There’s a stealth brand careering across the fashion world, making body-con — tight, stretchy, body-conscious clothing — aspirational again. Say what? Last seen circa 2008, with Hervé Léger’s £1,500 bandage dress (worn by Kate Winslet, Liz Hurley and Elle Macpherson), or more recently on the Towie girls, you could be forgiven for believing that body-con was truly no longer a “thing”. The catwalks are now full of librarian-type Gucci florals and suits with exaggerated shoulders. But one swipe through a red-carpet gallery and you’ll realise that not only is body-con back, it’s bigger than ever. And it’s all down to House of CB, a brand run by Conna Walker, a 24-year-old from the Isle of Dogs.
The clothes can be found suctioned to the bottoms of Hollywood’s sassiest women: J.Lo, funnelling her heavenly proportions into a nude spandex dress; Beyoncé pairing a Led Zeppelin T-shirt with a side-split leather skirt; Khloe Kardashian, a veritable beacon in a neon orange shift; and the supermodel Joan Smalls in a leather midi-dress with peepholes cascading down the side. Most tellingly, Gigi Hadid chose a £69 Malla bodysuit (reduced now to £49) for the afterparty at her high-profile Victoria’s Secret debut last year. And where Hollywood’s sassiest girls go, young women follow.
“Our brand fills a niche that wasn’t being served,” says Walker, on the phone from LA. “I call it affordable luxury.” Mini collections drop each week, with a mesh corset costing £49, a faux fur coat £149, and a deep-plunge bandage maxidress £199. Clothes are lace-up, cut-out or cropped to the extreme. Forget trying to play down your assets, this is an eye-popping celebration of the bootylicious. Celebrities don’t care about prices, says Walker — they could wear Dior or Versace, after all — but they flock to House of CB “because of the fit. Stylists tell me that they don’t need to get the clothes tailored.”
Walker is on one helluva roll. There are House of CB stores in London, Manchester, Liverpool and Hollywood. Miami, New York and, possibly, a store in Australia will open next year. The brand is Topshop’s top-selling concession. There is no debt and no investors. Walker borrowed £2,000 from her father, a furniture trader, which she repaid in the first year. Since the brand launched six years ago, profits have doubled year on year, and for 2016, the CB group is on track for a £7m profit. Walker now has a whopping 600 employees. Just six years ago, House of CB was a tiny eBay store called Celeb Boutique, run from the teenage Walker’s bedroom.
All fake eyelashes and honeyed skin, Walker is the quintessential House of CB customer (a woman aged 17-34 with a liking for girl-boss Insta captions), a fact she sees as a huge advantage. “I know what she wants. I know where she is going. And I understand how she consumes pop culture and fashion.”
Advertisement
Walker relocated to LA last year to boost her personal connections. “I have a great relationship with the Kardashians.” Along with the brand’s 1m followers on social media, celebrity tastemakers have been integral to her success. “It’s a modern way of growing a brand. The power of pushing a product is real.” Despite all the endorsements, Walker says she has never paid a celebrity to wear House of CB; a staggering fact when you consider that nowadays that is the norm for both luxury and high-street brands.
An only child, Walker says she has always been ambitious. “My parents used to be market traders, and aged five, I’d set up my own little area.” House of CB hit the big time two years ago when a rebrand saw her change the name “to sound more like a fashion house” and assemble a raft of in-house designers, who initially struggled to see a 22-year-old as their boss. One (foolishly) said to her: “You know it’s not just about making pretty dresses?” This year, she launched a diffusion line, Mistress Rocks, for younger, more “street” customers. Next is homeware, and wedding dresses. “More product lines mean people shop with us more often,” she says smartly.
Has Walker encountered any snobbery from the industry? She may be rapidly building an empire, but you’re unlikely to see House of CB on Net-a-porter any time soon. “We did have teething problems getting the brand accepted. But I would love to do a seriously luxury premium brand that shows at Paris fashion week.”
While being trussed-up is not for everyone, I’d like to see a brand on the catwalk (aside from Balmain) that encourages women to show off — rather than diet away — their curves. So, I imagine, would the large database of CB customers. To criticise Walker is to diss a large swathe of women. Take them — and her — on at your peril.