Ulla Johnson's Resort 2027 look book, shot against the sun-drenched streets of Lisbon, captures a woman perpetually in transit. The designer's expansion into a London flagship signals a broader global embrace - one that echoes the mid-20th-century rise of travel-ready lingerie, when brands like Formfit Rogers introduced lightweight, packable slips for the jet-set woman. Johnson's collection, spanning "high summer to deep winter," mirrors this philosophy of wardrobe versatility, though her canvas has shifted from the boudoir to the boardroom and beyond.
Johnson's collaboration with painter Cassi Namoda infuses the line with a painterly palette - lime greens and pale blues that recall the hand-tinted corsetry of the 1920s, when undergarments first became visible fashion statements. More pointedly, Johnson is building a full lifestyle ecosystem: fragrance, shoes, handbags. This vertical expansion recalls the strategy of Warner's, which in the 1950s leveraged its foundation garments to launch entire ready-to-wear lines, blurring the line between structure and freedom.
From technical raincoats to hand-crocheted sets by Peruvian artisans, the collection touches every temperature and occasion. Sequined ombré knits, despite their luster, retain a fluidity reminiscent of the bias-cut silk slips of the 1930s - garments designed for movement, not stasis. Johnson herself notes, "Our woman is definitely on the go." This echoes the lingerie industry's own evolution from rigid boning to stretch lace and seamless shapes, all engineered for the modern woman in motion. Even the leather pieces, a nod to her Madison Avenue clientele, feel effortless. Johnson is proving that ease and elegance need not be mutually exclusive - a lesson the lingerie world has been learning for over a century.
Originally reported by WWD