As founder of creative studio Construct, Georgia Fendley has created new visual identities and positioning for luxury hotels, fashion and food brands. She was also brand director at Mulberry from 2008-2013 and last year, launched her own fashion label with former colleague and fashion designer Emma Hill.
Founded on the idea that fashion should be fun and joyful, Hill & Friends has a playful approach evident in everything from its smiley face logo to an Instagram account mixing images of products with snaps of cute pets. A launch event for the brand during London Fashion Week last year featured Shetland ponies, a pink breakfast buffet and invitations in the shape of bacon and eggs.
For all its light-heartedness, however, Hill & Friends is serious about ethical production. Products are made by hand at a factory in Somerset and all leather and suede used is a by-product of the meat industry, says Fendley.
“A lot of [luxury fashion] brands have moved their manufacturing out of the UK and into places like Turkey or China, but we really wanted to produce excellent craft quality and be 100 percent sure that whoever’s making the product is happy,” she told CR. “For us, it’s not really a luxury to own something that has been created out of an abuse of someone’s rights.”
