Designer Christian Cowan Unpacks His Buzzy NYFW S/S 27 Show

0:10Hillary Kerr:Welcome to the Who What Wear podcast. I'm your host, Hillary Kerr, and today I'm speaking with designer Christian Cowan, who is fresh off of showing his new collection at New York Fashion Week. We chat about all things spring-summer 2027, including his biggest inspirations and the buzziest celeb moments featuring his designs. Plus, he shares whether or not designing bridal is in his future. It's all coming up on Who, What, Where.

0:45Hillary Kerr:Christian, are you ready? I'm ready to roll. Okay, excellent. Well, first of all, thank you so much for joining me. As you know, because we've been DMing, I've been so looking forward to this for ages and ages and ages. I know that the Who What Wear audience loves your work. To start off, can you tell me a little bit about how you first fell in love with fashion and what your early memories of fashion are like? Well, firstly, just thanks for having me here. Delighted. This is so much fun. I'm in the UK. It's a lovely way to go about my day. How I got into fashion, how I fell in love with it. I was young.

1:19I was 12 or so when I decided I wanted to be a fashion designer.

1:24Hillary Kerr:Stop it. Yeah, I was locked in. I think I wanted to be an entomologist in the lead up. I wanted to be someone who studied insects. I didn't even know what fashion was. I grew up in the middle of nowhere. It was not on my radar. I must have come across probably a McQueen picture. I was like, what's that? That looks like turning humans into your own bugs type thing. And then when I was 14, it was compounded by the debut of Lady Gaga. Gaga was the first person who brought that type of fashion. before I thought fashion was like being dragged around by your mom buying boring clothes. And yeah, I was like, I hated going shopping.

2:06But then Gaga came onto the scene. It really exposed me to like Gareth Pugh and Nicola Formichetti and Anna Trevelyan and all these people who I'm so inspired by still to this day.

2:16Hillary Kerr:I see the direct line from Bugs to McQueen. It's so clear. And it's interesting too, that the part about fashion that really resonated with you was like this artistic, sculptural, transformative aspect of it. And Gaga is mother. So literally mother now. I know. Congrats to the literal mother. But yeah, and I think I saw it as a form of escapism. As I entered my teen years, I wasn't the happiest of teens. As many teens go through, but many queer teens, especially where you just don't feel like you fit in. And I went to a very conservative school, witnessing that other world, which was so accepting and so exciting and didn't have any basis on where you came from or what you were, but it was purely what you wanted to be.

2:57It seemed so appealing to me.

2:58Hillary Kerr:Understandably so. So I read that you had a very unusual start in the fashion industry because you actually started getting celebrity commissions while you were still in school. Talk to me about that because that feels wild and I am very interested in what the backstory is. I didn't really know how to make clothes. They were all terribly made. and I had done a little presentation with my friends like modeling and this amazing drag queen called Dina Lux had decided to come and she by happenstance was like doing a takeover of the Dazed and Confused magazine Instagram that day. So she put some pictures of my stuff on there and then I just got an email out of the blue from Lady Gaga's team.

3:41It was Brandon Maxwell at the time. We love Brandon.

3:44Hillary Kerr:He was the first guest on this podcast. Well, Brandon's the sweetest human ever and just the most talented and amazing love brandon and yes she borrowed clothes i didn't even know how to send stuff at fedex part of it was this huge hat and i had like tape boxes together and they were so sweet about it i had someone text me being like congrats and i was like about what and then they sent me a photo of her wearing the outfit and i was oh my god there's a gag i was so excited about it uh so that was amazing and then it just snowballed i i really like slid into people's DMs. I was emailing people.

4:22And then Brett Allen Nelson commissioned me for Miley Cyrus and just for a David LeChapelle shoot. And then it went from there.

4:31Hillary Kerr:That is unbelievable. It was so funny, though, because I'd get told off by my tutors at university the whole time because I would never do my... Yeah, I was so uninterested in doing the coursework. So I was always making these outfits for everyone. I'd use the university machines and they'd always tell me to get out. They're like, stop. They're like, can you finish your homework? You're like, I'm sorry. I have a commission for Miley Cyrus. Also, isn't that the whole point, guys? That is what I said. I was like, is that not the point? I think they thought I was being some snotty student. They probably thought I was some Nepo baby or something.

