5 Fashion Brands Bettina Looney Adores

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Bettina Looney is a Who What Wear editor in residence, stylist, tastemaker, entrepreneur, and creative consultant recognized for her curated eye and cross-industry influence. Spanning fashion, interiors, and beauty, she translates style into substance through private styling at The Bettina Looney Edit.

The last time I was visiting and walking around London, I realized I had walked past the same luxury brands so many times in under 10 minutes that I had basically stopped seeing them. Same bags, same colors, same windows—just slightly different displays. At some point, my brain just felt overloaded and overwhelmed. It felt like scrolling on Instagram but in real life.

I remember walking past these stores years ago with so much excitement. Now I will see the same bag multiple times in a single day in a window, in a store, on social media, on someone walking past me, and instead of wanting it more, I feel almost a bit overtaken by it. It’s as if the exposure does the opposite of what it is meant to do. Desire turns into pressure. It’s as if you are meant to buy it simply because it keeps appearing in front of you.

Luxury sometimes felt like something you discovered by accident. I still remember buying my very first designer handbag in London. It was a Balenciaga bag that I bought from Selfridges. I was 24 and had worked my ass off for it, and I could only afford it because I knew the sales associate, and they gave me their 40% discount. Back then, the concession was tiny. There weren’t endless options or walls of product. Just a handful of bags and limited stock. It felt like I had really picked out something special and out of the ordinary, not something I had been conditioned to want after seeing it a thousand times. I still have that bag, and I’ll hold on to it forever.

And it’s not that luxury has become easier to access. If anything, it feels more out of reach than ever. Prices have shifted dramatically. A designer pair of shoes that once cost $450 now sits at well over $1000. And yet, despite that, the sense of occasion can feel harder to find.

This is something my friends and I talk about all the time. Shopping feels strange right now. Big retailers are closing. Stock often feels repetitive. At the same time, we’re being flooded with Reels telling us what brands we should buy and wear now. I find it to be information overload. It starts to feel like taste is being decided collectively, and just when you think you’ve caught up, the next items begin to appear.

Something I’ve loved using lately, and consider a bit of a magic trick, is the Phia app. It makes shopping for vintage and well-priced pieces dangerously easy but also easier to filter and find. Sometimes, the best way to shop these days is to let someone else do the filtering for you.