'We want it to feel true to us — sexy, London, girly'

Society sisters Jazzy De Lisser and Lola Bute have overcome tragedy to create celebrity brand-of-the-moment DeBute

- JOE BROMLEY

It has been a year, almost exactly to the day, that London it girls and half-sisters turned fashion designers Lady Lola Bute and Jazzy De Lisser teamed up to launch their partywear label, named DeBute. Today, the two blondes, both dressed in black — De Lisser in a tailored jacket, holding a Chanel flap bag and her rescue dog Banana; Bute in a fur Saks Potts coat with Prada purse — are sitting side by side in a booth within the lobby of their new Ladbroke Grove office space, which they moved into three weeks ago.

“I can’t believe we've made it here,” 34-year-old De Lisser says. “I can vividly remember the samples arriving the night before our first shoot — and we got in the biggest fight.” Bute, 26, had a crisis of confidence when they opened the boxes. “I hated it all,” she says, bluntly. “And I said, well you can't hate it because we've got to sell it and we've got to shoot it tomorrow,” says De Lisser.

Thankfully, the tide has turned — the pair, who have overcome great family tragedy, are content with how their business is shaping up.

Things began with a bang. A legendary knees-up at the not-yet-opened Canteen restaurant saw their best friends, who are helpfully the cream of the capital's high society, turn up in their droves dressed head to upper thigh in skimpy frocks and tartan skirts.