5:06I'm not. They were very frustrated by it, but I was like, is that not the point of doing this whole course?

5:11Hillary Kerr:Yes, exactly. They once said I should turn down, I think it was Miley's Dead Pets Tour, doing outfits. They told me I should turn it down to focus on my studies. And I fully sassed them out. I was like, how do you think I'm going to pay for these expensive ass supplies that I need for this course if I can't do jobs? Seriously. Okay, well, talk to me a little bit about what some of those early pieces looked like. And would you, now in retrospect, would you say, yes, I had a clear point of view from the start? Or did it take time to sort of figure it out or develop it? No, I think I was very like tunnel vision.

5:48I knew that I wanted to do larger than life. I wasn't concerned by commercial promise. I just wanted to do what I was obsessed with. And I liked sparkle and color and everything that wasn't mundane. and so you know the first outfit the gaga wore was this pink glitter tuxedo trouser blazer shirt bow tie and giant hat all in pink glitter then i think one of my first outfits for my leave her tour was she had a song called milky milk and i made an outfit that was like a glittery carton of milk pouring milk down her naked body uh and they were very cost they were very costume i was just getting crafty with it like i remember i used this like glitter coated canvas that was so unwearable.

6:31And I'd actually seen it in a Selfridges window display. And I went into Selfridges and I asked them, like, where do you buy this from? Like, I want it. And I found the supplier. And then it was funny, years later, I was at the Met Gala talking to Miley Cyrus. And she was like, oh my gosh, I need to tell you about the time that I wore your... She wore the same glitter suit that Gaga wore. And she was like, it was like glass. It was like cutting me up. She was like, I had to get my team to bind all the seams inside because it was like razor blades. I was like, sorry, I had no idea what I was doing.

7:05Hillary Kerr:You're like things that we learn along the way. Learn along the way. And I didn't give a shit about comfortableness or anything. I just wanted to make something fab. I was like, let's do it. So that was my perspective then. Well, it feels like things have evolved since then. And let's talk about some of the evolution of your brand over the last couple of years. How do you feel like things have evolved as your business has grown? Because it still feels like there's such a clear point of view. But to your point, like you have the wearer in mind a bit in a different way. Yes. So walk me through that.

7:42Well, yeah, luckily for the ladies that I dress, things have changed because, you know, the knowledge from I'm now 32. I guess when I made that first outfit, I was 17. it's funny how when you start a brand so young you don't really know who you are you're just so eager you just desperately want to be out there doing stuff and so i was very very campy and bright and i continued down that road because i found some initial success with that and it was attention grabbing and i needed attention grabbing clothes because the only way i could pay for my business was through corporate partnerships so it needed to be viral it needed to get attention in order to succeed and be able to continue to pay for it.

8:22And then there was a point, probably only about two, two and a half years ago, where I was like, this just is not representative of who I am anymore. Like I have grown way past this. I don't think people know what my taste level is. Like I listen to like Wagner and jazz and I love interior design and I just a very different human being. And so I decided to do a big shift with the brand's aesthetic to really reflect what I was now. and I stripped away a lot of the color. And you can really see in the previous two seasons, I really doubled down on what I want to be. And it's very old Hollywood inspired.

8:56It's, I think, quite refined. There was a tricky growing phase in between just before those two collections because I was like, I'm not going to be able to convince people this is what I am unless I start not doing what I did. You know, you're saying no to doing performance outfits for superstars that you've worked with for years. And, you know, some people got offended because I was saying no, But I was like, if I keep on having ladies and sparkly, crazy things, I'm never going to be dressing Penelope Cruz or these people that aren't doing that type of thing. Or Lupita. Or Lupita, which was so sensational.

9:32Or like the Zendayas or all these people that I wanted to get on. And so, yeah, I just had to do a big switch up. And there was a dry period in the middle where people hadn't quite clocked what I was doing. And I wasn't saying yes to the things I was doing. So it took a minute. But it was important. It was important for me to go forward for decades now.

9:49Hillary Kerr:One, I love that you bet on yourself and your vision and saw it through. Two, I also feel like, to your point, you started when you were 17. If you're not evolving during that period, we've got some questions. So I want to talk about your most recent New York Fashion Week show, which happened just moments ago in the grand scheme of things. Obviously, there are some beautiful old Hollywood references, but I love that you have tweaked them to make them feel more lived in and like more sensual, in my opinion, less pristine. There are lots of undergarments showing and straps falling off of model's shoulders.

