Bella Freud: The Story Behind Her Statement Knits

An understated staple in every fashion girl's wardrobe, Bella Freud's iconic and idiosyncratic slogan knits have been worn by everyone from Kate Moss (a close pal of the designer) to Alexa Chung.

Most coveted of the designer's classic styles are the simple black 'Ginsberg is God' jumper, the bright red '1970' knit and the simple 'Je t'aime Jane' knit. You'll also find her quietly cool candles in the background of many a blogger's outfit post on Instagram.

Speaking exclusively to online lifestyle and shopping platform Semaine, Bella explained the story behind her famous knits.

'I made 3 short films with John Malkovich, then two more with another director. We made a film based on a story about Beatnik girls waiting for their poet guru, The Hideous Man, to arrive. I wanted one of them to be wearing a kind of literary groupie jumper with names like Camus, Godard, and Ginsberg on it. In the 70's there was a famous t-shirt with 'Clapton is God' written on it and a friend said 'why not so Ginsberg is God,' which I thought was great. Then my assistant, who had a cold, said 'What about Godard is dog, I mean God.' I thought that was perfect! It could mean so much - or nothing; it could be total bullsh*t. Those quotes came from that.'

She added: 'Then Kate Moss wore the jumper and suddenly it became a 'thing.' It was 2003, so over ten years ago. I started to make other jumpers with words on them, it built organically with no particular planning.'

Bella recently opened her first standalone boutique in Marylebone, and we've been cooing over her ridiculously covetable embroidered cushions ever since. The full range is now available to shop online for the first time on Semaine - snap them up quick, because we predict a sell out...

Shop our favourite Bella Freud picks in the gallery below...