London – As one of the nine finalists for this year’s LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers, Aaron Eish is on the rise after winning over industry experts in Paris for his modern and poetic take on menswear.
This season, she’s expanding her young, eponymous label to include womenswear. The designs will be revealed during her runway debut during London Fashion Week on Monday night.
The show will be held at Tate Modern, with more than 25 models walking in a former gallery on the seventh floor. The place has a laminated floor overlooking the Millennium Bridge, reminiscent of his „sh- student accommodation”.
Esch said the event was inspired by old Helmut Lang shows. „It’s like, white chairs, floor lamps and clothes. That’s it,” he said.
Born and raised in Islington, London, the British designer started his label soon after completing a Masters in Fashion Design at Central Saint Martins.
Her designs are contrasted with traditional tailoring and constructions and details borrowed from women’s clothing. Examples include puff-skirt jeans, halter-neck waistcoats, and hoodies with tie fastenings.
The brand is stocked in six retailers worldwide: Ssense, LN-CC, Machine-A, Browns, H. Lorenzo and Antonioli.
During a preview with WWD, Esh said it was logical for buyers, customers — and even Zendaya — to include women. Last month, the „Euporia” star wore the brand’s bespoke halterneck wool waistcoat to star in a SmartWater campaign.
„You could put her in a black hoodie and she’d look incredible. We’ve said 'no’ to every red carpet, magazine and celebrity request for the past year. As long as it’s her. It made sense for the brand. I think there’s a real crossover between our vision and what she stands for.” Hope so,” said Ish.
The designer added that Zendaya had a waistcoat at the end. „She didn’t, but she asked us about it, and I think that’s how it went for everyone.”
Aaron Ash
Courtesy of Aaron Eish
Eish said he knew he could use his eponymous label as a brand with a „very mainstream perspective on menswear” and that the introduction of womenswear would allow him to expand his appeal and vision.
She said she wanted to create a wardrobe that was not bound by traditional gender norms.
„Of course there are women’s clothes, but really it’s just a train of clothes all sitting together. I think there’s this unity, they sit together in a way that’s not about androgyny. It’s about how I see modern clothes. My girls are very feminine, sexy and beautiful, and so are the men. .At the same time, they can both have masculine shoulders,” he added.
The designer said her personal favorites include bubble skirts, wrap dresses, a keyhole bodice, a floor-length pencil skirt and an evening dress, adding, „It might be totally awkward, but in the context of that dress, it feels amazing.”
The leather used in the collection feels buttery and drapes well on the body, according to Esh, who hails from Danish shoe brand Eco, which offers premium leather to mainstream luxury players. Ripped jeans are made from denim by Isco from Turkey.
“I think denim and leather add a new level of depth to the wardrobe I create. The leather feels so luxurious and the denim is completely different. And yet both of them feel very everyday and youthful in that wardrobe,” Esh said.
“The highbrow mix of traditional luxury with a certain subculture of young, East London feels very interesting to me. It has to do with people I met in Paris, at a party in Dalston on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. wearing boys and girls from St. Martins,” he added.
The entire collection is manufactured in London. It may be more expensive, but Esh believes her brand is „fairly priced for the fabric choices and finishes.” A two-button blazer from the brand’s Fall 2023 collection costs £1,000, while a pair of wrap trousers costs £840.
“I work in a factory [in Forest Gate in east London]. They are like master tailors and expensive but they deliver at the level of my expectations. It means our margins are slightly reduced now, but in the long run, we have credibility. We make good clothes,” he said.
At the moment, the designer runs the brand with a small team from her aunt’s basement [dry cleaners] On Essex Road, Islington, he has owned it since the 60s. The basement was used to run a garment factory.
„It sounds like a cliché. My aunt is 80 years old. If I don’t know how to sew something, I go upstairs and she pins it and it’s done. She really enjoys having me there. I think we’re giving her a lot of buzz by running this new business,” Ish said.