Amanda Wakeley Juggles a New Design Career, Book, YouTube Style Series

LONDON — Amanda Wakeley is back in fashion with a new collection that will land at John Lewis stores in the U.K. on Tuesday, and a book about style that’s set to be released in late June.

The John Lewis collection is Wakeley’s first foray into fashion after winding down her eponymous label in 2021 after 30 years in business.

During her long career in fashion, the designer was a London Fashion Week stalwart with stores, concessions and a roster of red carpet clients ranging from Princess Diana, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle to Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson.

The new collection is the fruit of a licensing partnership between Wakeley and Radius Brands, and will be available in 10 John Lewis stores. In an interview, Wakeley said she mined her archive to come up with laid-back, but still elegant, occasionwear for summer.

“I feel there was a gap in the market for occasion dressing at this point in my life. These clothes are for women who don’t want to wear a floral frock, or a dress with a fitted bodice and a matching bolero jacket. I love my granny — but I don’t want to look like her when I go out. This is dressing when you want to be cool, chic and a little bit effortless — not so done,” said Wakeley.

The 16-piece collection comes in rich jewel tones such as citrine, peridot and sapphire, and is full of fluid silhouettes and tailoring.

Pieces include a bias-cut satin and lace slipdress; the designer’s signature Air silk wrap shirt; an easy, oversized suit with wide-leg trousers, and a languid top and trousers with a paisley print. Prices range from 350 pounds for the Air silk shirt to 395 pounds for the slipdress.

Wakeley, who owns the intellectual property of the business, said she had always wanted to experiment with licensing. She was also wanted this collection to be accessibly priced, but not mass, and pitched to a wider audience than in the past.

She said John Lewis has already confirmed late summer and autumn drops, which will include her signature cashmere and satin sweaters and other archive pieces. She said she wants to continue building the collections and forge a long-term partnership with the store.

Before Wakeley shuttered her brand in the dark days of lockdown, she was stocking ready-to-wear, eveningwear, bridal, accessories and had a customization area where shoppers could add stripes, patches and other embellishments to trousers, jackets and coats.

She said she wasn’t ready to return to design, until now.

“It was too traumatic — I was designing for so long, and felt spent of creativity,” said the designer, who after a year of rest and reflection started a podcast called Style DNA, where she interviews creatives and entrepreneurs from fashion, beauty, entertainment and lifestyle. Past guests have included Trinny Woodall, Clare Waight Keller and James Blunt.

The podcast is going into its 11th season, and she’s just interviewed Val Garland. Wakeley also writes a newsletter to go with the podcast where she talks about the interviews, what’s on her mind and her thoughts on fashion. She also makes money from affiliate links on the site.

Her new book, “Style DNA: How to Dress with Confidence,” will be published at the end of June, and Wakeley said it’s a compilation of all she’s learned about personal style, how to discover and embrace it.

“It’s not about rules, or about body shapes but about finding your own style and wearing clothes that make you feel good,” said Wakeley, adding the book also offers advice on wardrobe planning and editing, health and beauty. She also talks about “clothing as a cocooning armor, and how we send messages through what we wear.”

“As women, we are not who we were 10 years ago — and we’ll be different 10 years from now. We change, and our bodies change. We have to embrace who we are,” right now, she said.

She also has her own YouTube channel, and has teamed with the former glossy magazine editor Jo Elvin on a program called “Friday Night Fashion,” where they swing into high street stores, check out and critique the collections.

“It’s all filmed on an iPhone, it’s very immediate and we’re building a very engaged following,” said Wakeley, adding that she’s having so much fun with her portfolio career. Unlike many other content creators, she also knows her way around a fashion collection, and is more than happy to talk about seams, shoulder shapes, lapel widths and fabric quality.

She’s thrilled about her second act. “I had a blast in fashion, I loved it so much, but it was all-consuming I didn’t have a life. You couldn’t pay me to go back, and my gosh there are so many other chapters” to explore, she said.

“I feel like the past 35 years have been building up to this moment. There is so much I have learned, so much to share. And I still want women to feel the best version of themselves,” she added.