96 |Harper’s BAZAAR|September 2014COURTESY MULBERRYf you follow fashion or are a slave to social media, you
won’t have missed the spectacular inception of new-
gen supermodel, Cara Delevingne. Since 2011, when
the 23-year-old fi rst walked for Burberry, Cara’s impact
has happened at a breakneck rate. She’s a bundle of
blonde hair, blue eyes, bushy brows and high-octane energy who,
like Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Agyness Deyn before her,
waves the fl ag for British models. While she may have walked for
Moschino, Marc Jacobs and Chanel, considers King Karl part of
her clique and has eyebrows that, like Karl’s cat Choupette,
deserve their own Instagram account, Cara is something of an
accidental icon.
So, why the hype? Aside from those brows, she’s one of a new
slew of models bringing character back to the catwalk.
Reminiscent of the ’90s when Cindy, Christy, Claudia et al
reigned supreme, and having a personality was a prerequisite for
being booked, Cara’s spearheading a new breed of twenty-
somethingers who command attention for who they are as much
as how they look. Their personality sells and designers know it.
Relatable, beautiful, quirky and down-right cool, Cara could
sell ice to an eskimo. Ergo, she has, after just fi ve years in the
bus iness, walked and fronted campaigns for almost every
designer imaginable. So what do you do when you have the
industry’s elite kicking down your door to get you to model –
and help sell – their wares? You design your own.
And so, this autumn, luxury leathergoods brand Mulberry
launches its fi rst collaboration with the model. It’s partly the Brit
thing that brought the two together, but also Mulberry’s
objective to appeal to a younger generation. If anyone can sell to
Generation Y’s newest fashion recruits, it’s Cara.
Following in the footsteps of Lana Del Rey and fellow Brit
Alexa Chung, Cara wears the hat of designer for her new
eponymous line of handbags for Mulberry. A life-long lover ofI
Cara’s calling as a bag designer
elevates her status from the model
on every catwalk to the name toted
on every wrist. Emily Baxter meets
Miss Delevingne to talk Mulberry
bags, brows and all things British
NEWS
The
COUNTRY
GIR L
“I LOVE BEING
BR ITISH. THE
COUNTRYSIDE , THE
SENSE OF HUMOUR ,
TH AT NEVER BEING
SCAR ED TO PUSH
B O U N D A R I E S ”
Cara Delevingne
the label’s leatherwear, it’s a collaboration that speaks to both her
own dream of being a designer and her patriotic British roots.
The idea to create this 12-piece collection, which launches in
the Middle East this month with price points from Dhs2,980-
Dhs15,070, arose last year. “I was shooting the [Mulberry]
spring/summer collection with Tim Walker,” she explains.
“We were on location in a big country house in Oxfordshire
with the Mulberry team and we started chatting about what
goes into making a Mulberry bag and what being a Mulberry
girl is all about. We then talked about doing something
together and it went from there. It was all very natural.”
After several brainstorming sessions and trips to The Rookery
(Mulberry’s manufacturing HQ in Somerset) to choose leathers,
colours and buckles, Cara’s capsule
collection was conceived. “I went in
knowing what I wanted with lots of
ideas, and then we discussed
everything, which I loved. I really
wanted a backpack, but then
I wanted it to be able to change
into something else. Something
handbaggy but practical –
a chameleon bag that fi ts everything
and can do anything. I love my
Mulberry bags, but I need
something practical. People don’t
just do one thing now, you have so
many interests and hobbies that
your bag has to match your lifestyle.
So it was about fi nding out what else
we could do.”
The answer is to create a three-in-
one style that allows the bag toThe campaign for
the Cara Delevingne
for Mulberry A/W14
collection was shot on
location in the Scottish
Highlands by iconic
photographer, Tim
Walker. And yes, Cara
did want to adopt the
baby lambs