By ESTELLE PULESTON
About to enter its 27th year, Buttress & Snatch is genuinely one of the most unique lingerie brands currently in existence. It’s frequently selected by stylists looking for something that’s going to turn heads; just this year, its designs have been seen on stars such as Lorde and Bella Hadid, and in an advertising campaign for Lulu Guiness.
Buttress & Snatch is designed and made by Rachel Kenyon. She’s an artist truly passionate about the creative process – “Making lingerie can be as exciting as wearing it”, she says on her website – and her workshop in London very much reflects that. Resembling something out of a fairytale, or a maximalist sewist’s dream, the space is overflowing with rolls of fabric, spools of ribbon, jars of beads and buttons, and innumerable other trims and findings that she has accumulated over the years.
These materials include hand-dyed, hand-woven organic cotton gingham from Kerala and organic jerseys knit in the UK (she’s also been passionate about slow, sustainable fashion since long before it was a hot industry topic), but around 80% of the brand’s materials are sourced from waste: vintage buys, antique finds, or salvaged deadstock.
Example: she currently offers a bodice patchworked together from pieces of a 1940s eiderdown, 1980s cotton shorts, handmade cross-stitch tablecloth and other such one or very-few-of-a-kind fabrics. Where else are you going to find something like that?
“I love working with deadstock and waste materials,” Rachel told me, “I am a treasure hunter and my design process begins entirely with the materials, how I can salvage and save and turn them into something glorious worth its existence.” She even offers a service that will turn your old cotton shirts into cheeky lingerie sets!
The Buttress & Snatch product range is vast, at least for an independent brand. Kenyon isn’t the type to follow fashion’s expected two-collections-per-year cycle, or retire gorgeous, lovingly-designed styles just because they’re ‘old’. Instead, she has built up a stunning array of signature designs over time which often remain available for years, although naturally others are limited-edition due to the finite amounts of the materials she works with.
While I feel like the overall brand aesthetic can be described as distinctively whimsical, feminine and lavishly-detailed, there is truly a lot of variety to be found as you scroll through the categories. This is a place you can buy a pretty everyday bralette set in printed cotton, funky shorts in velvet or lamé fabric, or the most breathtaking special occasion lingerie set with off-shoulder draping and 3D flowers and luscious beading.
It’s also somewhere you can go to get typically hard-to-find items such as a retro-silhouetted low leg swimsuit, a single-cupped mastectomy bra, an anti-allergy bra, or a super-sustainable one in undyed fabric and with natural rubber elastics.
And Kenyon isn’t running out of new ideas any time soon! Right now, inspired by the shift towards wearing lingerie as outerwear, she has been focusing on pieces that can be worn out and about such as her metallic silk Sylph dresses, and cute cami-and-short romper sets in stretch velvet. As for what’s next, she says “I have collected so much beautiful silk and lace in the last years, I am just bursting to set to work on it in the new year for my new special bridal trousseau range.”
While prices for Buttress & Snatch’s exquisitely-detailed creations are often in the low to mid hundreds – the short lingerie dresses for example are priced between £280 and £580, approx. $375 to $775 – smaller items can also be yours for under $50. The size range is very inclusive, with custom sizing also available for a small additional fee.
Contact information:
Website: https://www.buttressandsnatch.co.uk/
Instagram: @buttressandsnatch
Email: info@buttressandsnatch.co.uk
