With her line, Lady and Butler, Eli Caner is giving hotel and restaurant uniforms an ultra-fashionable upgrade.
Spanish-born, New York-based designer Eli Caner is used to taking sartorial risks. But it was the fashion piece that exists at the other end of the spectrum—the service uniform—that gave her the idea to start her current line, Lady and Butler. Since launching in 2012, Caner has designed uniforms for hotels like the Soho Grand and the Surf Lodge and restaurants like Navy and Via Carota. An ideal marriage of form and function, Caner’s designs are clean, modern, and just the right amount of eye-catching. In other words: they look nothing like what you’d expect of a uniform. We talked to the designer about her inspiration, her dream collaboration, and the mistakes hotels make when choosing how to dress their staff.
What’s your background?
I’m a fashion designer. I came to New York to do an internship and I stayed to work with Camilla Staerk. After that, I consulted for other designers like Jonathan Simkhai and Timo Weiland.
