The Vampires Wife was a British fashion label established by designer and former model Susie Cave. The brand was known for romantic dresses, vintage-inspired silhouettes, ruffles, rich fabrics and a unique gothic edge and became a recognizable name in modern British fashion.
This Fashion ceased trading in May 2024, but its dresses remain on resale, archive and rental channels. The influence of the label can be seen in other things like the Falconetti dress, which became associated with celebrities, royals, and red carpet fashion.
What Is The Vampires Wife?
The Vampires Wife was a British luxury fashion label focused heavily on feminine occasionwear. Its collections became particularly known for flowing dresses that combined vintage references with a darker, romantic mood.
The brand’s designs often featured ruffles, long sleeves, fitted waists, flowing skirts, lace, velvet, silk, and shimmering fabrics. Retail listings also show the breadth of its archive, including midi dresses, maxi gowns, skirts, tops, accessories, and other pieces.
Rather than following a minimalist approach, The Vampire’s Wife built its identity around recognizable silhouettes and theatrical details. That helped its clothing stand out on red carpets and at formal events.
Who Founded The Vampires Wife?
Susie Cave founded The Vampires Wife with business partner Alex Adamson. Major fashion publications date the founding to 2014, when the label began developing from a relatively small operation into an internationally recognized fashion name.
Cave had already spent years in fashion before moving into design. Her earlier career as a model gave her a strong understanding of clothing, styling, photography, and the way garments work on the body.
The label grew from her own frustration with not finding the kind of clothes she wanted to wear. In a Liberty interview, Cave explained that she had long imagined particular dresses and wanted clothing that celebrated the woman wearing it rather than simply drawing attention to the designer.
Why Is It Called The Vampires Wife?
The unusual name came from Cave’s husband, musician Nick Cave.
Nick Cave had been working on a book called The Vampire’s Wife before abandoning the project. The name remained available, and Susie Cave later adopted it for the fashion label. She felt the name was memorable, playful, strange, and suited the personality of the clothing.
The name also helped establish the mysterious identity that became associated with the brand.
When Did The Vampires Wife Launch?
The brand’s history is sometimes described with two dates. Fashion sources identify 2014 as the founding year, while a Liberty profile describes the label as having launched in 2016. The distinction likely reflects the difference between establishing the business and its public fashion launch.
By the late 2010s, however, The Vampire’s Wife had moved well beyond its early beginnings and had become a recognizable name among fashion editors, celebrities, and shoppers looking for distinctive occasionwear.
What Was The Vampires Wife Style Like?
The Vampires Wife developed a style that mixed vintage glamour with gothic and romantic elements.
Vintage-Inspired Silhouettes
Many designs drew from earlier decades, particularly the 1950s, while keeping the proportions and construction suitable for contemporary wear. Lyst describes the brand’s collections as strongly influenced by retro fashion, with figure-flattering shapes and a palette ranging from jewel tones to softer pastel shades.
Common features included:
High necklines
Long sleeves
Defined waists
Ruffled hems
Flowing skirts
Midi and floor-length silhouettes
Floral patterns
Velvet and silk
Metallic finishes
Lace and sheer fabrics
Gothic Romance
The darker side of the aesthetic was just as important as the feminine shapes.
Black dresses, dramatic textures, Victorian references, romantic florals, and theatrical details gave the collections a slightly mysterious quality. Liberty described Cave’s approach as combining delicate materials with darker overtones and vintage influences.
Cave has also discussed influences including Russian ballet, children’s books, nature, art, movies, and architecture. Those references helped produce clothing that felt romantic without being limited to one historical period.
The Falconetti Dress: The Brand’s Signature Design
The Falconetti became one of The Vampire’s Wife’s most recognizable designs.
Its appeal came from a relatively simple combination of a high neckline, long sleeves, a defined waist, and a flowing, ruffled skirt. British Vogue highlighted the Falconetti alongside related designs such as the Festival, Belle, and Cinderella dresses when discussing the label’s rapid rise in 2018.
The design was produced in different fabrics and colors, allowing the same recognizable shape to work for different occasions.
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Why Was The Falconetti So Famous?
The dress became particularly visible through celebrity and royal appearances.
Figures including Sienna Miller, Tilda Swinton, and Keira Knightley were among those associated with the style, while the design also appeared at major public events and weddings.
The emerald version became especially memorable after Catherine, Princess of Wales, wore it. Vogue reported on her wearing the green metallic Falconetti during her 2020 Ireland tour.
Vogue later named the Falconetti its “dress of the decade,” further cementing its place in the fashion story of the 2010s and early 2020s.
Other Notable The Vampires Wife Dresses
The Falconetti was not the only recognizable design from the label.
The archive includes names such as the Festival, Villanelle, Cinderella, Endurance, Glinda, Poison Flower, Sky Rocket, Nightflight, and Cate. Current resale and fashion listings show how broad the collection became over the years.
Villanelle Dress
The Villanelle became another recognizable style associated with the brand. Its name also connected the fashion label with Killing Eve, where the character Villanelle became known for her distinctive approach to fashion.
The design continues to appear in archive and rental listings, showing that interest in older pieces has continued after the original label stopped trading.
Cinderella Dress
The Cinderella name was used for several versions, including maxi and sheer styles. Like many Vampire’s Wife pieces, the design combined an eveningwear feel with the brand’s romantic and slightly theatrical identity.
