The Feltz factor: dresses that capture the essence of Vanessa

Almost the first press release to land on my desk in 2024 announced that Vanessa Feltz would be “taking the fashion world by storm” with the launch of her fashion collection, Vanessa at 4Love.uk.

Hailing the collection as a “dazzling rendezvous of television royalty and fashion”, it added: “Get ready to be wowed.”

Forgive me, JC readers, but sadly I was not “wowed”. But, ignoring the hyperbole, I can see that 4Love.uk may indeed be “taking the fashion world by storm” by filling a gap in the market for offering – as Linda Plant, one of the five women behind the brand, told me – “affordable clothes that make women of all ages and sizes look and feel great”.

In addition to Plant and top broadcaster Feltz, the all-female, all-Jewish team comprises former Immanuel pupil Sofia Lever as social media and content manager, and fashion insiders Mandy Smith and Katrina Shalit, who have enjoyed stellar careers in, respectively, manufacturing and design.

“We believe that every woman should have access to outfits that are not only fashionable but also figure-flattering and comfortable,” explains Plant, founder of knitwear brand Honeysuckle, co-founder of a charity helping underprivileged Israeli children and interrogator of finalists on behalf of Lord Sugar on The Apprentice. The five, who are long-time friends, began their collaboration following a lunch at which Feltz told Plant and Shalit how, for years, women had been telling her they loved her clothes and asking her where they could find dresses that were “beautiful, comfortable and flattering.”

Feltz recalls telling her friends that It had “become a dream” to “create the perfect dress” and how they had proclaimed that 4Love.uk “could bring her ideas to life”.

Plant takes up the story: “We wanted to capture Vanessa’s essence – a glamorous woman who can relate to women from all walks of life.”

The goal, she adds, was to create a capsule collection offering “wearable fashion” and “affordable glamour”. The resulting collection comprises eight of Vanessa’s “dream dresses” in all kinds of prints – both vibrant and delicate – featuring details she “longed for”, such as pockets, and with no fastenings, and all priced at £45 to £79, as well as co-ordinating separates, wraps, jackets, a faux-fur gilet and sequin-lavished pieces for after-dark.