HUNTER BRANDON BUSH started with a practical question asked in a Hollywood, Florida workroom: what does a woman actually wear when the day runs from a desk to a dinner and there is no time to go home? The answer became four dresses and four tops, cut to work in both places. Dresses have sleeves that cover a shoulder for the office and a slit or a neckline that carries into the evening. Tops are short enough to sit at a waistband and finished enough to be worn alone. Eight pieces, one rail, and a rule that nothing joins it unless it can be worn twice in a week.
Lace, jersey and knit
Fabric decides whether a dress survives an evening. The lace we use is a soft corded lace with a matte finish, not the stiff net that scratches an arm after an hour. Jersey is a heavy viscose blend that falls rather than clings, and it is washed three times before it is approved, so the length a customer receives is the length we measured. Knit tops are worked in a fine gauge with a little elastane at the cuff so a sleeve keeps its shape. Nothing here is dry-clean only unless the label says so, and we say so on the page in the first paragraph.
The fit room
Fitting happens in a room with a north window and a long mirror, on three people who wear different sizes and have different shoulders. A square neckline has to sit flat without gaping when the wearer reaches forward. A cape sleeve has to clear a jacket without bunching. A wrap tie has to hold without a second knot. We photograph the sample on a body and again on a hanger, because a dress that photographs well on a hanger can collapse at the waist. Where a style runs small across the bust, the size guide says so and suggests the size up.
Sent from South Florida
Orders are checked and packed by hand in the same studio where the samples are fitted. Each garment is steamed, inspected at the seams and folded with tissue and a care card that explains how to wash it and how to hang it so the shape holds. Because the studio sits in South Florida, parcels go out into heat and humidity, so knitwear is packed with a moisture sachet from May to October. Tracking is sent as soon as a label is printed, and returns come back to the same address. If a size is wrong, we would rather exchange it than have it sit unworn in a wardrobe.