by Flora Edminston

Summer 2020 will be remembered for many reasons; for House of Sunny, it will be the summer they became a cult favourite brand. With their green Hockney Lillipads dress being named the ‘dress of the summer’ after Kendall Jenner wore it, and the Signature Yoga Swim being sported by none other than myself in the Cinque Terre(!), I’m not really surprised.

Founded in 2011 by Sunny Williams, the East London brand has found its niche nine years later. I don’t know if ‘fashion-forward vintage’ is an aesthetic, but House of Sunny made it one. The psychedelic prints of the 70s applied to a midi dress, a kind of tacky zebra print on high rise jeans, fur collared cardigans; things that feel like they shouldn’t match but really just do. Apparently the AW 20 collection was inspired by the topiary in Edward Scissorhands, and it couldn’t be more on brand. House of Sunny has made literally any colour the new black. The clashing earth tones…

You can’t make it in 2020 without being environmentally conscious, and House of Sunny have really succeeded here. Only producing two collections a year, and only making items in line with demand is core to their sustainability and image of exclusivity(?). They avoid air freight and use production methods that reduce water consumption by up to 95%. All labels are recycled, and all bags are biodegradable. Anti-wastage prints cut fabric waste by 40%, and also mean every item has a slightly different look. Recent revelations of ‘greenwashing’ and returned items going straight to landfill created a pessimism amongst consumers, who are ultimately constrained by what is available in their price range. House of Sunny gives us a glimmer of hope. The price point is, to be honest, higher than most students can afford, but it does support a sustainable and ethical business.

Though really taking off online when Kendall Jenner sported the Hockney Lillipads dress, countless other celebrities and it girls are avid supporters of the brand. Emma Chamberlain shared a full House of Sunny outfit with her 11.3 million Instagram followers and Anais Gallagher did the same. This made a considerable splash amongst the roughly 16 to 24 year-old age bracket and the TIikTok generation, with the newly created House of Sunny TikTok taking off alongside these endorsements. This age group, full of those basically addicted to watching outfit montages online could not be better catered for than by House of Sunny. The pieces are individual enough to make it in the world of Depop and deadstock Nike.

The highly popular Zara dupes of their pastel and fur cardigans should be seen as an honour. Zara is arguably the most influential fast fashion brand in terms of trend creation and following, and to have this brand want to emulate your success is a real sign that you’ve made it. House of Sunny are at this stage and I can’t wait to eat toast for a week so I can wear one of their dresses to the library.

ST.ART does not own the rights to any images used in this article.