The Tottenham-based designer discusses his LFW show, finding inspiration in his Cypriot roots, and the future of his brand
Last week, Charlie Constantinou made the last-minute call to stage a show at London Fashion Week. Initially, for AW25, Constantinou had plans to unveil his collection via a presentation – as it was penned on schedule – until he realised the amount of work he had to offer and the British Fashion Council kindly stepped in and waved its catwalk wand.
This morning (February 22), Constantinou showed his second ever on-schedule collection, having made his official LFW debut last September. That being said, he still titled it Season 4.5, even though technically it’s his fifth offering. A clear continuation from his last show, the collection built upon the foundations he laid during his debut. Bold colours – this time in sky blue, lemon yellow, salmon and chartreuse – illuminated his staple ribbed knitwear and multi-use technical garments such as gilets, jackets and trousers that make it easy to see why Constantinou is often painted with a gorpcore brush.
He also makes clothes with extreme weather in mind. For SS25, he took scorching temperatures into consideration, meanwhile cold, wet and windy conditions are often the focus of his Autumn/Winter shows. Regardless of climate, Constantinou’s designs are not only adaptable on the body, but can be adapted to almost any wearer and location too. You can picture his work, or at least elements of it, on pretty much anyone. Yes, you could climb a mountain in Constantinou, but you could also wear it to work, down the pub. What makes it transcend gorpcore is the level of intricacy, playful textures and masterful colour gradients that elevate it to high fashion.
A few days before the show, amid the madness of pre-fashion-week prep, with models dashing in and out for castings, we caught up with Constantinou in his north London studio – and found him surprisingly calm and collected. After a pretty huge 2024 featuring an ongoing collab with 66North and custom looks for Central Cee, the world is quickly discovering this London designer – Constantinou even spotted someone wearing his designs in Japan recently. We get to know him and his latest collection a little better below.
How come you decided to switch from a presentation to a show?
Charlie Constantinou: It was a bit of a last-minute change but the BFC let us do it, which we’re very grateful for. Plus it’s always more fun doing a show. Originally we were doing a smaller collection, but we just kept making more. So then it ended up being a bigger collection anyway, but still a continuation from last season.
How has your work evolved from last season?
Charlie Constantinou: I’d say there’s quite a lot of differences compared to last season. We also have a few things that are totally brand new for us; we have a collaboration with Ecco Leather this season and it’s our very first time working with leather – I’ve never worked with it before, so that was quite a big step for us. Aside from that, we always go really heavy on textiles as well. We do a lot of print, dyeing, fabric manipulation and stuff like that. So for me, those are kind of always fun experiments, regardless of what season or project is.
Every season is different to the last, but what makes each one a Charlie Constantinou collection?
Charlie Constantinou: We always start with a base of working with everything in white and then adding colour through testing and dying. That’s always the starting point of each season. And then it’s a mix of almost pre-designing actual looks rather than pieces, in a way. So some things become very fixed in place from early on, but then there’s always things that have sudden changes and end up coming out completely differently to how we originally imagined it.
Cyprus has so much history as a small island and has been a part of so many different empires because of where it’s located. I’ve always found that really interesting as a point of reference – Charlie Constantinou
This is your second time showing on the LFW schedule, how did it feel to make your debut last season?
Charlie Constantinou: It was super nice. I think the difference in doing a show independently as a brand, versus doing a show with the backing of the BFC and their production companies, it’s a completely different experience for me.
You once said that you’re inspired by objects. Were there any specific objects that inspired the new collection?
Charlie Constantinou: A lot of the references for me come from old Cypriot artefacts because all my family is from there. Cyprus has so much history as a small island and has been a part of so many different empires because of where it’s located. I’ve always found that really interesting as a point of reference because you can find so much variation based on the period of time you’re looking at. And because the history itself is not really well-documented in written text, most of the history that is documented is all objects. I’ve always found it interesting physically looking at objects rather than just looking at clothing references.
Do you design with a specific person in mind?
Charlie Constantinou: No, for me, it’s always been kind of, not anonymous, but the whole narrative is about being adaptable – and that goes for the wearer too. I never really had a fixed person in mind. Even when doing the Masters course at Central Saint Martins, for example, that’s something they really encouraged, to know who your person is. Which I understand, but I think to me, it’s never been about pinning it down to a specific person. I think it’s always been about catering to a much bigger variation of people.
Does it feel surreal when you see your clothes on other people?
Charlie Constantinou: Yeah, definitely. Especially when it’s not in London. I’ve had a couple of experiences now where I’ve been in another country and seen someone wearing something and I have to stop them and say something. It’s actually crazy that I was in Japan in November and I saw a guy wearing some of my stuff in the street.
Do you see yourself wanting to expand your own brand or would you ever like to work for a heritage brand?
Charlie Constantinou: I think I definitely want to focus on expanding my own brand. I mean, there’s a few brands I would love to work with from a consulting perspective. But I don’t think there’s anything I would do if it meant I would have to stop my own brand, for sure.
Who are some other London designers that are doing interesting things right now?
Charlie Constantinou: There are two other designers on schedule that I respect a lot. One of them, who I share a studio with, is Kazna Asker, and the other one is my friend Yaku Stapleton.
Scroll through the gallery above to see Constantinou’s entire AW25 collection.