Designer Essie Buckman’s Fortie Label is Definitely One to Watch.

A photo posted by @illjahjah on

By now you’ve probably seen images of Rihanna donning British designer Essie Buckman’s Fortie Label “Katja” bustier. The pop star rocked the look, complete with Manolo Blahnik boots for a performance at OVO Fest earlier this week.

Buckman, a graduate of London’s prestigious Central Saint Martins school, put on a killer graduate show earlier this year.


Essie Buckman Fortie Label

Essie Buckman Fortie Label

Essie Buckman Fortie Label

Her Fortie label has been rapidly racking up press from the likes of Vogue Italia and i-D Magazine.

Fortie for @girlcode_uk

A photo posted by FORTIE (@fortielabel) on

The line gets it’s name from the infamous Forty Elephants gang, an all-female crew who operated in London from about 1873 to about 1950. For Buckman, Fortie Label is all about celebrating strong women.

“Strong women have raised me all my life and made me who I am today,” Buckman States. “With so many issues in the world including sexual harassment, equal pay and equal rights I was driven even more to demonstrate the beauty and power of women and to really elevate the reputation of young women and to give us the confidence to wear what we want to wear and allow us to be more than just one dimensional human beings. Woman are fun, devious, sensitive, sensual, intelligent, feisty, creative, radiant and important and with this collection I wanted to raise these notions and I hope to continue this with Fortie and all my Fortie woman that have helped and assisted this vision come to life.”