16 September 2024 |
You’d be stumped to find another show with the energy of a Chopova Lowena catwalk. From the models – many from the brand’s extended creative community – who stomp at break-neck speeds with all the angst of a gang of stroppy teenagers. Through to the soundtrack, which managed to bulldoze teeth-chattering drum n’ bass, moody skater anthems and Offenbach strings in a Looney Tunes-style mishmash. The design duo Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena are two of the most exciting names working in London today thanks to their high-octane collections that blend folklore tales and themes of girlhood, all laced with an unshakable punk spirit. They make seriously pretty clothes with serious bite.
The pair based their SS25 show around a “walloping womanity”, looking to everything from can-can dancers through to showgirls and rodeo get-ups to remix with their sporty-Victorian mashup frocks and knife pleated skirts which are worn by fans of the brand globally. Highlights included denim jeans that sprouted into a tool skirt, studded petticoats and puffball skirts littered with a sky full of stars. Elsewhere, the summer of Olympics gymnastics inspired the duo to create Lycra leotards that came with bedazzled torsos and frills at the hip, paired perfectly with the brand’s new link-up with Asics, where trainers came adorned with giant metal butterflies. That wasn’t all when it came to experimental collabs: the brand created a handbag that had a compartment specially designed to carry a jar of Hellmann’s mayonnaise. I bet you didn’t have that one on your fashion week bingo card!
Photography by Christina Fragkou.
