Copyright standard
A fashion label which earned an accolade as one of the favourites of the Princess of Wales is closing down. Eponine London states its AW25 collection will be its final showcase before its studio shuts for the last time. The brand was founded in London in 2011 by Jet Shenkman, who started it out of the basement of her Kensington home in West London. It gained recognition for its focus on 1950s and 60s silhouettes, with striking patterns and colours. It hit its stride in 2016 when the Princess of Wales wore one of its gingham skirt suits. The princess went on to wear numerous items from Eponine London collections and the brand became singled out as one of her chosen labels, The Telegraph reports. But a statement announcing the brand's closure read: "It has been the most wonderful journey, full of highs that I could never have dreamed of, but the time has come for us to close our doors in pursuit of pastures new." Ms Shenkman told the newspaper that her brand became "inundated" with interest after the princess began wearing its outfits. She added: "To dress someone like the Princess of Wales is one of the most wonderful gifts I have received. It is going to be the best story to tell my granddaughters when they grow up. "I hope that she will continue to make a difference. It gave us a stage that we could never have dreamed of." The designer told People magazine that the princess’s patronage “changed business overnight”. She added that Kate had always been a “dream client” and she had no idea how she had discovered the label. Then styles the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate was first pictured in Eponine in 2016 wearing a £1,200 red and white gingham skirt suit on a visit to London Wall's XLP project. She also wore the label on trips to the theatre and the National Portrait Gallery, plus her Christmas carol services. Princess Eugenie was also a fan of Eponine London and donned a red dress in celebrations for the late Queen’s 90th birthday in 2016. In her Instagram post announcing the brand’s closure, Ms Shenkman wrote: “This feels surreal to write after 15 years of business, but I wanted to tell you that AW25 will be our last Eponine collection. “I wanted to write to thank you so very much for your support over the years. Your kind words, enthusiasm for our collections and interest in the world of Eponine has been hugely touching and I’ll always be grateful to each one of you. “We will close the studio doors for the last time at the end of the year. Do keep an eye on our feed – some new ideas are forming which I will share in due course. “For now, we’re going to celebrate 15 years of Eponine in images. It all started in a tiny room in the basement of my home in Kensington…”
