The recently concluded fashion weeks delighted us not only with collections from long-time industry favorites, but also with high-quality work from younger designers. The author of the telegram channel That’s Haute and co-host of the podcast “Pinot, Arno and Dominoes” Anton Gulevsky carefully followed the agenda of the newcomers and chose five who managed to seriously make themselves known. Maybe we will see some of them at the head of big fashion houses.
author of the telegram channel That’s Haute and co-host of the podcast “Pino, Arno and Domino”
Designer: Michael Stewart
Country: United Kingdom
Year of foundation: 2022
I would dare say that in recent fashion weeks this brand has surpassed many industry veterans. Its founder, Irish designer Michael Stewart, created his debut collection just two years ago, but has since dressed Florence Pugh, Christina Aguilera and model Jourdan Dunn on the red carpet, and won a special LVMH 2024 award for excellence. It is not surprising that the jury of the prestigious competition noted exactly this: Standing Ground items have an incredible level of execution, worthy of a haute couture house. Perfectionism, manual work and a measured work pace help Stuart achieve this. Create dresses exclusively to specific clients’ standards, without mass production. This makes them fit literally like a second skin. Michael is a master of intricate drapery that frames and continues the natural curves of the female figure, creating soft, flowing silhouettes. By the way, the designer does not collect mood boards or make sketches. His ideas are born directly in the process of working with fabrics, when he covers them on a mannequin or the body of a model. Women in Standing Ground dresses look like messengers from distant intergalactic civilizations or statues of ancient goddesses, for whom they are prized.
SPRING-SUMMER, 2025
Designer: Alain Paul
Country: France
Year of foundation: 2023
The French brand has only been around for a year, but it’s hard to consider its founder, Alain Paul, a newcomer. He began his career with the Vetements team and continued with Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton. Her interest in fashion was due to ballet: when she was a student at the Marseille Higher Ballet School, she involuntarily paid attention to the asymmetrical multi-layered images of dancers in rehearsals. Dance remains the main source of inspiration to this day. Alainpaul’s collections will appeal to balletcore fans who are already a little giddy from literal interpretations of their favorite theme. There really are no lush tulle tutus, flirty satin bows, and cozy knit legwarmers here. Instead, there is a lot of air, dynamics and elastic fabrics that are vital for dancers. The brand does not create theatrical costumes, but rather practical garments inspired by the backstage of ballet. This can be read both in the general feeling and in the smallest details. For example, straps on pants and skirts, as well as labels made from elastic bands, which are usually sewn on pointe shoes. And the best thing is that you can get to know the brand without leaving Moscow: its current collection is presented in the KM20 concept store.
SPRING-SUMMER, 2025
Designer: Laura Beham and Callum Pidgeon
Country: Switzerland
Founded: 2021
Another KM20 resident on our list: the new Prototypes collection is about to appear in the store. You may recognize the duo of Laura Beham and Callum Pidgeon from the spectacular black dress that the concept store’s founder, Olga Karput, wore to a recent Parisian dinner honoring those on the list of the most influential people in the world of fashion. fashion according to Business of Fashion. . Laura and Callum are related to our previous hero both by the “registration” of their brand in Moscow and by their common background: the guys also worked at Vetements. From there they took with them not only knowledge of deconstruction techniques and subcultural codes, but also a love for everything post-Soviet and Russian. This, however, can also be attributed to his friendship with Gosha Rubchinsky, who designs the brand’s runway shows. The Prototypes collections have that unbridled, seething energy that we loved so much about the first Vetements shows. But it’s also peppered with concern for the environment: Laura and Callum create items exclusively from recycled and stock fabrics, as well as vintage finds.
SPRING-SUMMER, 2025
Designer: Jonathan Carmelo
Country: Israel
Founded: 2021
Sometimes what makes people fashionable is an internal protest against the injustice and imperfection of our world. This is exactly what happened to Jonathan Carmel. While serving in the Israeli army, he was assigned to work as a photographer. According to him, after several trips to the Gaza war zone, he suffered severe psychological trauma from what he saw. To forget it, he asked to be sent to work on an army newspaper, which only needed a graphic designer. In his new place, Jonathan spent long hours on Pinterest, where he began to find numerous brilliant photo shoots, advertising campaigns and photographs from fashion shows. He was particularly struck by a photo of model Susie Bick with a cigarette from Yohji Yamamoto’s autumn/winter 1988 campaign, photographed by Nick Knight. “I remember thinking then: “I want to be part of this world,” the designer recalls in an interview. From that moment on, he began a path that in 2021 led him to create his own brand. Among her main sources of inspiration, Carmel names minimalist designers from the 90s, especially Donna Karan and Calvin Klein. However, the spirit of his collections is even more reminiscent of Martin Margiela’s work for Hermès. They have the same subtle feeling: you want to live in these things. Jonathan distinguishes himself from other followers of 2024 minimalism by his meticulous attention to detail and a certain cinematic quality to the images he creates. The models in their shows look like film noir heroines, taken straight from a black and white screen. This feeling is contributed to by the predominance of achromatic tones and elegant accessories, such as huge draped scarves and pillbox hats. All of these finds earned the designer a place in the semi-finals of this year’s LVMH Prize.
SPRING-SUMMER, 2025
Designer: Niccolò Pasqualetti
Country: Italy
Founded: 2021
The Italian Niccolo Pasqualetti advanced a little further in the aforementioned competition: this year he reached the final. Before opening his signature label, he worked with The Row, Loewe and Alighieri. This colossal experience can easily be read in your own collections. However, handwriting is much more important in them. That is, the ability to work with hypervolume and rethink vintage silhouettes so that they look fresh and modern. At the recent Paris Fashion Week, Niccolo debuted with his first show, demonstrating that he can make not only complex and multi-layered designs, but also quite practical garments with good commercial potential. Unlike many of his young colleagues, he focuses more on the end consumer than on the wow effect on social media and on the red carpet. Actually, this is exactly what is missing in today’s fashion.
SPRING-SUMMER, 2025
