Style on
The wardrobe that works 18 hours a day
You might not have heard of her, but Sarah Rutson, 50, has likely had an effect on your wardrobe. She’s notorious in the fashion industry for her forthright ability to convince you to want what she’s selling. At Net-a-porter, where she served as VP of global buying from 2014 to 2017, she would boldly introduce new brands at the company’s season preview with the phrase “I’m calling it out.” You certainly didn’t want to disagree with her when she did.
Since leaving the online retailer, she’s done an about turn, going in house and overseeing the three brands that make up The Collected Group: Joie, Current/elliott and the jewel in the crown, Equipment – the heritage French brand originally launched by Christian Restoin – partner of former French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld – in 1976. “The draw for me was always Equipment,” she tells me at her presentation in Paris, where for the first time the label has put on a model show of sorts for press and buyers. “I’d been screaming at them for years (as a buyer), I used to come into them and say, ‘guys you’re really missing something here’.” From buying “every brand in the world for 30 years”, Rutson has honed down on what women really want – and need in their wardrobes. “This is a moment for understanding a real woman’s life and how hard her wardrobe has to work for her,” she asserts, “I look at clothes in a very utilitarian way. We’re at war with our lives half of the time, my wardrobe has to reflect that, I need to get mileage out of it. I need to be able to wear the same thing from 6am to 11.30pm – who has time to change?” Equipment, for her, is the perfect brand to be able to do this with. It’s core has always been its silky shirting, which Rutson has now developed into a fully designed collection. There are shirt dresses, but now with fluted skirts and sharp collars. Blazers are beautifully lined, roll back the sleeves and there are grosgrain ribbon edges skirting each button, shirt cuffs are designed to blow out elegantly. It’s an elevated version of what it always has been – fulfilling an idea of classics, but not basics. “Classicism versus basics is very different,” says Rutson, “My whole wardrobe has always been based on classicism, but its always been relevant for the moment.”
As a noted figure at fashion week, Rutson was often photographed by the street style paps, who documented her signature (very Equipment-y) look of open-neck blouse, cool jean or sharp trousers and a blazer. “A timeless quality is essential,” she states, “that French sensibility. A French woman’s style is never chasing trends, a sense of sublime ease. The nonchalant way she throws over a jacket, the way she rolls up a sleeve…” Her formula is certainly a no-brainer way to achieve easy, uncomplicated chic, with just a dash of je ne sais quois. Newly launched is a collaboration with shoe designer (and stylist) Tabitha Simmons, an insider darling. The capsule collection hits those classic notes, but with a frisson of fun, too. Having previously lived in Hong Kong, Tokyo, New York and London, Rutson’s home is now LA (where the brand is now based). Being out of the fashion bubble has (slightly) changed her perspective. “It’s a different way of life. I’m a real person. I’ve never believed the hype. I’ve always just got on with my job. I am really respectful of every dollar a woman spends. I’m a single mother, I’ve got a kid to put through school and a mortgage to pay.” Time to roll up those sleeves.