Vivere is a new venture for Miller. A Central Saint Martins-trained designer who worked for Alexander McQueen and Matthew Williamson, she launched contemporary label Twenty8Twelve with her sister, actress Sienna, back in 2007. They exited in 2012, and in 2016 Savannah launched her luxury ready to wear bridal label.
At the beginning of lockdown, the bridalwear business crashed.
The experience changed her mindset. Indicative of her different life, she now needs to be really serious and work hard and felt that was missing from the womenswear market. Instead of the frivolity of a dress, she was now a working mother who balances home, a career and has got three kids to feed. On her feet all day and realising it was much more effective to have a semi-uniform, this gave her the idea to launch Vivere. She wanted a hard-working, timeless, affordable wardrobe that survives year after year, for a range of events. The ‘new smart’.
Priced between £25 and £275, it is pitched firmly in the mid-market - a challenging, busy space, but a popular spot for women who increasingly find themselves unable to afford designer brands.
Each piece is designed to become a foundation piece in a modern woman’s wardrobe.
Focusing on contemporary femininity and directional silhouettes, the collection includes effortless premium knits, flattering suiting, satin slip skirts and wool coats in a refined tonal colour palette that includes green and brown hues alongside navy and pink.
She says the one piece she couldn’t be without, that every woman needs is a great great black blazer.
Styling it with either jeans, an evening dress or with any black trousers for the office, a great investment piece.
Miller and Hopkins are joined in the venture by Istanbul-based supply chain experts Duygu Leblebici and Nilufer Polat, who bring over thirty years of experience to the executive team. Miller is especially proud of the tailoring, which is manufactured in Turkey by a family-run business, and everything is finished by hand.
She cares deeply about quality, and Vivere uses one of the same wool suppliers as Phoebe Philo
The first Vivere collection is available on the brand’s own website and in exclusive partnership with John Lewis. Available at Chelsea’s Peter Jones, plus John Lewis on Oxford Street, in Bluewater, Edinburgh, and Cheadle Manchester, as well as online at johnlewis.com.
December 2023
