Molly Molloy and Lucinda Chambers, the design duo behind the colorful and eclectic Colville label, are the next guest designers at AZ Factory, WWD has learned.
They are to unveil their collection on the runway on March 6 during Paris Fashion Week, aiming to bring joy, energy and inspiration to the industry — as was the aim of AZ Factory’s late founder, Alber Elbaz.
Chambers, best known for her 25-year stint as fashion director of British Vogue and her long collaboration with Marni during the Castiglionis’ era, said it was “truly an honor” to have been asked to contribute to Elbaz’s legacy.
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“I have been in the fashion industry for over 40 years now and he was a titan amongst men, not only a brilliant designer, but a wonderful human being,” she enthused. “To be surrounded by the team he brought together has been a joyous journey, filled with memories as well as new beginnings. Molly and I feel in such safe and inspirational hands.”
Molloy, who had worked as design director at Marni, has consulted in recent years on J.J. Martin’s fashion brand La Double J, in addition to her work on Colville and the biannual publication Parterre De Rois.
She said she relished the opportunity to collaborate with AZ Factory “with a common goal of making women feel beautiful, strong and empowered.”
Molloy and Chambers are the latest design talents invited to express their interpretation of “smart fashion that cares.”
In a statement shared first with WWD, AZ Factory said it selected Chambers and Molloy because they “share a sharp vision that has always empowered diversely beautiful women as well as free-spirited individuality.”
Chambers and Molloy founded Colville in 2018, describing it as “the antithesis of fast fashion” in the pursuit of clothes with individuality and longevity, made in concert with women’s social projects and an ethos of sustainability. The brand also sells accessories and home wares such as blankets, cushions, rugs, poufs and vases.
A joint venture forged between Compagnie Financière Richemont and Elbaz in 2019, AZ Factory has invited a range of guest creatives, from young up-and-comers to more established talents, in the wake of the founder’s death in April 2021 from COVID-19.
Previous guest amigos and amigas — the nomenclature AZ Factory employs — have included South African designer Thebe Magugu; size-inclusive brand Ester Manas, designed by Ester Manas and Balthazar Delepierre, and Paris-based designer Lutz Huelle.
Richemont has been fine-tuning and elaborating the strategy and business model at AZ Factory, and has also dabbled in couture among AZ’s various product stories.
It recently said guest creators would also include recent graduates and high-potential students, plus left-field creatives not directly related to fashion, such as DJs.