According to Rebecca Hessel Cohen, these are the house codes of LoveShackFancy: pink, bows, lace, tulle, and flowers. Every LoveShackFancy design has at least one. Most have two. Hell, some have three or even four. “More is more for us,” Cohen said. “Our girl is going from day to night and bringing out all the stuff. There’s no stopping her.”
She often uses the term “girls.” Part of this is to be factual. LoveShackFancy attracts a wide age range, including teens. Head to any of their stores—17 worldwide and counting—and you’ll see daughters shopping with their mothers, and vice versa. (“Babies to 80s,” Cohen said of her clientele.)
It’s also because the LoveShackFancy universe—filled with tea parties, tiered cakes, and historically revised Marie Antoinettes who are carefree and un-guillotined—is supposed to be aspirational in its blissful, romantic-bohemian lifestyle. “Women” implies some sense of adult responsibility, some seriousness. It’s not the word you use for a brand that’s built on fun and frivolity. This brand is meant for the Wendys in Neverland that, just for a moment, want to escape the feeling of being grown-up. “We have the good girls and the not-so-good girls—but then they’re still good girls,” Cohen said.
Yet, for her fall 2024 collection, it was women that Cohen wanted to appeal to more. She balanced all the pink with some black, for starters. It was still done in a LoveShackFancy way: a leather jacket’s belt was tied with a bow, another was lined with pink shearling. A minidress came with a tulle skirt, a lace bodice with floral paillettes, and a bow. (Four codes and counting.) Then there was the corsetry. One of her idols, Betsey Johnson, told Cohen a few years back that she needed to “step up her corset game.” So Cohen studied the fashions of Parisian cabaret dancers during the Victorian era and the années folles. Then she went to work.
LoveShackFancy’s corsets were certainly more tame than their historical counterparts, coming in ballet pinks, creams, and bridal whites. Some show a playful innocence. Others felt oddly juvenile, especially a pink-and-floral corset minidress with bows and a lace skirt. There’s a fine line between coquettish and childish.
When shown together, the clothes could also feel confusing: a semi-sheer sequin and bow dress was definitively mature and fell into the “naked dress” category that’s still very much in fashion. A black dress with a lace cutout too displayed just the right amount of risqué. However, they were both presented alongside a cropped baby pink sweater embellished with rhinestones or a ruffly hot pink minidress that would be perfect for a Sweet Sixteen. Was this collection for a teen? An adult? A teen trying to act more adult or an adult trying to act like more of a teen?
LoveShackFancy is no doubt trying to cater to all of the above. Which is smart: Providing fashions for such a diverse age group is good business. (Maybe even great. As mentioned above, 17 stores and counting.) Yet when it comes to a cohesive lineup, the viewer is left with a sense of cognitive dissonance.
During LoveShackFancy’s presentation at Lower East Side burlesque club The Box, a very pink and faux-fur line stretched around the entire block. High heels teetered around dirty snowbanks, dumped by a nor’easter hours ago. A Dunkin’ trunk handed out heart-shaped doughnuts. Inside, models shimmied and danced onstage to “I’m A Good Girl” and “Bette Davis Eyes.” At one point, the place became so packed that they had to hold the door. Here’s the thing: The brand’s fans will always love LoveShackFancy.
