When Lady Victoria Starmer – Vic, to her husband and friends – stepped into the limelight on election day, it was a surprise to nobody that she did so wearing red. Of more surprise was the label that she chose for this auspicious occasion.
Pictured on the doorstep of No 10, Starmer looked just-so in a £275 dress from the independent British label, Me+Em. Calf-length, form-fitting and with split sleeves that indicated confidence not merely in her husband’s leadership but in her upper arms, Starmer’s dress was a choice far savvier than her self-effacing manner might have led onlookers to expect.
It was also something of a landslide victory for Me+Em, the independent British label that has recently been gaining more ground in working women’s wardrobes than even the most optimistic polls could have predicted. For Lady Starmer is but the latest in a slew of high-profile fans – Nicole Kidman, Gillian Anderson, Claudia Winkleman, Trinny Woodall and the Princess of Wales among them – to have fallen for the chic mid-market brand.
And let’s not forget Angela Rayner, who wore a green Me+Em trousersuit on the day she was appointed deputy prime minister, as well as an orange dress at Keir Starmer’s inaugural cabinet meeting.
Anyone wondering whether the female members of the Labour Party are involved in some clandestine influencer deal with the brand need not fret. In fact, Me+Em has wormed its way into working women’s affections on merit alone, by delivering the sort of wardrobe solutions that they need, but don’t have time to shop for. Based around items that deliver “the three Fs” – flattering, functional and forever – its blazers, trousers, dresses and shirts are designed to form that cliched but often elusive thing: a “capsule wardrobe” of basics that work as well in the boardroom as they do on weekends.
That its price points are reassuringly mid-market is another draw. At £275, Lady Starmer’s dress is priced at that sweet spot that treads a dainty line between (relative) affordability and reassurance that it’s made to last, which is to say that fabric quality is high, and it hasn’t been made in a sweatshop. Likewise the £295 cream single-breasted jacket she wore to Thursday’s election count.
As for those who may carp that £295 is steep for a jacket, what would they prefer? A cheap little something from China? A Swedish high street buy? Lady Starmer may not have set out to be a patriotic fashion plate, and probably hates the notion, but she is no fool. Whether she likes it or not, her clothes will be scrutinised, and her choices decoded. In the Venn diagram of labels she could have chosen to make her debut as First Lady in, Me+Em is that rare beast, a British label whose supply chain stands up to as much scrutiny as the clothes themselves.
For those unfamiliar with the label, a crib sheet. Somewhat fittingly, Me+Em first came to power during the last Labour government. Founded in 2009 by former advertising executive Clare Hornby, it currently has nine standalone UK stores – seven in the smarter areas of London (Chelsea, Marylebone, Mayfair), one in Manchester, and one in Edinburgh. It also has a presence in Selfridges and Harrods, as well as two recent store openings in New York.
But in its early years, Me+Em was a direct-to-consumer brand that harnessed the benefits of social media to raise its profile. Rather than spending on expensive, glossy advertising campaigns, Hornby let the products speak for themselves, allowing them to gain popularity through word of mouth. Her strategy paid off. When Kate Middleton wore a £48 Breton top in 2015, it sold out instantly, garnering a 5,000-strong waiting list and boosting the brand’s global profile.
The following year, Kirsty Wark wore a £118 pair of tracksuit bottoms to present Newsnight – an eyebrow-raising move that not only cemented athleisurewear’s ascendancy into the mainstream, but also cemented Me+Em as the go-to label for that specific type of trouser that is sporty enough to look modern, but formal enough to look smart. So smart, in fact, that it can be worn by female news anchors.
Eight years on, it’s hard to over-emphasise how much Me+Em’s track pants changed the game. Suddenly, female executives felt they had permission to wear drawstring trousers to work, smartened up with a white blouse and a tailored jacket. All over the UK, offices thronged with trousers tricked out with distinctive white or red chevrons, as though their wearers were limbering up for some unknown Olympics.
On the Me+Em website, a similar pair of trousers will cost you in the region of £150. Its most expensive pair is a £650 “ultra-soft wide leg leather trouser”, while its most affordable is a £59 wide-leg palazzo pant, part of the brand’s “travel tailoring” range. Trousers are very much a focus, with spring styles running the gamut from casual cargo pants (£175) to pinstripe work trousers (£225) to mid-wash jeans (£185).
But dresses are also strong, starting at £85 for a cotton jersey shift and rising to £595 for more wedding-appropriate styles. Lady Starmer’s red dress is almost sold out (according to a Me+Em spokesperson, demand increased by over 300 per cent after her endorsement) and also comes in black.
Nothing at Me+Em is designed to frighten the horses, but that’s the point. When I interviewed Clare Hornby in 2016, she proudly described the label as “under the radar”, adding: “Our customer isn’t a fashion victim. The worst thing you could ask her is ‘what on earth are you wearing?’ Subtlety is key for us. We wait until the world is ready for it, rather than when the fashion world is wearing it.”
The world is certainly ready for it. The vote is in. Whether first lady or full-time mum, when it comes to being ready for your close-up, Me+Em is the label to wear.