Paolo Carzana SS27 at St Cuthbert's, London Fashion Week: the church show

Paolo Carzana showed his spring 2027 collection at St Cuthbert's on 18 September, the final slot of London Fashion Week's second day. He is from Cardiff, took his BA at Westminster and his MA at Central Saint Martins on scholarships from Kering and LVMH, and his MA tutor there, the hat maker Nasir Mazhar, still makes his headwear. The label is dated Est. 2022. He has made every garment himself since, working from a Paul Smith Foundation studio above Smithfield meat market. He was an LVMH Prize finalist in 2024, is one of six 2026 BFC Fashion Trust recipients, and Dover Street Market stocks him in seven cities, London to Beijing.

The weekly

NewsletterWeekly One email a week. Every post from the week, and what didn't fit on a slide. Free. Never shared. Unsubscribe any time.

The post, as it ran

01PAOLO CARZANA CLOSED THE SECOND NIGHT OF LONDON FASHION WEEK AT 21:00 ON 18 SEPTEMBER, INSIDE A CHURCH, ST CUTHBERT'S.

02GUESTS WALKED INTO SILENCE AND DARKNESS: WOODEN PEWS, SHEATHS OF FABRIC DOWN THE SIDES, A DRONED SOUNDTRACK AND HEAVY INCENSE.

03THE SILHOUETTES WERE BUILT ON COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE, THE OLD ITALIAN MASKED THEATRE THAT RAN ON STOCK CHARACTERS.

04SO THERE WAS PIERROT, THE WHITE-FACED CLOWN, AND THE LOVERS, WHO WALKED WITH FLOWERS IN THEIR POCKETS.

05AND THE MAIDENS, IN DRAPED SEPARATES AND BUTTERFLY HENNINS, THE TALL POINTED HATS NOBLEWOMEN WORE IN THE 1400S.

06THE PALETTE RAN CORAL, ORANGE, GREY, PINK AND SLATE BLUE.

07PIECES WERE KNOTTED, DRAPED, LAYERED, SLASHED OR TIED, AND SOME LEFT LOOSE IN THEIR NATURAL CRINKLED STATE.

08HE DYES EVERY GARMENT HIMSELF, WITH MADDER, LOGWOOD, TURMERIC, ONION SKINS AND AVOCADO STONES. NOTHING SYNTHETIC.

09THE CHURCH FOLLOWS EARLIER VENUES: HIS OWN BACK GARDEN IN CLAPTON, AN 18TH-CENTURY PUB IN CLERKENWELL, A BRITISH LIBRARY READING ROOM.

10THE MET MUSEUM IN NEW YORK BOUGHT TWO OUTFITS FROM HIS FEBRUARY 2023 CATWALK DEBUT. ONE IS MADE OF SILK AND WILLOW.

Open on Instagram