Next stop… Bus Stop X Joanie

We’re so excited to reveal our latest collaboration range with iconic 1970s brand Bus Stop! Featuring styles inspired by their incredible archive, including some of the most-coveted ‘Lee Bender at Bus Stop’ prints and silhouettes, this limited collection is not to be missed.

What Was Bus Stop?

Founded by Lee and Cecil Bender, Bus Stop first opened its doors on Church Street in Kensington in 1969. Known all over London for its bright red décor, Lee called her label ‘Bus Stop’ because it was so identifiably British: London buses, telephone boxes, and post boxes were bright red, and red was always one of her favourite colours.

I was up ‘til four in the morning painting the shop, and I rushed in with the hoover before nine to hoover the carpets, only to find a massive queue of girls outside. Of course, we hadn’t made enough stock, only about a dozen of everything, and we sold out in hours.

Lee Bender

The ‘Lee Bender at Bus Stop’ label was an immediate success, drawing attention from some of the most glamorous women of the 1970s. Lee and Cecil went on to open 12 stores across the UK, even having a Bus Stop concession in New York’s famous Bloomingdales department store!

We were a mad, glorious success. All of our factories worked day and night for months to keep up with demand.

Lee Bender

About Lee Bender

Born in Berlin in 1932, Lee Burgess moved to London in 1936. She studied at St Martin’s School of Art and the London School of Fashion. While designing, she met entrepreneur and future husband Cecil Bender, and they founded their business together.

Lee loved 1920s and 1930s fashions, and her nostalgic 1970s take on the tea dress has become legendary due to its combination of quiet elegance and sexiness.

Bus Stop’s shiny brass rails filled with weekly drops of the latest fashions and co-ordinates became Lee’s greatest innovation, and her signature design trick of creating mix-and-match or clashing separates and stocking them alongside handmade jewellery - including pieces made by Adam Ant - was a revelation, with customers spending hours trying on her ‘potpourri’ of styles.

Sadly, in January 2023, Lee passed away after a short illness.

Bus Stop X Joanie

Like Bus Stop, we at Joanie also look to the past for inspiration, taking the best bits of vintage clothing and reimagining them for the modern wardrobe. This collection is steeped in nostalgia, and we couldn’t be more proud of the pieces we’ve created together.

We’d been working together on the collection for around six months, creating a retrospective of her designs, painstakingly piecing together the highlights of her design career from photographs, online auctions, and collectors’ blogs, when Lee sadly passed away.

We dreamt of bringing the Bus Stop archive back up to date in sustainable fabrics, an inclusive size range, and at an accessible price point - these things were super important to Lee.

I’m really sorry that she didn’t get to see our project come to fruition, but we had a giggle going back through her sketchbooks, with each design prompting an incredible tale from her past - not all of which can be repeated! I hope we’ve managed to capture some of that ‘vintage magic’ that she brought to the designs for a whole new generation of fabulous women.

Lucy, Joanie Brand Manager

Talking To The Collectors…

Today, vintage Bus Stop pieces are still extremely desirable and remain high in demand on reselling sites and amongst collectors. To celebrate the launch of our collection, we asked vintage collectors and fans of the brand about the enduring power of the brand and what Bus Stop means to them!

Lee Bender’s Bus Stop has always been my very favourite of the British Boutique labels of the 1960s and 1970s. Over my years collecting and selling vintage clothing, I have been lucky enough to own some beautiful pieces from her diverse collection – hooded dresses, plaid jackets, Art Nouveau and novelty printed dresses, and elegant maxis – each one beautifully and thoughtfully designed with the wearer in mind.

I was lucky enough to meet Lee at a book signing at a talk on Bus Stop some years back, and she was so kind and lovely. My signed copy of her book is a treasured possession, as are the Bus Stop garments I've kept for myself over the years.

Dawn Crawford, Candy Says Vintage Clothing

My obsession with the '60s and '70s began with my mum's stories of saving up and spending her part-time salary in Bus Stop on Market Street in Manchester. She would buy a beautiful dress and wear it on a Saturday night to go dancing and feel special. To put it simply, Lee Bender perfectly encapsulated in her clothes everything that makes me so in love with 1970s style. Fearless use of colour, impeccable pattern design, Art Nouveau-inspired shapes - pieces designed for a fresh-thinking youth culture.

Speaking to both fellow vintage collectors and those who were actually​ there, mentioning Bus Stop By Lee Bender ignites excitement and a sense of nostalgia. Finding a Bus Stop piece is like finding treasure, and it's plain to see why they are so sought after. Not only do they capture the sheer beauty of '70s style, but they remain relevant. I regularly reference her pieces for style inspiration, trying but not entirely succeeding in emulating the glamour and magic she so effortlessly put into her designs. Lee Bender was a cornerstone of 1970s fashion.

Sophia Rosemary, Top of The Town Vintage

Over the lifespan of her fashion boutique ‘Bus Stop,’ Lee Bender created some of the most iconic fashion looks of the 1960s and 1970s in what was a very overcrowded arena. Her youthful and often nostalgic designs stood out amongst the plethora of young women’s fashion, always playful, never a pastiche. Lee managed to capture the spirit of youth and decadence which prevailed in the optimistic 1960s and the heady days of the 1970s. Whilst other women’s fashions of the era today look dated, Lee’s have remained timeless, hence why ‘Lee Bender’s Bus Stop’ is still one of the most coveted labels amongst fashion collectors.

Angie Smith, Vic & Bertie Vintage

I was always a little curious about who Lee Bender was. A person proudly name-checked on the label of so many of the iconic vintage pieces that have passed through my hands over the years. Boldly stitched in glorious gold thread, ‘Bus Stop by Lee Bender’ was a name I knew to look out for.

Sometimes sexy, always fun, Bus Stop epitomised the spirit of seventies London, as worn by Charlotte Rampling, Joan Collins, Joanna Lumley, Debbie Harry, Jerry Hall, Barbara Bach - a veritable who’s who of fabulous 1970s style, and Lee Bender dressed them all.

Lee knew her brand inside and out; she knew fiercely what would and wouldn’t be part of her design ‘handwriting’ and was just as passionate about how women want to dress now as she was back in her heyday.

With the blessing of Lee’s family and knowing we had Lee’s seal of approval on all our prints and fabrics and the shape of a collar she wanted ‘just-so,’ all lovingly named after only the best parts of London, next stop… Bus Stop x Joanie.

Lucy, Joanie Brand Manager

Shop the Bus Stop X Joanie collection online now!