One of the many problems of a phygital fashion week is showing the nuance of clothing in motion. As archaic as a runway show might seem, people walking around in person wearing garments remains the best way to understand how a drape flutters or a sleeve scrunches as the wearer tucks his hand into a pocket. Kiko Kostadinov’s digital presentations often take the form of a runway of some kind; this season he’s crafted a complex video shot at Brixton Market, overlaying scenes of day and night and models passing by in his latest collection. But more than just iterating on the virtual front, Kostadinov has built movement into the very seams of his clothes.
There is no static or single ideal way to wear Kostadinov’s pointed shorts or plunging tanks with built-in pointed skirts. The garments are always jutting, rustling, alive. Laura and Deanna Fanning, who run Kostadinov’s womenswear operation, took a similar tack for their fall 2021 collection. The combination of COVID-19 lockdowns and Brexit have effectively trapped the team—of global origin, from Bulgaria to Australia to Japan—within the United Kingdom’s borders. Their journey this season was one through time with Kostadinov, who is sometimes hesitant to reference his own life, reflecting on his Bulgarian heritage. The collection’s sensual singlets touch on the Mr. Olympia competition for bodybuilders, popular in the Eastern Bloc in the 1990s. Traditional Bulgarian jewelry is linked together in new designs and draped over models.
An overarching through line comes from the Bulgarian futurist artist Nicolay Diulgheroff. On our Zoom call, Kostadinov held up a tea set by Diulgheroff he purchased online; the aesthetic parallels are striking, inset circles in jade green and violet, squiggly handles, something beautiful and slightly eerie at once. In describing Diulgheroff’s work and the futurism movement in general, Kostadinov says, “It was about ending this still life that was so dominant.” Isn’t that, in some way, what life right now feels like, a sense of desperation to break away from stagnation and discover something new?
Freshness abounds in this collection. Jackets are constructed with dual sleeves, so the wearer can pop out a blue-green panel from a black jacket. Shorts come with a frenzy of pointed hems instead of a straight line. A sensual suit is made from lace, while knits tie at the chest. Skin is everywhere, including on hunky tanks belted with custom leather and rubber belts made by an American equestrian company. Giant bags are slung over shoulders—filled with what? Kostadinov is going somewhere—directly, surely, and passionately. Here’s hoping his fans follow along.
