Pretend You’re On Vacation With Archive Pieces from Lucy Folk

Lucy Folk describes her namesake brand as “a colourful nomadic lifestyle brand inspired by my love for travel, art, food, design and wellbeing.” AKA everything we’re currently dreaming of, especially right now.

Her iconic Melbourne and Bondi stores are — usually — the ultimate destination for resort accessories for locals and tourists alike. But with travel and physical retail on hold, Lucy’s put together an online special of pieces from the last five years to bring the vacay vibes to us — wherever home is atm.

We caught up with Lucy over the weekend for a quick chat about how the brand is adapting, her ISO playlist, and, of course, the stories behind her faves from the Archive Sale, which ends Monday night. 

Hi Lucy! Crazy times — how are you going at the moment?

Personally, I am enjoying the slower pace. I think it’s very important to take this time to focus our attention back to our love for each other and the planet. Being more mindful and valuing things more. Keeping our spirits high and learning about how we can do things better.

How has your brand and business been affected by the local and global lockdowns?

We’ve closed all of our stores and we remain open for business online only. With a dramatic reduction in revenue, we were unable to continue operating at the same capacity. We’ve reduced our team to 6 and we are doing our best to adapt, day by day. Our supply chain has been affected, too, as we work with factories in Italy, Thailand, Morocco, and China — all but two remain closed and on lockdown until further notice. But we are full of positivity and excited to work in a different capacity. We are being resourceful, and my team has been incredible. 

Tell us about the Lucy Folk Archive Sale – what collections are part of it and how far back do they go?

The Archive Sale is a carefully curated sale of past collections and some current pieces also. It’s a separate website that customers can access for 5 days and we will be updating it daily with new pieces. It goes back to my first Resort Apparel collection which launched in 2016 and even further back for jewels. We will always offer selects from past collections in our store. We don’t design according to trends so there is no shelf life. 

What would you say is the most iconic Lucy Folk piece of all time and why? 

The Anchovy Cuff is our best seller. People absolutely love it — it’s our Cartier Love Bracelet! Who would have thought such a lovely little smelly delicious fish could inspire this piece but also continue to outsell any piece we have ever made. 

Stories from your frequent global travels are behind all your collections – can you share with us your fave pieces from the archives and how they came to be? 

ZIGGURAT KAFTAN 

This piece is part of my first Resort Collection. It is inspired by one of my favourite places, Marrakech, which is where the collection is handwoven in an incredible atelier run by Randall Bachner. I adore this colour combination and still wear it today — I like to show a bit of leg! 

SHORT & SWEET SUNGLASSES

These are the first sunglasses we ever released. I have a very small face and I was eager to release a style that was particularly suited to people like me — so they are the perfect fit for me! I love this acetate as it has a beautiful texture that runs through it to give it depth and the texture reflects some of our jewels. Our eyewear is handmade in Italy and you have the option to wear it with one of our signature eyewear chains that doubles as a necklace. 

TACO FRIENDSHIP BAND 

This colourful friendship band is a signature piece from the brand. It came about when we made the collection Taqueria. It’s inspired by Mexico — the colour, the food and their folk art.  The band is made by hand, and the silver charms represent a Taco. Here you have a combination of tacos fashioned in rose gold plated silver, gold plated silver and silver. It’s a threesome. 

EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH EARRINGS 

These earrings were inspired by Egyptian Hieroglyphs and they are hand crocheted using gold lurex. I love that there is always a human element in our pieces. The art of crochet is something I aspire to learn. We work with some amazing women who are hand crocheting these works. The big hoops have our famous dough texture. The scale is impressive, and the weight remains light and wearable — I find these perfect to dress up any outfit!

BASKET CASE ANKLET 

I live in this anklet in the summer. It’s a glorified shackle! In creating this, we looked at classic costume jewellery from the likes of Lacroix and developed our own chain and applied the famous anchovy texture. 

Are you still creating at the moment, or is it more about dealing with admin and/or giving yourself a break? 

I am back in the driving seat of my brand. I am dealing with a restructure and understanding how best we can operate through this climate. We are always designing but we have put it on hold for the last few weeks. I did get our new sunglasses prototypes yesterday, though, which are looking great! 

What has been your most important self-care ritual(s) lately?

Early nights, lots of wholesome organic home cooked food and exercise. I am favouring walking in the National Park, swimming and Pilates. 

How do you feel about all the #wfh motivation out there right now?

I think it’s great! Very helpful. I am loving all the recipes out there too. We haven’t cooked the same meal in 4 weeks! 

Any nice ideas for staying connected with family and friends? 

We just received some very cute mail from my Godson, and we are about to send some drawings back. 

What outfit have you been living in?

All of my towelling. Particularly my robes! Basically, as little clothing as possible ha! 

What album is your quarantine soundtrack?

I am actually listening to a lot of classical music, which I find very relaxing. I have a great playlist called SUN on my Spotify. 

What movie and/or TV shows have you been binging?

I don’t watch TV, but I am reading some nice books. I am 19 weeks pregnant and just started this:

The big question we are all thinking about – what are you looking forward to most when you can get back to work/friends/life?

Going out for a delicious meal with my friends and family! 

And finally —it doesn’t look like any of us are going traveling anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean we can’t dream of holidays for 2021 and beyond — what destinations are top of your list for when travel is OK again? We can’t get enough of your guides!

Japan, India, Morocco and Egypt.

The Lucy Folk Archive Sale is on at archive.lucyfolk.com until 11.59pm AEST tomorrow (Monday 20 April)