The Tamesis
It’s been nearly a decade since Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena launched their label at Central Saint Martins, so Chopova Lowena’s signature elements of upcycled folk textiles, kitschy prints and Those ones Carabiner hem – may have reached saturation point. Not so: the design duo’s vision feels new every season. You can put this down to how steadily they’ve handled their growth, carefully capitalizing on their most high-profile moments – from countless high-profile celebrity appearances to winning BFC/Fashion Designer Fashion Fund – Dedicated to supporting their long-term vision. (They may be best known for the impressive sustainability credentials of their clothing, but their approach to business is sustainable in a different way.) But most of all, their longevity can be explained by the duo’s restless spirit and omnivorous curiosity: Just when you think they might have exhausted a particular design trope, they discover an exciting new interpretation.
The same goes for their latest collection, called “Too Ripe and Ready by Half,” which takes Regency-era silhouettes and puts them in a nuclear reactor alongside the bloomers, argyle knits and kilts of 20th-century golf wear. As it turns out, the title is a winking nod to Regency slang, often used to refer to women who were too forward and might even be plotting mischief. sounds good. True to their commitment to staging an annual fashion show, the designers displayed mannequins in full, carefully designed outfits in Islington’s 19th-century Crafts Council building, all designed by V&A experts to authentically replicate the museum’s fashion displays.
However, any suggestions for truly recreating Regency era dress end there. (Anyone who objects to this Wuthering Heights The look was shot against a painterly set of old theater backdrops the pair dug out and hung in the studio, with the girls wearing Peter Pan-collared puff-sleeved dresses with layers of scrap fabric from previous collections, mixed with plaids and Victorian florals, or collage knits—stripes and every color of the rainbow island—stitched together in 19th-century shapes. Corset. For the boys, there are striped rugby tops with contrasting checks and a shimmering silver brooch on the collar, as well as four-man-inspired jodhpurs and bomber jackets with curved zip pockets, inspired by the practicality of the classic golf bag. There were some really cute dresses, too: especially a dramatic basque-waisted bodice cut from an upholstery textile with a beaded bow all over the front, then transformed into a dramatic bubble skirt made from layers of fabric and covered in icy blue tulle. It was just as delicious as the flower cupcakes on a nearby plate.
There were plenty of killer accessories, too: a carpet bag with silver accents, a string-of-pearl belt with an embossed center featuring an angel face from a vintage Bulgarian postcard, and some dainty stomp boots inspired by Victorian-era carriage boots, with faux fur turf held back by a black ribbon bow that reached all the way to the knees. Best of all, the designers used this season’s lookbook as an opportunity to launch a new lingerie collection, Chopova Lowena Feelings: T-shirts, bras and briefs in eye-popping colors printed with cheeky mini-poems, cartoon faces and animals. The reason they do this is simple: “We don’t like underwear,” Chopova said with a laugh. “So it felt necessary.” Since the pieces are more accessible, it also feels like a savvy business move, opening up their world to a diverse clientele without compromising their rebellious creative instincts.
Minutes after the doors to the Craft Council opened, the room was already filled with the cacophony of rustling carabiner skirts (the brand’s loyal followers had arrived in droves, decked out from head to toe) as editors oohed and aahed at the stunning intricacies of the garments before venturing onto the miniature crazy golf course that snaked through the center of the room. Chopova and Lowena proved they don’t need a runway show to create a true London Fashion Week moment. In the golf world, I believe they would call it a hole-in-one.
