London’s still buzzing from the memory of Chopova Lowena’s debut runway show last September. A great part of it was the explosively enjoyable atmosphere generated by the gathering of the Chopova Lowena clans, who all turned out proudly dressed in their carabiner kilts. “It was the first time we’d seen everyone together, all at the same time—different groups, different ages,” remembered Laura Lowena. Emma Chopova wracked her brains to account for the febrile enthusiasm that day. “This question always stumps me,” she exclaimed. “But I think it’s because every part of what we do is to make sure that everyone can see themselves in Chopova Lowena.”
Truth to tell, the surprise of that occasion was that its joyful sense of community could have been generated up to then by Chopova Lowena’s Instagram and lookbooks. This season the designers are back again to the familiar lookbook format—they’ve set themselves a policy of showing once a year for sensible financial reasons. And for fall, their quirky, hilarious, crafty-cool inclusivity jumps—or perhaps slaloms—into view with a ski theme.
A ’70s ski-theme that somehow got caught up with Georgian petticoats, bloomers, cross-lacing, and bonnets, to be exact. Trust them to turn such a bonkers combo into an extensive collection of clothes and accessories that are at the service of cold-weather practicality as well as fun. They’ve played with the idea of retro children’s patterned ski suits and sleepwear to come up with high-waisted checkered pajama-cum-snowboarding trousers, baby-bedsheet prints, and the piped-pocket detailing that made the whole recognizably Chopova Lowena. Genius cardigans—some with vintage baby-book doll characters dancing on the front, others threaded through with tartan ribbon tied in bows—evoke some sort of deranged Tyrolean classic.
There are layers and layers to explore here, from heavy-duty brown leather ‘carabiner jackets,’ through ski-capris with frilly knees, stripy wool scarves, tights, and knotted-top beanies, all the way through to stuff that sorts out how a Chopova Lowena person parties—which is to say in lacy white and bows, but with a definite Goth-y attitude.
Any fans who might be feeling a bit deflated to have to wait until next season for Chopova Lowena to show again will be happy to know that they’re planning a different IRL experience in May. “We’ve made a zine that brings this collection to life as a fairy tale struggle between good and evil.” The Chopova Lowena version of The Snow Queen will be manifesting in New York at Frieze in May. Why New York? “Well, we’ve found our sales have been particularly good there!” Somehow, you can hear the kilted ones marking their calendars at the news, right now.
