Squabbling over who stole whose clothes is a rite of passage for all sisters. But for Lady Lola Bute and Jazzy de Lisser, a shared taste in vintage-inspired silky slips resulted not in familial feud, but rather the launch of a brand. Enter Debute: the London-based womenswear label that’s rapidly become a go-to for London’s party set.
Both daughters of womenswear designer Serena Bute, whose London-based brand specialises in great-quality everyday separates in silk and cotton, the half-sisters grew up with fashion in their DNA. “Clothes have always been a big thing in our household and still are to this day,” says Jazzy, who’s eight years older than Lola.
Debute launched in late 2024 with an edit of dresses, tops, skirts and trousers that manages to be both dressed up and effortlessly wearable – from silky slip mini dresses with contrasting lace trims to Coyote Ugly-inflected lace-front low-slung flares and the most micro of micro mini kilts made from deadstock fabric. It’s no surprise that Rita Ora, Poppy Delevingne, Adwoa Aboah, Tish Weinstock and Alexa Chung are all fans.
We sat down with the sisters to find out how sharing, swapping – and occasionally losing – each others’ dresses became a business.
How did Debute come about?
Jazzy: “Lola and I were always stealing dresses from each other, or friends were always borrowing our dresses. We both collected a lot of vintage pieces, like dresses that we'd find in Portobello Road Market. Then I had an idea and I said to Lola, ‘Why don't we start designing dresses and creating the styles that have been inspired by the pieces we have been borrowing from each other and always want to wear over and over again?’. So it started as a little chat we had one summer in Ibiza. From this moment, I would go and visit Lola in Paris, as she was working there at that time, and we just started putting it together and finding fabrics and coming up with designs.”
With a fashion designer mother, fashion must have always been a part of your lives growing up. Do you remember a moment when you realised you wanted it to be your path?
Lola: “We still all wear each other's clothes. I guess getting ready is always the favourite bit of a party! Since we were little, we've gone into our mum's room and get all dressed up together. It's usually the best bit of the night.”
Did you guys share clothes growing up? Would you say your style is similar?
Jazzy: “We did – well, Lola is a few years younger than me, so I would say she would steal my clothes a lot and then she’d always take them to boarding school with her and sometimes they would never come back, or I’d see pictures of her friends wearing them. Now that I am older things have balanced a bit more. I'm now actually about to leave here and go borrow a dress from Lola’s wardrobe, so yes, we do.”
As sisters building a brand, how does the design process work? Are you always aligned?
Lola: “We usually eventually agree on the same thing. I think the thing is that we have a trust in each other, which really helps and that's kind of an unbreakable bond between sisters, but equally you know you can push it and, there’ll be things we don’t agree on, but we usually always find each other down the road and agree.”
Who is the ultimate Debute girl?
Jazzy: “There’s not an ultimate Debute girl, the essence of a Debute girl is her individuality and how she embodies the pieces in her own distinct way.”
What has been the most surreal Debute moment so far?
Jazzy: “I think for me, the most surreal Debute moment is when you see people wearing your clothes. A special moment I can think of is when Alexa Chung recently styled herself in a shoot for Vogue and she was wearing the Tallulah dress. That was really exciting.”
Lola: “I think my favourite moment was when I was in a cafe in Paris and these girls wrote on a piece of paper and held it on the window saying they loved Debute.”
How is the brand evolving from where it started?
Jazzy: “I think with every collection we've learned so much and we’re finding our brand identity and we're finding our core designs; the pieces we love and that we want to do keep evolving. We are also developing two new categories, which is really exciting.
What’s your signature piece?
Lola: “We would say the Tallulah dress – it’s fun, it’s colourful, it’s sexy, it’s very girly, it’s playful and those are all kind of key words when we think of Debute.”
Your dresses are made for partying – what’s your favourite party you’ve been to and why?
Jazzy: “Lola would say her 25th birthday I think, which was amazing! I would probably think of my birthdays, since it is in August. I always love having a little party in Ibiza. But honestly, some of the best parties are the ones you least expect or when you go out and you don’t really know what's going to happen.”
