilysilk x Elizabeth Stewart.
Courtesy of Lilysilk
In fact, she has been encouraging her clients to rewear clothes. “The red carpet world, which is mostly my world, has to be the latest thing off the runway, and it has to be brand new. It just makes no sense and it certainly doesn’t promote what we all want to do which is reduce waste and minimize the carbon footprint,” said Stewart.
“In the celebrity world, for every look you see someone wear, there are probably 10 you’ve assembled to try on. I’ve been trying to pull locally rather than have something pulled in from Europe,” she said. In New York, she tries to use New York designers.
The capsule will carry the logo on the collar that says, “Lilysilk x Elizabeth Stewart.”
Her collection will retail from $149 to $309, and sizes range from XS to XL.
Stewart said she’s never designed an apparel collection before, but she has done several shoe collaborations. “I haven’t done clothes. It’s a collaboration, for sure. I’m not a designer,” said Stewart. “When I collaborate with a designer for a red carpet, I’m certainly not designing it.” She said when she works with designers, she’ll ask them to do it in a particular color or shape.
Lilysilk’s new store in the Meatpacking District.
Courtesy of Lilysilk
She said Lilysilk did their thing and she added her take on it, which is more color and more looks for her lifestyle.
She said Lilysilk designed a pair of culottes that she loved and kept using. Her capsule has a variation of that. They’re short, they’re more fitted and based on something in Lilysilk’s line.
A look by Lilysilk x Elizabeth Stewart.
Courtesy of Lilysilk x ElizabethStewart
She said the capsule was designed on Zoom, which fits in with the sustainability efforts. It’s a one-time capsule.
Asked who the customer is for her capsule, she said the line is aimed at “people like me and my clients. I think it’s pretty appealing to a lot of people. People who like basics but in brighter colors might go for it.”
Describing her personal aesthetic, she said, “Simple, practical, chic and hopefully with a twist.”
