Rising talent, names to know: ‘Uprising’ is a monthly feature highlighting an energetic new vanguard of fashion talent, selected by the Wallpaper* style team.
Crib notes
Name: Colleen Allen
Brand: Colleen Allen
Alumnus of: Parsons School of Design, Central Saint Martins
City: New York, United States
Signature style: Delicately crafted womenswear for the modern-day witch.
Design Philosophy
Colleen Allen’s clothes are so unapologetically feminine that it may come as a surprise to learn her first love was menswear. The Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based designer studied the rigorous codes of men’s tailoring at Parsons and Central Saint Martins, before cutting her teeth under Raf Simons during his tenure at Calvin Klein. She later contributed to the sleek minimalism of menswear at The Row, leaving to launch her own namesake label at the start of 2024. In just two short years, Allen has been widely celebrated as one of New York’s brightest new breakout stars – and with good reason.
Allen’s wardrobe, like that of many of the best designers, is defined by an astute balance of contrasts: timeless yet intriguing, formal yet easy. Her signature is a beguiling blend of diaphanous drape, Victorian underpinning-inspired layering and a dark romance that, each season, can be traced back in some way to the archetype of ‘the witch’. While many other designers interested in such themes fall victim to their mystical narratives – making garments that may be beautiful, but impractical to wear – Allen’s clothes are always modern, unfussy and charged with just the right amount of magic. Crucially, they serve to elevate the woman who is wearing them, and never the other way around.
(Image credit: Colleen Allen)
‘I always loved the philosophy of menswear, the physical process behind it,’ Allen tells Wallpaper*, appearing on screen from her home in New York. The designer goes on to explain how she finds the puzzle of Victorian dressmaking akin to the craft of tailoring, where a bustle, crinoline, bloomer and jacket belong together like the components of a three-piece suit. ‘The reason I didn’t identify with being a womenswear designer in the first place is that often there’s an untouchability or preciousness to women’s clothes,’ she adds. ‘For me, the goal is always to capture that transformative experience of dressing up, but in a way that’s part of daily life.’
As such, Allen’s designs land in a space that feels both glamorous and real. Take a lustrous, celery-green velvet house coat lined with humble washed muslin – a piece she’s as likely to wear out to dinner in Manhattan as she is to chuck on to walk her dogs in Brooklyn first thing in the morning. ‘What I love about doing womenswear now is that it comes from personal desire and so much life experience,’ she says; it’s a self-confidence no doubt steeled by years spent working in-house at leading brands. ‘I think when people talk about empowering women through dress, it often gets conflated with dressing like a man. What I’m interested in is power with softness and vulnerability.’
(Image credit: Colleen Allen)
An array of references feed into Allen’s work in the studio, from feminist literature to curiosities found in antique markets, as well as the spirit of fearless contemporary women. (Back in 2024, a 1980s image of Vivienne Westwood flashing Queen Elizabeth II inspired a series of sensual, bumster-peeking gowns.) Revealed, as always, with a quiet presentation rather than a runway, her S/S 2026 collection drew on the dark intellect of Sylvia Plath, translating the writer’s introspective world into a study of garments that rarely leave the house. ‘I didn’t know Plath was into the occult and read tarot for fun until I began the collection,’ Allen says. ‘But then, of course, it made perfect sense to me that she was into witchy things.’
The resulting collection sees the intimacy of dressing gowns, lingerie, and slip dresses unleashed from their domestic settings, made instead for life outside the house. Cool-to-the-touch silks in balmy splashes of marigold, ultraviolet, and baby peach fall languidly around the curves of the body, trimmed with lace sourced from the 250-year-old Sophie Hallette mill in France. Elsewhere, a darker sorceress energy appears in a floaty hooded ‘ritual’ cloak worn over a chiffon, floor-skimming black dress, cut with a sharp keyhole detail running from the clavicle to just above the belly button.
(Image credit: Colleen Allen)
Perhaps more than any season before, these clothes reveal Allen’s ability to strike the sweet spot between delicate and powerful. ‘It’s the closest I have gotten to the body,’ she says of their making. ‘I was thinking a lot about the feeling on the skin, as there’s really nothing in between you and these clothes. I think the silks really have this slippery, cooling effect. I loved the idea of fabrics that feel cool for a spring collection. When people come to the showroom, what I love is a physical reaction to touching the garments – an “ooh” or a sigh. That’s a huge desire of mine: that my customer has an emotional reaction to the clothes.’
While Allen’s work is rooted in skill, craft, and a forensic obsession with Victorian dress, it is ultimately this desire to make women feel great that drives everything she does. ‘Whether that’s the colour or the physical texture of the fabric, I want people to feel like an elevated version of themselves – in an emotional way, not a luxury way,’ she explains. ‘Kind of a higher, spiritual, mystical version of themselves.’
While talk of spiritual embodiment might sound a little woo-woo – Allen delivers these observations with a knowing smile – it’s clearly a mission that’s paying off. In just four seasons, she has received widespread industry recognition, while her designs have been spotted on style-forward creatives like Petra Collins, Charli XCX, Kembra Pfahler, Lily Allen, and Greta Lee.
(Image credit: Colleen Allen)
When asked what she’s most excited about in 2026, it’s not commercial growth or the attention a runway might bring, but deepening her connection to this expanding coven of artists. ‘There are so many women in culture right now that I have such deep respect for,’ Allen says. ‘Dressing Lily [Allen] for the CDFAs was really special, and previously working with Charli [XCX]. Being in conversation with these women and being able to support their work is so satisfying.’ It would seem, just like the oft-misunderstood figure of the witch, Allen is less interested in convention than moving through the world on her own terms. Listening to her, it’s impossible not to fall under her spell.
In Their Words
‘I’ve been obsessed with witches since I was a little kid. When I was trying to define who I am as a woman and what I resonate with, that’s always what it came back to. I return again and again to the archetype of the witch and how she shows up in culture. Sometimes it’s in a literal sense, other times it’s a woman from history or a fictional character who carries that spirit – someone who goes against the grain.
‘Initially, I didn’t really know why I was so drawn to the Victorian era, but I think it’s because the silhouettes for women at the time were these incredibly complex tailored shapes that geometrically mould around the female body. With historical dressing, it’s about building a silhouette: a bloomer, a petticoat, a corset, a coverlet, all coming together to create an overall experience. I think that’s something contemporary womenswear has lost. It’s not that I want dressing to feel restrictive or formal, but rather that conversation between underwear and outerwear is something I’m constantly playing with.’
Colleen Allen
Shirred Cotton-Velvet Gown
Colleen Allen
Panelled fleece jacket
Colleen Allen
Cotton-velvet coat