Casely-Hayford is hitting a home run when it comes to dressing London’s rising stars. In March, Jodie Comer – the best-dressed assassin in the fictional business – wore the “Electra” ivory eveningwear suit at the Stylist Magazine Awards. Three months down the line, it’s the turn of Emma Mackey – Sex Education’s resident bad gal who outsmarts her high-school peers in the Netflix smash hit.
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The actor chose Casely-Hayford’s crushed velvet “Marissa” suit for a dinner celebrating The Wing's upcoming London location, the first international outpost of the New York-born, women’s members’ club. No easy dress code considering the calibre of females set to use the co-working space, including activist Gina Martin, Beautystack founder Sharmadean Reid, star chef Skye Gyngell, writer Otegha Uwagba and models Adwoa Aboah and Cara Delevingne.
“The team and I are big fans of Emma, so it was fantastic to see her wearing the brand,” co-founder and designer Charlie Casely-Hayford tells Vogue over the phone from the label’s Chiltern Street HQ. “More than that, we are just excited about the kind of women who are coming into the store. This very specific demographic is exactly the kind of woman I imagine when designing.”
What does the Casely-Hayford woman look like? “She’s culturally aware, independent, confident in who she is and doesn’t feel the need to follow trends,” he says. “My mother, who is a massive role model to me, is a very strong woman. I always have her in the back of my mind.”
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Since introducing womenswear in 2018, ready-to-wear has overtaken menswear sales. “Our cut and fabric options seem to have hit the right spot with a lot of our female clients,” explains Casely-Hayford. “My father and I always wanted to empower women and make them feel the best they can, so I’d like to think that plays a role in why the suiting has taken off too.”
Read more: In The Bag: Emma Mackey
Mackey, who paired her louche separates with a mini gold M2Malletier bag, box-fresh white trainers and stacked jewellery, was emblematic of this attitude at The Wing: totally at ease in who she is.