Festival Dress
Festival was another important name within the label’s archive. The design reflects the brand’s ability to adapt its signature silhouette to different fabrics, colors, and settings. British Vogue identified Festival among the dresses that helped establish the label’s recognizable look.
The Vampires Wife and Celebrity Fashion
Celebrity visibility played an important role in the brand’s growth.
The label was worn by fashion figures and entertainers including Kate Moss, Sienna Miller, Keira Knightley, Florence Welch, Ruth Negga, and others. Its dresses also appeared at premieres, awards events, weddings, and other high-profile occasions.
This exposure helped turn the brand’s distinctive silhouettes into recognizable fashion references rather than simply another collection of occasion dresses.
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The Vampires Wife at the Royal Wedding
The brand received another major moment in the public eye when several guests at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wore The Vampire’s Wife dresses.
The Guardian noted that three guests wore the label at the event, an unusually visible example of how quickly the brand had moved into royal and celebrity circles.
The connection between the label and royal fashion became even stronger later through Catherine, Princess of Wales, and her appearances in the Falconetti.
The Vampires Wife and H&M Collaboration
In 2020, The Vampire’s Wife collaborated with H&M.
The partnership brought Cave’s recognizable aesthetic to a much broader audience. British Vogue reported that the collection included romantic dresses, velvet pieces, lace, capes, jewelry, and other designs inspired by the label’s darker and more theatrical style.
The collaboration was particularly significant because The Vampire’s Wife had previously occupied a much more exclusive luxury-fashion space.
The collection also reflected Cave’s interest in the history and atmosphere of Lewes, East Sussex, where the brand’s headquarters were based. The town’s darker historical associations became part of the mood behind the collection.
Why Did The Vampires Wife Close?
The Vampires Wife ceased trading in May 2024.
The company said that upheaval in the wholesale market had significantly affected the business. The closure came shortly after the collapse of Matchesfashion, one of the important retailers in the luxury fashion ecosystem.
The situation illustrated the financial pressure facing independent fashion labels that depend on wholesale relationships.
Reports around the closure linked the brand’s difficulties to wider problems in the luxury wholesale market rather than suggesting that the label had simply lost its fashion audience.
Can You Still Buy The Vampires Wife?
Yes, but the shopping experience is different now that the original label has stopped trading.
Archive pieces can still appear through resale retailers, fashion marketplaces, and rental services. House of Huntington, for example, currently lists archive pieces from the brand, including dresses, skirts, accessories, and other items.
Loan The Look also lists The Vampire’s Wife pieces for rental, including designs such as Lotus, Dracula’s Kiss, Bittersweet, Amaryllis, Villanelle, and Falconetti-related pieces.
Because the brand is no longer producing new collections, availability, sizing, condition, and prices can vary considerably.
Why The Vampires Wife Still Matters
The Vampires Wife had a relatively short run compared with many established fashion houses, but its visual identity became unusually recognizable.
Its dresses appeared across celebrity culture, royal events, fashion publications, and major retail collaborations. The Falconetti in particular became closely tied to the fashion landscape of its era.
The brand’s legacy now exists partly through its surviving garments. Archive pieces continue to circulate through resale and rental markets, allowing new wearers to discover designs that are no longer being produced.
For fashion history, The Vampire’s Wife is also an example of how an independent label can build a strong identity around a small number of recognizable design ideas: romantic silhouettes, vintage references, dramatic materials, and a distinctive atmosphere.
The Legacy of The Vampires Wife
The Vampire’s Wife may no longer operate as an active fashion label, but its designs have not disappeared.
The brand’s most recognizable dresses remain part of the archive market, while the Falconetti continues to be referenced whenever the fashion story of the late 2010s and early 2020s is discussed. Its combination of red-carpet visibility, celebrity support, royal appearances, and accessible collaborations gave the label a cultural reach that went beyond its size.
Susie Cave’s approach also helped establish a clear design language: feminine without being overly conventional, vintage without being purely nostalgic, and dark without abandoning glamour.
Summary
The Vampire Wife was a British fashion label founded by Susie Cave and Alex Adamson, best known for its romantic, vintage-inspired dresses and gothic style. The brand gained attention through celebrity and royal appearances, especially the popular Falconetti dress. Although The Vampire’s Wife ceased trading in 2024, its designs remain available through resale, rental, and archive collections. Its distinctive style continues to influence how the brand is remembered in modern fashion.
FAQs
Is The Vampire Wife a fashion brand?
Yes. The Vampires Wife was a British fashion label founded by Susie Cave with Alex Adamson. It became known especially for romantic, vintage-inspired dresses and distinctive occasionwear.
Who founded The Vampires Wife?
Susie Cave founded The Vampire’s Wife with business partner Alex Adamson. Fashion sources identify 2014 as the founding year.
Why is The Vampires Wife called The Vampire’s Wife?
The name came from musician Nick Cave, Susie Cave’s husband. He had used The Vampire’s Wife as the title of an abandoned book project, and Susie later adopted the name for her fashion label.
What is The Vampire’s Wife Falconetti dress?
The Falconetti is one of the label’s best-known designs. It is recognized for its high neckline, long sleeves, defined waist, and flowing ruffled skirt, and it became especially famous through celebrity and royal appearances.
Is The Vampire’s Wife still in business?
No. The Vampire’s Wife ceased trading in May 2024. Its clothing can still be found through selected resale, archive, and rental outlets.
