A Central Saint Martins alum and one-time CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist, designer Christian Cowan founded his namesake brand in 2017 after Lady Gaga’s support thrust him into the spotlight. Today, the London native who now resides in NYC is well-known for his fun, attention-grabbing designs. They’ve been selling at retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue since Cowan became serious about growing the business.
“You’ve got to grow the business so you can do bigger and bolder creative ideas — it’s about being able to facilitate a bigger creative vision,” Cowan says on the Glossy Podcast. “I love the hustle and strategy behind growing a brand that survives.”
Also on the podcast, Cowan discusses his New York Fashion Week Spring 2025 collection and stress-free approach to the corresponding show. He also shares his take on why “meteoric rises” of designers no longer happen in fashion.
Throughout New York Fashion Week, from September 6-11, check back for more daily podcast episodes featuring influential fashion insiders, from editors to designers.
Join us at Glossy's Beauty and Wellness Summit from November 11th through 13th in Napa, California. Influential Beauty and Wellness leaders will meet to discuss strategies and pain points, discover innovative tech, and ultimately make valuable business connections through one-on-ones and casual networking. For a limited time, we're offering $200 off with promo code GBS24NoSpaces. Again, that's GBS24 with No Spaces. Go to glossy.co/beautysummit for more information and to secure your past today. Thanks for tuning in to this New York Fashion Week edition of the Glossy Podcast. I'm your host, Jill Manoff, and today I'm sitting down with Christian Cowan, the London native designer who now resides in New York and has become known for his fun, attention-grabbing designs. A central St. Martin's alum and one-time CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund finalist, Christian founded his namesake brand in 2017 after Lady Gaga's support thrust him into the spotlight. Today, it sells at retailers including Sex Fifth Avenue and is a New York Fashion Week staple. I wanted to ask Christian about his approach to spring 2025, including whether collaborating with another unexpected company was a strategy. I also wanted to ask about the current challenges and opportunities for a young designer making a go of it in New York City. Welcome, Christian. Hi. How are you? Hello. I'm fantastic. What a lovely little intro. Thank you very much. I'm amazing. I'm really good from a bit sweaty. I actually just came from a workout and I've thrown a shirt over my workout to tie it and put a cap on, so I hope I don't look too bad. Where are you today? Are you in your home? Yeah, I'm in my apartment and then I'll be heading to the office after this for the shenanigans of Fashion Week prep. Nice. Well, did I get you before the shenanigans? I feel like I have yet to talk to a designer. This close to a show who seems so calm and full of energy. How are you doing? I'm fantastic. I was actually away until two days ago and I think years into this, it's like it's as stressful as you let it be. Like if you want it to be chilled and fun and calm, it can be exactly that. So yeah, I'm having a good time. We love that. Well, I've been to several of your shows. Definitely one of the highlights of my Fashion Week every time. And I mean, there's always something new. I think I remember one very open, very white, very spacious. There was a Doritos incorporation. And then the last one. Wow. Definitely the Adobe collab. I would say there was drama walking down that runway. There were models looking you in the eye. Yes, yes. They were slinking down. They were drinking. They were smoking. It was an event. Anyway, tell me about your approach. You like to change it up. My main concern throughout my shows is to keep me and my team entertained. That is the main concern of it all. It's like, you know, obviously you want to keep growing the business and you want to push yourself creatively. And those things entertain us. But ultimately we want to enjoy our jobs and never feel stagnant. And I think it's just in my nature to keep on experimenting and playing around. And also I kind of always feel the need to do the thing that people say I shouldn't do. I kind of feel like I'm like, well, why? Where's this imaginary rule book? Like, why can't I do that? So like last time in that show where all the models were drinking and smoking and stuff, that was a very last minute decision. I mean, within 10 minutes before they walked out. Just because I had gotten alcohol for the models anyway. And they were all had drinks. I was like, just take them out of the runway. Lead in. I love that. Yeah. They were not your typical model. Some of them were all there. There was a good diversity happening, I would say. How do you go about casting? And again, is that unique to each show? I think at the beginning of my career I definitely felt a need to fit a certain status quo of like what do you have on the runway. But then as the business has grown, you know, so, I mean, a huge bulk of our audience and customers are, you know, 50 and over. And it just felt really weird to be this disingenuous brand who is enjoying selling to this age group, but they're not representing them on the runway and in campaigns and so on. And I've never really understood why that doesn't happen more. So we just opened up the age range within our shows and I don't think that will ever go away again. And also what was so enriching about that process for me is, you know, so many of these models, they walked in the shows that I like fantasized about as a child. Like, you know, in the McQueen with the spray paint collection or, you know, one of my favorite Mughlayer ones or whatever, it's like, they just get to tell me stories while we're in the fittings about my favorite shows. So it's like story time and fitting. So I adore it and they have a confidence as well that can only come with wisdom. And so I love it and they wear the clothes so amazingly. So, but yeah, the casting thing we're very free about. I don't use a casting agent typically most of the time. We do it all in-house and it just gives a greater level of familiarity to the whole show. You know, a few years ago, I decided that I wanted the shows to be a completely enjoyable experience for myself, basically, and the team. And by doing that, it just makes it like this warm, yummy, kind of like family experience. Oh my God, you're entertained. We're entertained. We all win. Exactly. It's great. So you're talking about like you've done this