When Timothée Chalamet starts wearing a brand very few have heard of – back to back to back, for several days in a row – the world can’t help but pay attention. So, last month, when Chalamet stepped out in multiple outfits by the London-based brand ADON, the internet’s ears pricked up. Who or what was ADON? And how did they land a coup d’état any luxury label would pay hand over first for?

“You’re the first person we’re letting in. Dazed is the first, then that’s it,” ADON’s image director Ahmed Alramly tells me as we walk through their central London studio, located two floors above the Nando’s in Soho. While Alramly and design director Anthony Princi have kept the brand intentionally lowkey until recently, a cursory glance through ADON’s Instagram reveals it’s not just Marty Supreme they’re outfitting – Robert Pattinson is a fan too, as well as Travis Scott, who scored a custom tour outfit in October. But it’s the pair’s relationship with Chalamet’s stylist Taylor McNeill that led to this current moment. “She’s the one and only Taylor McNeill,” they gush. “She’s amazing.”

But what about the clothes? ADON’s ethos is one Alramly and Princi describe as ‘stark luxury’ – high quality, utilitarian clothes made from untreated leather, heavy shearling, cashmere, suede, and other materials derived from the natural world. Its collections are based on lengthy ‘case studies’, where the pair trek to remote places for inspiration (season one was based on a year spent with Tusheti shepherds in Georgia, for instance). That first proposition was debuted at a presentation in Paris at the start of 2025, which featured collaborations with sculptor Dozie Kanu, stylist Vanessa Reid, photographer Lengua and an afterparty headlined by Amnesia Scanner. “ADON remains intentionally selective, found on friends of the house who inhabit this specific frequency,” read the press release for the event.

Coincidentally for Alramly and Princi, Chalamet’s recent ADON streak happened just days out from their debut runway show in London, as the brand was opening up to a larger audience. At the off-schedule show, the pair continued their rugged and raw exploration of silhouettes and textures via a collection called ROADS / Spirit, one that was inspired by an excursion to one of the coldest inhabited regions on earth. In a stark warehouse space, decorated with floating transmission poles, models in leather coats and beaten up trousers stormed the runway, soundtracked by an intense score from producer Rainy Miller.

In the conversation below, we chat to Alramly and Princi about their return to London, the air of mystery surrounding the brand, and flying to LA to dress Timothée Chalamet.

Hey both – first of all, can you describe to me the core elements of ADON?

Ahmed Alramly: We create case study to case study. That’s how we do a collection. For this season, the team went to one of the coldest inhabited regions on Earth. It was about pulling from the brutality of nature – everything from huntsmen to miners to fishermen – especially for the palettes. We call it ‘stark luxury’ – these raw untreated leathers, heavy furs, workwear. We like the idea of durability and a uniform you can wear over and over, but also it’s really high quality and high craft. In our mind, it increases in beauty as time goes on.

Anthony Princi: We took those core values we learnt from all the case studies and tried to translate that to every single detail, to have that consistent design language throughout, and really establish that in the second collection.

These ‘case studies’ aren’t your usual fashion inspiration. Where did you go for this season’s trip?

Ahmed Alramly: It’s not even about a specific place. When I say, ‘one of the coldest inhabited regions on Earth’, there’s a lot we leave to your imagination.

Anthony Princi: The important thing is a matter of us being there. The way that you interact with things in person is so different in comparison to just doing research, so I think it’s important for us to experience [those places].

Ahmed Alramly: Just total submersion, shaped by direct experience. But it’s not about voyeurism – the first case study was an entire year spent with shepherds. It’s about living within the space, and making from it, not of it.

“Fashion has become too fast, and you don’t get to sit on ideas. There’s no incubation period” – Anthony Princi

When you say that case study took a year, does that mean you feel restricted by the traditional fashion calendar?

Anthony Princi: Not really. I think it’s just a matter of letting it be quite natural. We like taking so much longer because fashion has become too fast, and you don’t get to sit on ideas. There’s no incubation period. The longer that we’re looking at these things, ideas evolve and change. We’re trying to make sure that everything we do isn’t so literal.

Ahmed Alramly: For now we’re off calendar, and we’re focused on our craft and individuality. Maybe things won’t take a year [laughs]. That’s how things started, in an unconventional way, but we’ll maintain our unconventionality.

