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Daily Fashion & Runway News
With the tagline “underwear, outerwear, anywhere,” former stylist Victoria Bartlett launched her underwear-inspired label VPL—a.k.a. Visible Panty Line—in 2003. The brand now also includes handbags, shoes, and jewelry. VPL collections usually hinge around a cheeky theme, such as the “Modern Suffragettes” homage in 2007, which presented a military slant on staples like effortless jersey separates. The brand has merited positive attention from industry insiders including Vogue and was nominated as a CFDA fashion-fund finalist in 2007. Diffusion line VPL2 was spun off in 2008, sticking to basics like tanks, knits, and underwear.
“While other designers make clothes that verge on underwear, and underwear houses make garments and packaging as triple-X as possible, Ms. Bartlett takes a different tack, making underwear that could easily double as a sporty ensemble, provided you are going to a terribly chic yoga class.”—David Colman The New York Times
“Out on the runway, Bartlett's spring collection revealed a strong foundation shape minus the finished silhouette. The dueling architecture worked, revealing subtly clingy pieces that could flatter even non-reedy girls. Signature strips of harness held a draping swimsuit close to the body, which then paired with capri pants that had an exaggerated, Arabian swoop of cloth running between the legs. Elsewhere, such as on the collar of a formless shell, rip cords smartly gathered in airy swaths of fabric. Some of the outfits had that messy tumbled-in-with-sheets-and-underwear look, which is a situation we wouldn't necessarily mind.”—Sarah Maher and Ryan Haase Refinery 29
Victoria Bartlett