10:27Hillary Kerr:I appreciate it because it feels like there's a sensuality to it. It's not just straight sexiness. It's not just being hot. It's like there's a sensualness to it that is so refreshing and beautiful. Can you talk to me a little bit about what you were thinking and what you were inspired by when you were creating this spring 2027 collection? Well, I'm delighted by your appraisal of it because that's exactly what I was going for. So, you know, I didn't want it to be sexy by any means. I wanted to be sensual. I said that over and over again. For this collection, I think I'm obsessed by the act of glamour, not this intangible word, but the process, the uncomfortability, the cinching, the padding, the undergarments.

11:15I think the process, the human behavior behind it is fascinating. And a beautiful dance in of itself. And a dance that has such a capricious history, I guess, or all over the place history of beauty, but also a lot of pain and sorrow connected to the dance of glamour.

11:34Hillary Kerr:The grotesque that is behind the glamour. It's grotesque. And these incredible women who we still revere today, who are somewhat almost sacrificial lambs to pop culture of glamour, you know, like literally lives cut short. I think a prime example is Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe, both in Gentleman Preferred Blondes, huge hit together, had very different lives associated with glamour. You know, one was very heartbreakingly cut short and the other lived a long life and did huge amounts of charity work in the US around adoption and did a lot of good for the world. So I wanted to encapsulate that in the collection.

12:13And that meant a darker color palette with just pops of color. But a lot of it in the undergarments, a lot of that was seeing like very visuals of corsets, like not making corsets look like dresses, but corsets. and the lace-up part and all the hosiery. And I was very inspired by two quotes. One was a Marilyn Monroe one that said, I love people, but I'm scared of the public. I thought that epitome. Very me, by the way. Very me. I'm really a recluse. The other was a Nathaniel West novel. I think it was published in 1939, maybe 1938. And it was called The Day of the Locust. And he described Hollywood as a collective delusion.

12:52And I love that. Because it is a delusion. I mean, everything's a delusion if you really dig into it. I liked that it, you know, my job is art, but there is a level of delusion in all of it. And I found that fun. So I quoted that.

13:07Hillary Kerr:Oftentimes when I interview musicians, I will ask them about like, what was the song that came easily or that came first or that like unlocked the rest of the album? I'm going to ask you the fashion show version of that, which is, was there a look in this collection that came easily or first that set the tone like once you hit that one you said yes this is the direction it all flows from here and then also was there a look that was more complex for you where it took a number of times of reworking it to get it to where you wanted it to be 100 % but first I want to say a song actually because there was a song that was a big part of the inspiration for the whole thing it's what it feels like to be a girl I think it's called by Madonna yes that that song is the song of the collection if you look at the collection you'll kind of read it in there that i used as the opening song as well in the soundtrack the whole monologue but in terms of the looks okay the one that comes to mind in terms of had to be redone a few times was the most literal to my inspiration which was a essentially a modern day recreation or homage to a Jane Mansfield red gown that she wore.

14:16It's a sublime gown. And I did, my closing look was a modern day interpretation of it, but a fairly direct one. But that one took quite a few goes because I wanted it to be very sculpted. I wanted the bullet bra. I wanted the cinched waist. I wanted the hip padding, but I wanted it to feel like actually period, not a modern day beautiful version of. I want it to feel a little, there's something a little aggressive about the period shaping. It's very angular. It's anatomically incorrect in its angularness. And so I wanted to bring that into it. And so that took a few goes around and I wanted it to look almost borderline wrong.

14:58I wanted to feel like just a little strange, a little body horror-y to speak to what's being done to the women's bodies. And so that took a minute to troubleshoot, but we got there because also then I wanted to have this nude back and my team would love to joke that I like to ask for many contradictory things within one outfit so I was like look I need you to absolutely like whittle this waist down but then I don't want to see any sign that we did that and I want a nude low back and I want this I want that uh and I was like I always wanted to be nude lined but I also don't want to see anything from her at all I want it to be completely manufactured should and so it took a quite a few goes and definitely ended up much the dismay of my team being a lot more expensive than initially anticipated and then in terms of a look that was just fluid and easy and sometimes i find the looks i don't even think about that much so there was this 1940s lovely reference picture i found it was like a rusty terracotta slightly sheer chiffon caped dress with an open back.

