South Godfrey whips up girly western-inspired sportswear fit for the streets and the slopes in her Lilly Lab workshop. The results suit the modern ski bunny to a T.
You need only catch a glimpse of South Godfrey skateboarding down Stephen Avenue to recognize her uniquely pretty take on mountain-girl style. Always the self-promoter, she’ll be decked out in skinny black jeans, worn-in skate shoes and one of her chunky Lilly Lab sweaters (perhaps with a big red heart on the front), her golden mop of curls only slightly disguised by an oversized knit cap, another Lilly Lab original.
Godfrey comes by her design sense naturally. Her mother Lynne, an artist and the owner of Mountain Magic Sportswear in Banff, has been bringing in beautiful designer sportswear since Godfrey was a child. Her grandmother, Lilly, the three-year-old company’s namesake, is another inspiration. “My grandma always had the best clothes and defies the theory of ‘dressing for your age’ in the best possible way.” This independent streak, which runs through three generations, led Godfrey to begin designing her own clothes as a teenager. “I was desperate for cool clothes that worked for sports, but that no one else was wearing,” she says. “It started with skateboarding—I always had to build my own outfits from menswear.”
Today, the 31-year-old combines her love of extreme sports and girl culture in a line of functional, feminine clothing. It’s the details that make a Lilly Lab piece stand out in a crowd, such as the oversized, detachable pink bow on the back of a tailored dove-grey raincoat, one of the most popular items from the 2010 collection. The same bow also cropped up on a lightweight-nylon baby-doll dress that Godfrey wore to the Shambhala Festival in Nelson B.C. The designer was not just fashionable but, when it began to pour, fashionably dry.
But even a true girly girl has to keep things fresh. There are no ribbons and bows to be found in Lilly Lab’s new sweater collection (click here for a chance to win one), which features intricately knit graphic cowboys and aboriginal chiefs and ranges in price from $59 to $300. “My mother has been painting cowgirls for as long as I can remember,” Godfrey says. “The cowboy sweater is actually a throwback to a style she designed in the ’80s.”
The mountains and foothills played a huge part in Godfrey’s upbringing. “The West is romantic with its rich history and wide-open spaces,” she says. “I drew from that western heritage, but I also wanted the collection to feel fresh, modern and very now.”
While being a full-time designer is a dream come true, Godfrey isn’t sitting at home all day sketching new designs; she is often out on the hill with her customers. And who is the perfect Lilly Lab girl? “Someone who understands the value of quality, not just disposable fashion. She is active and she’s sick of everyone wearing the same things to yoga and on the ski hill. She mixes in vintage pieces. She is confident and strong.”
We say it takes a Lilly Lab girl to know one.
The Lilly Lab collection is available at Mariah in Aspen Landing, 110, 326 Aspen Glen Landing S.W., and Mountain Magic Sportswear, 225B Bear St., Banff. lillylab.com.
Originally published in Swerve magazine Jan.21.11.
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