It is unusual for Rome to be battered by heavy, horizontal rain in late March. But more unusual still is Rome playing host to a huge, sprawling set piece fashion show in late March. In any month, really. Because, while Italy's fashion industry rakes in almost $60 billion per annum, the majority of that business plays out in Milan. Rome is for perpetually “woooooow”ing tourists; the second city up north is for textiles.
And yet inside the Corsie Sistine, a wing of a 15th century hospital that sits on the River Tiber's curve, a fashion show played out. A huge tick was in every usual checkbox: a soundtrack that dropped a womp womp womp over some very Phantom of the Opera strings; a high wattage front row of Pamela Anderson, Ryo Ryusei, Jack O'Connell, Minho among 145 other guests; clothes that looked and felt expensive.
OK, you'd expect all that from the sort of designer brand that employs someone to open the door of a minimal New Bond Street store. But this wasn't a normal fashion show. And this wasn't a luxury fashion brand, either: this was Cos's Spring/Summer 2024 show.
Cos is a British high street brand with a Nordic intonation (it's owned by the H&M Group). Its clothes – roomy, structured and clean – sit in the low-to-mid three figures, which, undoubtedly, sit on the higher end of the high street. But it's still a high street brand nonetheless. And thus the fashion show ecosystem is upside down. The traditional assembly line would see the big guns (Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and the like) present collections during codified fashion weeks twice a year in the ancestral homelands of luxury fashion: Paris, Milan and, to a lesser extent, London and New York. From there, these designs would trickle down and influence more accessibly priced brands. If you couldn't get a four-figure jacket made by an ambidextrous seamstress in the 8th arrondissement, you probably could get a facsimile for a much lower price elsewhere. And so it is as it has always been.
But when brands from beyond Paris and Milan have the budget – and the clout – to host their own fashion show, off-schedule, and in non-fashion capitals, the orthodoxy comes into question. Because, ultimately, who's allowed to host a fashion show that attracts the usual guests, and receives the same glowing coverage in both social and traditional media? A few years back, a high street brand showcase would've been swatted away. Now, it feels like a serious contender – especially when serious fashion types are into it. “I actually prefer this to some of the luxury shows, y'know," says a fashion editor of a leading online outlet who attended the show. “There's more time, and more space, and people are actually gonna wear a lot of it.” She's right. For every pair of ultra-premium loafers at the pub, there are a dozen cheaper (but no less cooler) alternatives.
And rather than clamouring for attention in an already packed schedule, Cos is perhaps smart to branch out. Shipping the travelling fashion press corps to Rome feels like an event in and of itself. It won't be overshadowed by a bigger show on the same day; it has room to breathe in ever-precious, ever-saturated Instagram Story space. “I think when you have an off-schedule show in a city that is reflective of the inspiration, it's a really clever comms play,” says model and consultant Richard Biedul outside the show. “When you're in Paris and it's 10 collections a day, it can get lost. Your attention is cut short across so many things. When you do a standalone, yes it costs more, and yes there's a risk people won't come, but it feels like a stronger message.”
And the attention was undivided on the clothes. There were low hems and low hanging shorts, and sandals for a doomed holiday romance that begins in a crumbling taverna. There were boiler suits and mesh vests that sat at the techno end of things, and some very structured shirts. Did it offer much change from the usual Cos signature? Probably not. But that's kinda the point. The brand practically sits alone as the sole go-to for a pan-European idea of cool. Plus, it's just affordable enough: this is treat menswear as opposed to grail menswear.
Though the algorithm seems hellbent on providing shock over quality, it makes sense for Cos to do this sort of event show. Master of the grid Jacquemus has orchestrated a fistful of social media ‘moments’ on miles-long runways in Provençal lavender fields. Dior set a menswear show against the backdrop of the ancient pyramids of Giza. Boss went full Bellagio with a light-and-water show for its Miami-based Spring Summer collection last year (Pamela Anderson was at that one, too). If you're into Cos – and millions of people are – chances are that the Rome spectacle ended up on your smartphone.
Plus, the brand just wants you to see it, live and direct. “The collection truly comes to life on the body – movement is so important to understand how the pieces will look and feel for the wearer," says creative director Karin Gustafsson backstage after the show. "We do plan to present our collections in creative ways but want to do it on our own schedule." Unlike most Paris Fashion Week collections, every single piece will go into production with most of it available online now.
That's another break from the usual way of doing things. Cos isn't implanting an idea or a vision as so many brands and their creative directors like to do. The clothes live in reality. The clothes are wearable. A revelation! But the brand is doubling-down on the fact it is wearable, and beloved, and a big deal at a time when labels need to make money in an arid financial landscape. People will ultimately gravitate to this place of menswear: it looks like luxury, but without the luxury cost.
After the show, nobody had somewhere to be. The milling about and the relaxed chit-chat was refreshing, and a contrast to the throng of flustered fashion professionals that consider stress levels to be a bragging right. Back to Black actor Jack O'Connell, a Cos frontman, luxuriated in the post-show chill. “I had a top time shooting with these guys, good people throughout,” he says. “Went to Mexico and there was a Scouser over there, a Mancunian over here, loads of people from home. It instantly makes you feel comfortable, and the same goes here.”
He's right. For all the spectacle, there was a lack of pretence – but no lack of usual fashion show polish. Cos might never show on an official Paris schedule. But that's OK. Judging by the turnout, people really want to come. And despite a debut on a very unusual day in Rome, these are the clothes that people usually want to wear.