This season’s London Fashion Week featured shows across some of the most decadent London locations: the British Museum (Erdem), Emirates Stadium (Labrum), and the Old Bailey (Simone Rocha). But not for Welsh designer Paolo Carzana, who presented his intimate collection, titled “How To Attract Mosquitoes,” in his own Hackney back garden.
Having spent two years in social housing, the space represents a special haven for him. He told Vogue, “We’ve got this beautiful back garden that we share with the neighbours. I never in a million years would have dreamt I would have that.”
Displaying the collection in his garden offered a retreat from the extravagance and flashy spectacle often associated with fashion week.
“I’m not interested in influencers; I’m not interested in any of that. I [want] to offer a much more sentimental experience that isn’t about smoke and mirrors.”
As the show began, the first model appeared at the top of the stairs, clad in layers of pilgrim-coded clothing. Wearing a cropped white shirt and undulous, frayed trousers, the model slowly danced his way to the pond. Gradually, more models appeared in streaked jackets, hacked-at tops, antique bed sheets, organza blouses, and whimsical headdresses. The colours—an array of subtle blacks, burnt oranges, and earthy browns—blended seamlessly with the natural setting.
“How To Attract Mosquitoes” opened with the story of Narcissus, a figure from Greek mythology who drowns after falling in love with his reflection—a fitting metaphor for the direction the world at large is heading.
“This is reflective of the hell that we’re living in. This complete move to that old, old sentiment of humanity, of vanity, of caring about what you look like, and not caring about the world around you. There are so many really awful wars and hunger, and endless, endless reasons to give up, really… How can we understand our own intentions in contributing to global warming, in contributing to all these things that are wrong? It’s about how we look at ourselves in the mirror, but being honest about our own contribution, and then from there, hopefully we can move forward in unison.”
The cherry on top of Carzana’s brand is his earnest commitment to sustainability. He uses deadstock or recycled fabrics, and plant dyes and spices to colour his materials, including black walnut, Himalayan rhubarb, wild cherry bark, turmeric, tea, hibiscus, and apple wood.
With that in mind, it felt only right that Last Yarn, the social marketplace for deadstock fabric, should sponsor Carzana.
Find Carzana’s selection of Last Yarn fabric below: