Introducing Alice’s Archive

Deep in the heart of industrial East London, behind heavy locked doors, beneath bamboo sheets; beauty slumbers.

Magical, glittering, transcendent beauty that tells a thousand tales.

This is Alice’s Archive; a spacious warehouse filled with treasures from Temperley’s illustrious history. Fastidiously preserved at the right temperature and humidity, these are the sleeping beauties: the dresses that took months, even years, to create. The ones that took many hands to make. The labours of love that have a story in every stitch; that are full of stories yet to be told.

Nobody appreciates a labour of love better than Annie Doble, the sky-rocketing outfitter to the stars who has run Annie’s Ibiza — White Isle honey-trap for the global style-setters — for three years.

Annie met Alice at a party in Ibiza 5 years ago and it was a meeting of minds: a dream weaver and a bounty hunter united by a passion for craft, fantasy and good old-fashioned fun.

‘We’re kindred spirits,’ says Annie from a cab on the way to the airport, ‘we’re both led by instinct and passion when it comes to style.’ Which is why, when it came to Alice’s decision to open up the archive and breathe new life into the brand’s most exquisite treasures, Annie was a natural ally.

‘The pieces in Alice’s Archive are works of true artistry,’

Says Annie

‘I was so excited to spend a day in East London unearthing treasures with her. My clients are brave when it comes to their fashion choices; they love one-off pieces and extraordinary workmanship; anything that bucks the trend and makes them the centrepiece.’

Annie Doble

Alice and Annie worked together to invigorate certain pieces with subtle adjustments: a shortened hem here, a lining stripped-out there to lend even more drama and impact.

‘Our main brief was to spotlight the pieces that our women could just put on and feel fabulous,’

Says Alice

‘This is about fantasy and fun – we went wild. No matter how outlandish we went, it was never too much for Annie’s girls.’

Alice Temperley MBE

Many of the pieces unearthed Alice has chosen to leave untouched. There’s the gleaming bronze halter Moon Garden Dress (‘made from a shot metallic lame fabric which is woven on the shores of Lake Como - one of my favourites’), the showstopper Lola Dress, a sequinned cage on light tulle with a full circle skirt (‘great for dancing’) and the sinuous Euphoria Wrap Dress made from a rich satin backed crepe (‘this was part of our opium collection, which had such an extravagant spirit – the blue leopards and peonies were all hand painted by our team’). These are pieces whose sheer artistry and beauty remains unchanged by the passing of time – rather, it has become heightened.

Alice once said that she wanted to create ‘pieces that can come out of the wardrobe years after they have been bought and still be relevant. Ethereal dresses you can wear or hang on your wall, that make you happy even when you glimpse them in your wardrobe.’

By opening up the archive, she is keeping the fantasy alive; giving the keys to a whole new generation of storytellers.

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