Susie Cave’s fashion house The Vampire’s Wife counted royals, supermodels, and rockstars among its many fans
‘DRESS OF THE DECADE’: THE VAMPIRE’S WIFE WAS IMMORTALISED IN THE FIRST JOINT PORTRAIT OF KATE MIDDLETON AND PRINCE WILLIAM AFTER SHE WORE THE FALCONETTI GOWN ON A TRIP TO DUBLIN IN 2020. Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Kate Middleton and Princess Beatrice have often been seen wearing the trendy, glittery dresses over the years. But alas, no more; The Vampire’s Wife is shutting for good. A favourite of the royals, Kate Moss, and Kiera Knightley, the closure of Susie Cave’s fashion brand will leave a cavern in the landscape of British luxury fashion.
The shape of said cavern? Most likely the eponymous silhouette of the legendary Falconetti gown. Its puffed sleeves and ruffled draped skirt was named ‘dress of the decade’ by Vogue. Kate Middleton wore the emerald gown on a trip to Dublin in 2020, after which it was immortalised in Jamie Coreth’s portrait of the royal couple.
Despite enormous success, from pop princesses to the Princess of Wales, Susie announced yesterday that her brand would soon be closing: ‘After ten years as the Creative Director of The Vampire’s Wife, it is time to say goodbye.’
Susie Cave, who married musician Nick Cave in 1999, is no stranger to fashion’s upper echelons. After running away from boarding school, she was scouted by esteemed photographer Steven Meisel on a flight to New York aged just 14. Campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior followed, and by the time she met Nick she was a veritable nineties it-girl.
The Vampire’s Wife was the title of one of Nick’s unfinished novels, but Susie raised the moniker from the dead in 2014, reincarnating a signature style, all gothic gossamers and romanticist ruffles.
It was the kind of alchemy you only get in fantasy fiction, but soon Susie’s designs were seen on Princess Beatrice (at Ellie Goulding’s wedding to Casper Jopling), Kate’s tour of Belize, countless guests at Megan and Harry’s wedding in 2018, and the great and the good of the country’s most glamorous stars.
‘I’ve known Susie since I was 16,’ Kate Moss told the Guardian. ‘She was always my favourite model and the most glamorous woman I had ever met.’ Susie’s clothes, said the fashion icon, were ‘otherworldly, timeless and so flattering to wear.’
Keira Knightley called Susie’s gowns ‘just as beautiful and special as she is’. Putting on a dress by The Vampire’s Wife, said the actress, ‘is an occasion in itself, full of magic and decadence.’
Singer Florence Welch agreed, praising the ‘subversive femininity’ of Cave’s designs. ‘I think the most beautiful things have a strangeness to them,’ she said to the outlet, ‘and her dresses seem to have walked out of a gothic fantasy. One that is entirely Susie’s.’
The designer expressed her ‘undying gratitude’ for her countless supporters in a touching Instagram message: ‘I wish to thank my extended family at The Vampire’s Wife who helped me create such beautiful things. I cannot describe how much you have all meant to me.’
A statement from the brand attributed the closure to ‘upheaval in the wholesale market’, with outlets noting recent difficulties involving HMRC.
Condolences flocked in for The Vampire’s Wife, with Alexa Chung, Sophie Ellis Bextor, and Claudia Winkleman among those sharing their love for Susie’s work. ‘Your divine dresses will live on forever,’ said jewellery designer Annoushka Ducas – indeed, it is fittingly fantastical that the Vampire’s Wife remains immortal, reborn in its impact and undying in its legacy.