In April, Lola Bute threw a 25th birthday party for the ages, held over three days at Mount Stuart, the imposing Victorian Gothic family seat on the Isle of Bute. The dress code stipulated “How Lola can you go”. Guests including actress Sienna Miller and make-up mogul Charlotte Tilbury were encouraged to flaunt their most sheer and shimmery gowns in honour of their host.
“Dressing up is such a huge part of who I am,” says the model and designer, who at the age of five asked her headmaster to address her as “Cinderella”. Her own custom party looks included a lacy gown by Tom Ford alumnus Alessandro Francalanci and a bespoke mini dress crafted from a 1920s Egyptian silver fabric, topped with a feather fur coat. A matching jacket in pink was brought out for daytime wear. “Seeing everyone I love in one room, in such amazing and outrageous outfits, made me so happy,” she says. No wonder The Daily Telegraph dubbed it “the real Saltburn”.
This month, in time for party season, Bute introduces a festive capsule with Debute, the newly minted fashion label she started with her half-sister, the 33-year-old actress Jazzy De Lisser. A direct-to-consumer venture, Debute is inspired by the sisters’ love of vintage, itself inspired by their fashion designer mother Serena Bute (when they were growing up, she would regularly return from their local flea market at Portobello Road armed with bags of loot); The line launched last month with tailored dresses, tartan two-pieces and baby tees, quickly followed by a punchy line of underwear with British brand Stripe & Stare. While De Lisser describes herself as the more “low-key” of the sisters, she still revels in a good frock, often defaulting to the colour red or a trusty LBD. “The party capsule is really just about trying to make fashion fun again,” she says. “It’s the glam side of us,” adds Bute excitedly, “so a bit more naked and a bit more sparkly.”
Drawing from their personal archive, a heady mix of ’20s flapper meets ’90s Cavalli known as “the wardrobe” to their friends (who borrow looks on rotation), the sisters have designed a floor-length slip dress in three colourways, featuring a draped bodice and slinky low-cut back (from £250). It’s produced in London using deadstock fabric, including a past-season Chloé black chiffon flecked with specks of gold, and black and red silk from Valentino “for the daring”, says De Lisser. Bute admits a penchant for shortening dresses, so minis are likely to follow. For the time being, both sisters are keen to keep drops small (roughly 30 will be produced in each colourway) and steer away from luxury price points, observing the rising cost of vintage pieces in recent years.
“Considering most of our fights used to be about clothes growing up–” (De Lisser lets slip that Bute stole a few dresses away to boarding school) “–we’ve been pretty good,” says De Lisser on the subject of working with family. “We’ve learnt a lot about each other,” adds Bute.
As they head into Christmas, the fourth without Bute’s father, former racing driver John Crichton-Stuart, who died in 2021 following a battle with cancer, they are conscious to inject the air with a bit of “fun”. What does that look like? Lots of games, dancing on tables, a Debute Christmas party and, of course, many nights spent getting extra‑glam, say the sisters. As De Lisser points out: “One thing about me and Lola is we love to celebrate anything.”
