Essie Buckman is somewhat of a creative phenomenon. After showing her Central Saint Martins graduate collection in London this year, Buckman’s Fortie Label pieces have begun to show up in editorials for highly-regarded publications like Vogue Italia and i-D. This week fashion darling Rihanna donned a Fortie label’s “Katja” bustier for her performance at Drake’s OVO festival.
Not shy about making statements, Buckman defines her Fortie Label as an ode to the strength and duality in women. In fact, the label’s name is inspired by the Forty Elephants, an all female gang who existed in London from 1873 to about 1950.
Commenting on her vision, Buckman stated, “Strong women have raised me all my life and made me who I am today. With so many issues in the world including sexual harassment, equal pay and equal rights I was driven even more to demonstrate the beauty and power of women and to really elevate the reputation of young women and to give us the confidence to wear what we want to wear and allow us to be more than just one dimensional human beings. Women are fun, devious, sensitive, sensual, intelligent, feisty, creative, radiant and important and with this collection I wanted to raise these notions and I hope to continue this with Fortie and all my Fortie woman that have helped and assisted this vision come to life.”
With such a strong debut, we look forward to seeing much more from Buckman and Fortie in the coming seasons.
