LONDON — It began as a textbook star-making fairytale, but the more interesting part could be where it goes next.
Freddy Coomes and Matt Empringham, two young Central Saint Martin students, both under the wings of Jonathan Anderson — one at Loewe and one at JW Anderson, respectively, during their placement year — got the attention of industry heavyweights and Hollywood A-listers even before graduation.
Having worked as a duo since the very beginning, Coomes and Empringham’s first major viral moment came when Sienna Miller stepped into Anna Wintour’s pre-Met Gala dinner in May wearing a green minidress with floral detail on the shoulder from the duo’s graduate collection.
Miller’s stylist Harry Lambert, who also works closely with Anderson, Harris Reed, and S.S. Daley, has long supported the two and styled the duo’s latest look book.
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The dress was a teaser of what the duo has to offer.
Titled “Collection 1,” it features two-dimensional garments, stiff scarves and shoes — supplied by Grenson — coated in microfiber, and dresses, hoodies, knits, and shirts cut from synthetic leather.
“We’ve been working around materials and building collections with pieces of clothing that stemmed from a real interest in exploring what materials are and what materials can be,” Coomes said, adding that the coating technique, professionally called flocking, is more commonly used in making the Sylvanian Families mini figures as well as in the furnishing and automobile trades.
“You glue a surface and then you charge it electronically. Then you throw small particles of nylon at it. We picked four or five different nylon fibers, and combined them to create a melange effect as we reconstitute it to give the impression of a texture,” said Coomes.
“What we are interested in is taking a technique or a material, which has these properties of something wildly different to clothing, and bring it into the context what clothing is, and all of a sudden you’ve got this weird bomber jacket that doesn’t make sense but you kind of understand. It looks like velvet, but it also looks like a carpet,” added Coomes.
Empringham, meanwhile, was mostly responsible for the visually deceptive looks made from Alcantara, an Ultrasuede-like material predominantly used in car seat making.
“Because it’s completely synthetic, we’re able to laser cut and engrave it. Some of the menswear pieces like the argyle sweater and the flannel shirt are entirely Alcantara. They are laser cut and then reassembled to form what appears like a piece of knitwear or a woven flannel when in fact it’s completely artificial. When you take a closer look, it feels quite odd and uncomfortable. It’s something slightly awkward that you can’t fully understand,” he added.
One can also argue that the playfulness and deceptiveness of the lineup harkens back to the Loewe spring 2023 men’s collection. Anderson called it “Less is more, but in a new way.”
Upon graduation, the duo is looking to get as much industry support as possible.
They are also looking for a new studio space. At the moment, they have a place in Leyton, northeast London, which can be “very isolating in a creative sense,” according to Empringham.
That’s why Empringham went to a career workshop hosted by Sarabande on Tuesday for advice from industry experts. He also hopes that they will be able to get a studio in Sarabande one day.
“There is a naivete to it because at Saint Martins you’re not taught how to lay the foundations of a company or brand. We’re at that stage trying to speak to as many people as we possibly can and understand what should we be looking for,” he added.
Empringham said Craig Green, who has been supported by Sarabande — which was established by Lee Alexander McQueen and which provides studio space, scholarships and professional mentoring to designers, artists and other creatives — is a great point of reference for what their practice can be.
“He very much sticks to what he wants to do and you see that in the work. Obviously, he came through Sarabande, seeing the support network he’s had is very inspiring,” added Empringham.
Coomes said he is excited about what’s going to come in the future.
“It’s such a competitive and difficult space in London as a new designer. I think what we’ve done has stumbled across something that feels exciting, fresh and new. We’ve got so many ideas about what we can make,” added Coomes.
Empringham said they are open to the idea of a brand but haven’t decided what it will be called. It won’t follow the traditional wholesale business model either, he added.
“I don’t think either of us are keen to establish something that just exists to make money. It’s about establishing something that has core values that feel appropriate to us and our customers. I think that’s a slow thing. It can’t be wrong,” said Empringham.
“We don’t want to fall into that trap of wholesale. The idea of fitting in a formula of what designers are expected to do now scares us more than anything. Maybe we make one collection every five years, or maybe we’re selling something every week. We want to explore how we can live outside of that world a bit,” added Coomes.
Since the two met during their foundation year at the fashion university, they have worked together on multiple school projects and published a book titled “All Black Flexing Tour Bus, ESC Key Filter System, A Blanket Ambience E-Scooter” last year, featuring 30 garments made from paper, bulldog clips and neoprene tubes.
