From family and friendship to business partners: meet the women who did it together

“We are intergenerational women, designing for women who are like us,” says Bernadette de Geyter, co-founder of the Antwerp-based Bernadette, which she founded with her daughter, Charlotte, in 2018. Trust and compromise are at the heart of mother and daughter’s work process. After deciding on a seasonal mood, they each go away and design individually, later coming together to share their drawings. They then sit, as they would around the family dinner table, to discuss, tweak and perfect each sketch. “We will always try to understand each other’s point of view as much as possible,” says Bernadette.

Yet the two women are undoubtedly opposites. “My mom knows what women want without them having to try too hard – like the perfect little black dress,” says Charlotte, who studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and hand-draws the label’s botanical prints. “Whereas I want to challenge women and make them wear something they didn’t think they needed. A dress to make you smile every time you see it.” And while it’s a surprise to be working with her daughter, Bernadette says that, to some extent, it was all set in stone. “Charlotte always knew exactly what she loved and exactly what she hated. You could tell from an early age that she would always have a strong opinion about fashion.”

“The Furlane [shoe] has been part of our life since the very beginning,” says Viola Arrivabene, who grew up in Venice, along with her younger sister Vera and their three other siblings. This soft, rubber-soled slipper, which was originally created to protect the paintwork on Venice’s prized gondola boats, is as much a part of the sisters’ childhood – and Venice’s landscape – as the magical city’s twisting waterways and golden architecture. Whenever the sisters would visit friends in other parts of Italy, a prelude of texts preceded each visit, asking the duo to please bring slippers in their friends’ size. So, in 2015, they launched Vibi Venezia together – a collection of luxurious slippers based on their beloved city’s everyday shoe, crafted in Venice from jewel-toned velvets that look just as dreamy worn with jeans as with an evening dress. “Because we shared the same passion, it was natural to start the brand together,” says Vera.

When they were younger, though, The sisters never imagined they would go into business together. “We were best friends when we were little, but we fought a lot when we were teenagers,” laughs Vera, referring to that quintessential teenage rivalry and a clash of personalities. She describes Viola as “exuberant and creative” and says she is more organized and reflective. “We were almost enemies until I went to boarding school at 16,” says Viola. But now, the duo is inseparable. “It was only then [when I left home] that I understood how valuable it is to have siblings; that no matter what, they would always be on your side,” says Viola.

That contrast in personalities is beneficial for running the brand today. Viola leads on the creative side, while Vera takes care of the numbers and the logistical, everyday running of the label. “We’re the best team in the world,” says Viola.

It was a mutual love of stripes that brought colleagues and friends Valerie, Meredith and Molly to launch La Ligne in New York in 2016. Amalgamating some 30-plus years of combined industry experience (Meredith and Valerie worked together at Vogue, while Molly was formerly head of business development at Rag & Bone), the brand focused on creating luxury everyday pieces with compelling price points – think rugby-style cashmere sweaters and Breton-striped cotton tops. In other words, trusted staples that women would wear on repeat, no matter the season.

And while the clothing can err on the understated, the main word bounced around between the trio when it comes to working together is “fun”. Meredith says that Valerie was her “favorite editor to attend fashion events with” while at Vogue, while Molly, who met the duo during her tenure at Rag & Bone, says she was “always drawn to how much fun they were to be around – even in a work setting. It made me confident that working with them was going to be easy,” she says.

This meeting of creative minds, and the instinctive nature of support, means that business meetings are always fruitful. “There is very little ego to get in the way of leaning on each other for those places where the other can really shine,” says Molly. “We have a respect for each other that goes beyond just respecting each other’s work skills – we respect each other as friends, as family at this point. We are happy to let each other take the lead.” Valerie agrees: “That idea of female camaraderie is very present within the three of us. Nothing exists in a vacuum ­­– and to be able to foster each other’s ideas and grow them is what makes the clothes better.” The power of three, indeed.