Second Summer’s Carmel Gill On How The Pandemic Has Changed Our Buying Habits
Ibiza meets the gumdrop world of the ’50s, thanks to this Dubai-based stylist and her breezy new line of must-have essentials
Second Summer is changing the way we think of luxury.
Ex-Editor in Chief of Elle Arabia, Carmel Gill formed the label with her sister Jodi and best friend Amy Wheatley. The line came to fruition over Zoom in March on the eve of Covid lockdown.
“Speaking to Amy, who is a fashion and swimwear designer and my sister Jodi, whose background is in finance and logistics, collectively we felt we had three strong pillars of essential knowledge in the fields it requires to launch a brand successfully.” For Carmel, this was an opportunity to cultivate her creative talent, as well as a chance to interpret fashion under the harsh light of the pandemic.
It’s no secret the virus has seeped into every part of our lives. Stylistically speaking, there was an underlying current during the S/S shows. From NYC to Paris, utility was favoured over opulence. Having had her finger on the pulse of fashion for the past seven years working in magazines, it’s no wonder Carmel felt the reverberations, creating a line that centred entirely on timeless classics rather than focusing on the mercurial nature of trends.
“Our buying habits changed, we no longer purchased trend-driven pieces and instead found ourselves hunting for staples that transcend the seasons, but we found when it came to hunting seasonless resortwear, we felt there wasn’t really a brand that stuck in our minds, so we decided to create one.”
Their latest collection, El Corsario, speaks to the adventuress, inspired by a group of boho artists who revolutionised Ibiza’s art scene in the ’50s. Known as Grupo 59, the collective held their first exhibit at Hotel El Corsario, the capsule’s namesake.
In Carmel’s words, “made for the barefoot creative, the dreamer, the wild and the free.” Essentials in linens and casual silhouettes that if packed in your suitcase, would look good just about anywhere. Simply put, Second Summer is a new genre of clothing – seasonless, timeless and effortless.
For more information, visit secondsummerlabel.com
Lead image courtesy of Instagram/@secondsummerlabel
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s November 2020 issue