Upon entering the Chopova Lowena presentation in London, you were greeted with a pungent, patchouli-based scent, a couple of vintage umbrella stands crowded with rubber-headed putters, and an angular mound of Astro Turf, around which the fall collection was displayed on Stockmans.
“The collection is about British Regency era dress, and golf,” said Laura Lowena, who cofounded the label with her Central Saint Martins classmate Emma Chopova in 2017. “We always focus on sport and folklore.”
Do either of them hit the links?
“I crazy golf,” chimed Chopova, employing the British term for mini golf, which doesn’t come up often as inspiration for a fashion collection in Milan or Paris.
You could feel the Regency period more in the Empire waists, puff sleeves and intricate embellishments. The brand’s signature pleated carabiner skirt was extended into tiered, floor-length versions in a mashup of fabrics.
The duo researched that period of fashion history via books, and a lot of internet scouring. “The V&A collection online, the British Museum collection online and the Met collection online are like the best,” Lowena enthused.
They also raided their own leftover fabric stocks and upholstery materials, whorling them into sculptural corsets and zippered panniers that mingled with tartans and argyle patterns.
The collection was noisy, zany and loaded with quirks – and now slogans, too, thanks to a new intimates range dubbed Chopoval Lowena Feelings. One sweatshirt declared: “Smiles, giggles, tears and frowns, I’ve got a case of the ups and downs.”