There’s an element of mystery shrouding the brand online. Is that something you’ve intentionally created, and if so why?

Ahmed Alramly: Everything is intentional, that’s all I say.

I saw that GQ article about you guys, where they reached out for comment but didn’t get a response.

Ahmed Alramly: You’re the first person we’re letting in. Dazed is the first, then that’s it. As far as that goes, everything is intentional.

What are the reasons for the mystery?

Both: [Silence]

That’s fair.

Ahmed Alramly: That would kind of defeat the whole point! [laughs]

Robert Pattinson and Timothée Chalamet are friends of the brand, and Timothée has recently been wearing a lot of the clothes. How important are those kinds of people to ADON?

Ahmed Alramly: They’re like ADON family.

How did the relationships with them come about?

Ahmed Alramly: Rob Pattinson, first of all, fits into the brand – he’s got a very ADON feel about him. And he really loves the brand. I’ve worked with Taylor McNeill for a long time, who styles both those guys, and there was a long exchange of ideas and conversations. She’s the one and only Taylor McNeill – she’s amazing.

Anthony Princi: She’s really important to us. 

Ahmed Alramly: It happened with Robert at first, and then Timothée. The way that happened was pretty… we were hoping for a while, but not even I could expect him to wear it back to back for days in a row.

Those Timmy moments were just before your debut show. Did that happen organically, or was it manufactured strategically to drum up hype?

Ahmed Alramly: No, not at all.

Anthony Princi: We woke up to it!

Ahmed Alramly: Taylor called saying Timothée finally wanted to wear it, and then I actually had to go over to Los Angeles by myself with the suitcases, because there wasn’t enough time to ship it from the showroom. He’s the only person in the world that has the S2 collection, other than what will be shown at the show. But I literally took half the collection over to him.

Anthony Princi: Straight from the showroom to LA! It was a bit mad because we were like, ‘shit, can we actually get this all remade?’ But it was worth it, for sure.

“Caravaggio, Alice in Chains and Ingmar Bergman” – Ahmed Alramly

So what are your backgrounds in fashion?

Ahmed Alramly: I’m the creative director of a magazine, Naima, and I’ve been a creative consultant, image director, etcetera. That world of cultural architecture – placing ideas together – that’s my bread and butter. But I’ve been working in fashion since I was, like, 17.

Anthony Princi: Mine’s just solely design focused. That’s how we ended up gelling, because we filled in those gaps and just complemented each other’s skills. I’ve been working and studying for the past 10 years now, between Paris and London. 

Your debut runway was off-schedule though – do you care about being on the official London Fashion Week calendar?

Anthony Princi: Honestly, not really.

Ahmed Alramly: Nope.

Anthony Princi: It’s becoming so hard to distinguish what is and isn’t [on schedule] anyway, so I can’t see the big importance of it.

Are there any other creatives that inspire your work? Designers, musicians, artists etc

Ahmed Alramly: I’d say, Caravaggio, Alice in Chains and Ingmar Bergman.

What fresh ideas and perspectives does ADON bring to fashion that other brands aren’t tapping into right now?

Anthony Princi: We’re very material driven. We see the materials and textures and things that we like, we play with them, we try to understand them, how they work best. It just feels very natural. We never force anything, like ‘we need more jackets! We need more trousers!’ Everything is driven by the feel of what something can do.

I think it feels quite sexy, not because it’s tight or revealing though, but because the clothes are very carnal and raw.

Anthony Princi: Yeah, very animalistic.

Ahmed Alramly: Yeah I mean, the trousers are made from this raw, untreated leather from when Anthony was in a tannery in Turkey.

Anthony Princi: It’s about finding that balance of what’s clean and well-made, but not going so over the top with it.

What’s next for ADON?

Ahmed Alramly: Maintaining our individuality, not compromising, and also teasing some of our collaborations that lend themselves to the multidisciplinary nature of the brand.

Anthony Princi: And not falling into the calendar, as well. Not getting sucked in like a lot of brands. The second that you start trying to do things quickly, things become too sterile and boring. We want to take the time to be able to make things here, because that’s when you get a different level of product, and a different level of sensitivity to it as well.

And, finally, what would you say is the best thing about being a ‘London brand’, but maybe also the worst?

Ahmed Alramly: Both the best and worst thing is that we get to live above a Nando’s.

Scroll through the galleries above for ADON S2