Since 2006, Hunter Bell has been designing playfully feminine fashions for her namesake contemporary label.
“When I started the line out of my small apartment, it wasn’t just a bunch of dresses. I never decided that I wanted to be ‘just a dress designer,’ ‘just a top designer’ — it was a mini collection. Really grassroots approach, and that’s what it is today: a full collection,” Bell, the president and creative director of her namesake label, told WWD during a preview of her latest high-summer line and upcoming fall collections — two of the 10 collections she drops each year.
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Bell launched her company in New York City before relocating to Houston in 2015 and has since gained traction for her novelty touches and cheerful prints, especially across tops and dresses.
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“We want to dress you head to toe in a Hunter Bell; we want you to be able to travel not only in the South, but globally. I think we thought the business would move to Texas out of Manhattan — the fashion capital of the world — and slowly dissolve and in fact, the Texas market and women really embraced that color, pattern and print and showed us a new volume of growth in a new way.”
Bell’s latest collections mix a modern, sophisticated feel with touches of romance, novelty and femininity. For instance, high summer (influenced by the American Southwest) includes a specialty Italian linen striped Jamison dress with ruffled V-neckline and spaghetti tie-straps; a floral hand crochet tank top in white, with orange border, and a good amount of smocked, tiered, pouffed and lightly ruffled matching sets and dresses. Since the end of the pandemic, she’s reintroduced occasionwear; is focusing on in-person events this summer, and will be offering novelty sweaters within her upcoming fall collection, set to launch in July.
Alongside the fall collection launch, Bell is debuting her brand’s official rebrand (designed by RoAndCo founder Roanne Adam), which will now read “Hunter Bell” instead of “Hunter Bell NYC” to reflect the brand’s changes and growth through the years; the change will also be reflected via a new secondary market.
“We now have a secondary market that’s a beautiful representation of us as a brand — there’s a hidden ‘H’ and a bell; it looks as if it’s a petal growing out of the earth to represent strength and growth. We’ve developed a new hangtag, new main packaging; the website will have the new branding and they helped out with fonts and layouts. Really we’re just excited to have our fresh identity that represents growth, represents where we are today and can be used in different ways throughout the collection.”