16:03And I kind of redid a similar shape on the bias, but black chiffon. And then I styled it with like a kind of vivid purple undergarments and then did an organza handmade deep blood red flower on the front. And it just hits for me. It hits so hard. I love that look.

16:21Hillary Kerr:So I also read that you used vintage fabrics in this collection. I'm curious about how you think about fabrics in general. And clearly that's evolved over time. But walk me through why vintage fabrics. I am obsessed with old Hollywood. And so I started looking online at like random places that are selling yardage or just some like giant ugly dress. But the fabric is amazing that I can harvest from or beautiful trims. And I just was having a great time. I really enjoy it. I enjoy that instead of me making a design and then buying the fabric and making it, I'm getting the fabric and being informed by what that fabric is capable of.

17:00Because some of them would arrive and I would do this and they'd tear in half, like truly disintegrate. But the embroideries were just amazing. So I would then create a drape out of that and introduce it into something else that would support it. I used a lot of vintage fabrics, actually, like some of them over 100 years old.

17:15Hillary Kerr:The history. The history. They've had lives. And now they're going to be on like red carpets, live another life. I love that it's also eco-friendly. It's like there's no new waste being, or demand being added to the world. And then also another part, I guess, that funneled me there was, we're a small independent brand. We are not rolling in the budgets. Some of these things to get new versions of are a fortune, but you can get these old versions of it for next to nothing. And so it was kind of like partially a practical decision too. I'm a firm believer in take your issues and find a solution that makes it better than it was before, rather than allowing it to water down.

17:52And I think this was one of those.

17:53Hillary Kerr:I also want to talk about one of the looks that there was so much chatter about online, which was look 23. A post called it the perfect dress for escaping the French Revolution. Folks saying they want to get married in this dress. Talk to me a little bit about the background. And then also, have you considered bridal? I almost hilariously didn't put it in the show. I almost didn't. I don't know why. I was like, oh, it's a little, it's not the most harmonious thing to everything else I've done basically I make collections but then also sometimes I just have these passion project looks that I spend a bit more time on I spend a bit more money on them and this was one of those I wanted to create a gown that felt like it was vintage but all of it was brand new and so it was really focused on the distressing of it we chose lots of fabrics that would distress well we tumble dried them over and over again and we made the garment tumble dried it again it was really a labor of love that one because if you open it up the inside I think is more beautiful than the outside like it is so complexly structured and finished beautifully inside with beautiful laces and like when I say laces I mean like handmade scalloped lace doing all the trimmings and I just wanted it to just look fab inside but for bridal I have I've been asked I've declined every single time I've been asked apart from one party wedding dress that I did for my best friend.

19:13But I've declined every other because it seems like a big commitment. I don't want to do it unless I can do it fantastically and give a bride better than what she ever wished for.

19:24Hillary Kerr:So we're saying no for now. No for now. Also, I've seen thousands of weddings. My mother was a wedding planner. And so I have been around a plethora. You know too much about brides. I do. I do. I'm good. And so yeah, I've said no, but I will say yes, eventually. And it will be for the right person. And honestly, I want to be able to just put everything into it, spend a fortune on it, make it incredible. I'm not down to do it unless I can do it like that. But yes, I would love to. I would love to. And I like a gothic bride. So that would be fun. Okay. So I'm also always curious, like when you're creating a collection, do you have predictions for the pieces that you think will be immediately pulled for red carpet or for editorial?

20:12Hillary Kerr:Or is it sometimes a surprise? I knew that gown would be a hit. I knew that it'd be great. And I'm being very selective about who it goes to because I think it deserves the right thing, not just whoever's the most famous. Yeah. Sometimes there's looks that surprised me like last season the dress that zendaya wore and then a knock also wore it i had no idea i did love her i did love her but i had no clue that she was going to pop off the way she did but then there are looks usually that i'm like sometimes your key look the look is the look that never gets worn because this goliath megastar will say they want to wear it but they'll say that they need to hold it and then you'll you'll say no to everyone else who's fantastic because you've agreed.

20:54And then they change their mind. And then it's missed the season. I feel like you see it with quite a few runways. There'll be a star piece. It just like won't have its moment. So I've learned my ways around that now.