ELLEVoice
104 ELLE.COM/UK September 2O19
COLLABORATIONS
Above: Susie’s design
talents expand to
jewellery, with
The Vampire’s Wife
x Annoushka lineSIGNATURE
DESIGN
From left: Florence
Welch, Tilda
Swinton, Karen
Elson and Chloë
Grace MoretzSusie Cave and I are fighting back tears in the middle of a morning
conversation at Claridge’s, as we sit in the centre of a plush parlour
room. We are surrounded by tables filled with suited men who all seem
to be having very serious-looking meetings. We’ve been talking about
fashion – dresses, specifically – yes, but also memories, childhood,
children and the emotions that come with all of those things.
Susie had eyes for a particular kind of dress with a particular kind of
shape, long before she became famous for making them. ‘When I was
little, my mum bought me a dress with loads of tiers – a lot like Cinderella,
in a bright orange, with these sort of...‘ she gestures towards the arms of
her own silk dress, with pert shoulders and blousey sleeves, to show me
what she means. When she first tried on the dress as a small girl, it fell to
t he f loor. ‘A nd I wore t hat dres s until, literall y, it was up to my k nees. I wore
it for every party for about six years. I wore it until I was 14 or something.
It was just a little dress from a charity shop in Cheshire, where I grew
up,’ she explains. ‘I think I really wanted to have loads of dresses like
that. And because I only had one, maybe when I got older I thought,
“I’m gonna make as many of these as I can.” Maybe some psychiatrist
would probably tell me there’s something going on there,’ she says.
Many designers talk about their work as moods, moments and
fictitious muses. But Susie – who was first known in the 198Os as model
and It-girl Susie Bick, before marrying post-punk musician Nick Cave and
later starting her own label, The Vampire’s Wife, in 2O14 – describes
her work and wardrobe in a much more emotive and personal way.
For her, each garment is attached to a feeling and a memory. ‘I grew
up in Africa, in Malawi and Nigeria,’ she explains. ‘My grandma lived
with us for a while out there, and she used to make us incredible things,
like dresses out of paper, and we’d do these plays in the garden. My
grandmother and my grandfather came to live with us because they
were going through a difficult time – they’d lost their son. So they stayed
with us for a few years. That’s what I mean by it sounding a bit strange,
but maybe the clothes started it all off for me.’
From the beginning, Susie has always understood the emotional
side of dressing, and how fashion can shape the way we feel. It’s a
sixth sense that she sharpened during her years
spent as a model and muse to renowned fashion
photographers Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin.
It’s a transformative thing. I mean, I know that.
When I was dressed in beautiful clothes as a model,
I was literally just like, “ Wow.” You know? I think
there is a lot of power in there.’
And while many designers manipulate fashion’s
power to adopt new personas, Susie seems acutely
aware of its ability to help us cultivate a deeper
understanding of who we already are. This might
explain why fashion journalists, buyers and fans
alike tend to ascribe a certain depth of meaning
(one news outlet described Susie’s work as ‘dressing for the Time’s Up
era’) to what, in someone else’s hands, might be regarded as simply
a very nice line-up of very beautiful dresses.
Her work has all the hallmarks of femininity that one might be
tempted to dismiss as frivolous: a vintage, slightly Little House on the
Prairie feeling, demure in length and, oftentimes, with pussy bows
and frills. Yet her high-profile fanbase includes powerful women who
have a strong sense of purpose: Cate Blanchett, Stevie Nicks,
Florence Welch, Thandie Newton, Ruth Negga and many more.
Women like Susie, who with her trademark pitch-black, middle-
parted hair, porcelain skin and elegant posture, cuts quite an imposing
figure. While her collection includes a range of pieces – jackets,“DESIGNING has
GIVEN ME
SOME THING
THAT takes ME
AWAY F R OM
the PAIN I FELT
AND I FEEL”