Frost French

FrostFrench
Private
Industry Apparel
Founded 1999
Headquarters London[1]
Key people
 Sadie Frost and Jemina French
Products Clothing, Accessories, Lingerie
Website www.frostfrench.com

FrostFrench is a fashion label established in 1999 and run by the British movie actress Sadie Frost and Jemima French.[2]

Sadie Frost and Jemima French match contemporary innovative design with striking attention to detail and as a result FrostFrench made a substantial impact in the UK and created worldwide interest in major markets such as the United States and Japan. The success of the brand grew and the name FrostFrench become something of a cult label.

History

FrostFrench was created by Sadie Frost and Jemima French, who are long-term friends from the age of fifteen. The fashion label began in London as a design based studio in 1999.[1] At first, the company sold knickers or lingerie, until they started producing a full women's wear collection.[2][3] The company had an Autumn/Winter debut show, which featured Kate Moss' strip tease, on February 17, 2001 at the Duke of York theatre in the West End of London.[4] This was their first time participating in London fashion week.[5]

During the London fashion week in 2003, they named their show 'FrostFrench Tea Party' at Regent's Park open-air theatre. After the exhibition ended, they hosted an afternoon tea party, which was collaborated with the Tea Council of Great Britain. During the same year, they hosted a circus-themed event, which featured models: Helena Christensen as a ring leader, Jerry Hall as a magician, and Liberty Ross performing on a trapeze.[2][4][5] In 2005, they won in Elle Style Awards for 'Best British Designer'.[1] In the same year, Frost and French appeared as guest judges on Project Catwalk's season 1, episode 2.[6] In September 2007, FrostFrench opened their first boutique at Islington, London. FrostFrench said that Islington was the perfect location for their first store.[7]

The fashion label fell into administration due to £4.2million worth of debt in 2008,[4] but John Jaokim—a Norwegian film producer and a property investor—bailed out FrostFrench by investing on the company. John Jaokim joined the board of directors after helping the fashion label financially.[8] In 2009, they sought help from sales agents to reposition their brand and improve product distribution.[2] In the same year, they decided to open their second boutique at Soho in London. The fashion label designed their second store to reflect the playful aesthetic side of FrostFrench.[9]

Although FrostFrench recovered in 2008, the company continued to face troubles in 2010, because of the label's sales that suffered a £500,000 loss. Also, some of the company directors—John Jaokim and Dominic McVey—had resigned, which left Frost and French as the only company directors. The fashion label decided to discontinue their Spring/Summer 2011 collection. Frost and French blamed the management team and the label's strategic direction when the company officially went out of business in 2011.[4] As a result, all of FrostFrench's stores in Islington and Soho had closed down.[10][11]

After the company has disappeared, Frost and French remained designing lingerie, swimwear, and nightwear for the company's sister brands: Floozie and Iris & Edie. Currently, FrostFrench's sister labels are successful as among of Debenhams' product lines. Early in 2014, the owners gave an official statement of FrostFrench's plans to relaunch the company. The fashion label said that the relaunch will happen around September 2014, but the company's first design meeting was held in February 2014.[10][11]

Products

FrostFrench described their products as: "classical with a twist of pop." According to the designers, their clothing appeals to the likes of a youthful London girl.[2] They originally produced knickers for women, but they expanded their product line to a full women's wear collection, which includes coats, dresses, lingerie, shirts, and accessories.[3] FrostFrench has expressed their love for working with other labels. They had product collaborations with Peugeot, GHD, No. 17 Makeup, Boots 17 and Olay in a variety of projects.[1][12] They also had a contract with Liptons and they sold lip-stick stained teacups, which was an activity for their 'drink gorgeous' campaign.[5][13]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "About". FrostFrench. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Craven, Jo. "FrostFrench". Vogue. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Moore, Booth. "In London, spurning runways for the real deal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Davies, Barabara. "Sadie's frosty outlook: A struggling fashion business, debts piled high and an acting career that never quite got off the ground". Associated Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Projects". FrostFrench. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Project Catwalk - Season 1". CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  7. ↑ elleuk, elleuk. "FrostFrench Opens First Store". Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Santi, Ana. "Rescue deal saves FrostFrench". EMAP Publisher Ltd. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Bumpus, Jessica. "Town Bound". Vogue. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Milligan, Lauren. "Sadie And Jemima On The FrostFrench Relaunch". Vogue. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Sowray, Bibby. "Sadie Frost and Jemima French to relaunch FrostFrench". Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  12. ↑ "Boots 17 ties up with design duo frostfrench". Haymarket. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  13. ↑ Alexander, Ella. "The FrostFrench Show". Vogue. Retrieved 30 March 2014.

External links