<div><p>LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Luella Bartley, the young British designer whose quirky yet feminine designs have adorned model Kate Moss and singer Lily Allen, has become the latest fashion casualty of the recession.</p><p>Bartley's label, Luella, ceased trading after its ready-to-wear producer closed last month and its main financial backer pulled the plug on any further investment, the company said in a statement emailed to Reuters on Wednesday.</p><p>Luella Bartley Ltd said its key producer in Italy, Carla Carini, unexpectedly closed last month, leaving the brand unable to fulfill its spring/summer 2010 orders.</p><p>VSQ Ltd, which also distributes for Armani, advised Luella that it had decided not to invest further in the label, the statement said.</p><p>Bartley won Designer of the Year at last year's British Fashion Awards and her Luella-branded designs are popular with a number of celebrities.</p><p>"This is a very disappointing situation for everyone involved with the brand," Luella Bartley said.</p><p>Bartley, a former British journalist who founded her company a decade ago, has attracted continued adulation from the fashion press and her celebrity fans.</p><p>"We have a number of options open to us and are considering these over the coming months," Bartley said.</p><p>Known for its idiosyncratic and humorous mix of punk details and party dresses, Luella is the label of choice for the streetwise British girl-about-town and is regularly worn by London gossip-page regulars Alexa Chung, Allen and the daughters of singer/campaigner Bob Geldof.</p><p>The designer once described her look as "the kind of clothes you can get drunk and fall over in."</p><p>Luella handbags, hair accessories and leather goods sell well: the dresses -- around 500 pounds ($800) each -- may not be cheap but they are popular in boutiques as well as in up-market high street stockists and her range of graphic T-shirts provides a "way in" to the brand at a lower price.</p><p>Bartley launched Luella in 1999. Her fusion of traditional British influences -- Crombie coats and hunting jackets -- with quirky modern details chimed with a revived "Cool Britannia" movement. She opened her flagship store on Mayfair's Brook Street in 2007.</p><p>(Reporting by Paul Casciato, Editing by Steve Addison)</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=63125094&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

Copyright 2009  <a href="http://www.reuters.com">Reuters Life! Online Report</a></div></div>