so many times. You're kind of like, you know what to expect or you know what you're in for. Tell me about why it's just a given that you're going to be at Fashion Week. Why is it a must? It's a must because one, it's the thing I always grew up dreaming about doing. And I feel very at home here. Like I felt like a New Yorker before I ever arrived to New York. And I love doing the shows. The cadence of two shows a year in New York. There's an energy here that I love like no other city and I would never want to leave. I think I'd be at least showing that, yeah, New York Fashion Week for I hope my whole career. And while I have become very comfortable with it, there's always newness. There's always unexpected shenanigans and surprises and amazing things. And I think that's something that New York Fashion Week offers more than other fashion weeks in a way. There's a New York Fashion Week feels a bit closer to pop culture than the other fashion weeks. The other fashion weeks have their own strengths by far. But New York is more plugged into like youth, I think. Oh, I can see that. I would agree. Does that play into like who comes to your show? I know there's some influential folks. There's a show in the front row just as there is on the runway, I would say. Always. And I think my career really began with working with musicians. And so that fits so nicely into my shows because it's great. I can invite all my friends I've worked with to come see it. And if they are in town or whatever, they're there. It's great fun. And also we like to have fun with the front row dressing. Like we like to lean into the character of what the person's trying to achieve, whether that be a chic and glamorous look or whether they want to be the biggest thing on the Internet that day. Yes. How does what we see on the runway translate to what we're going to see on your website at SACS? Or is it one in the same or it depends on what the buyers buy. How has it been playing out in seasons past? It's been a really interesting evolution because I had a fairly kind of unusual start to the brand in the sense that I really know business acumen and I hadn't worked in another house. And so I just began making the clothes I wanted to make with zero concept of sales because I supported myself off of commissions and corporate partnerships and so on. And then as time's gone on and I've grown up and the brands growing up with myself, we've really kind of spent so much time, like so many of our customers are my friends. So I hear the feedback about what they want within the clothes and you can see that transition in our clothing over time. And so if you actually look at the collections now, I would say for this collection coming up, I would say 100% of it is ready to wear. But usually it's always at least 80 to 90% ready to wear and that does appear on our retail avenues. But for example, one is over time, our growing star sequence stories, anything with a star has just like, we can't keep in stock. It's really wild. Oh my God, the long sleeve silver mini. That, that shit is impossible to keep in stock. It's crazy. Like, I mean, great problem to have, but we literally can't make enough of them. And so, you know, it's nice to be able to lean into the things that the customers are really responding to and then just expand upon that universe in the show and show new exciting ways that you could represent that concept. So you'll see more of that this season as well. Fantastic. Well, tell me about the maturity of the company. You talked about you're doing the casting in house, like how large is your team and who is managing the business side now? So the team fluctuates. I learned this through the pandemic. It's very good to have a flexible business structure that doesn't put too much weight on the resources of the brand. So the team fluctuates, but it varies like in leading up to fashion week, our office literally has like 30 people working in it and it becomes crazy. We've got a cute office in Soho and it becomes, it becomes basically like a gay club in that office. It's like there's loud music and there's like people like whooping and hollering is fab. I love the energy of our office. And then sometimes it shrinks down and then it becomes like a gallery. I'm over on silent typing away. Running the business is myself and then I have a business partner who I also do a podcast with, funnily enough, who's hilarious, an amazing man called Natias Mitchinson, who's kind of like a silver-haired version of me. And yeah, we run the business together. We also have some people on the board and we have a financial advisor and all these things that help run it. But you know, it's funny growing up. I was dreamed of being this like creative designer, but I have also in almost an equal way really enjoyed becoming more of a like a son who's adept in business. And I've loved the hustle and the strategy behind growing a brand that survives. I love it. Give us more stars. More stars. And like, you know, it's funny. I remember when I went to Central Sim Martins, I was this very popular belief that like, you know, it's creativity and everything else falls back, which I completely agree with. But also at the same time, well, you've got to grow the business so you can do bigger and bolder creative ideas. And so that's always been the driving force behind it. It's not the sum aim to just be the biggest brand ever. I really have no interest in that happening, but it's about just being able to facilitate bigger creative visions. Yeah, well, it sounds like you kind of hit a great stride where you're not like desperate for money or like looking for that investment, but you're able to make a great business, stable business, I would say. Stables, the key, I think. People are always really obsessed with having some like flash in the pan moment, which I understand. It's exciting when you like first debut, but stable, so vital. You don't want to overspend when you've got lots of money. You don't want to, you know, all these things. So. Are you a brand in the fashion or luxury industry? The glossy fashion and luxury awards provide the opportunity to recognize your company's work with categories, including sustainable brand of the year, best collaboration, best experiential marketing activation, and more. Don't miss the chance to be recognized alongside past winners from good American skims and Gucci. Learn more and start your entry at glossy.co/awards/fashion. Well, tell me a little bit more about who's who's shopping the brand. I think I read somewhere. She's like the club kid and she's the Upper East Cider. We've got it. We've got the gamut. Yeah, it's really amazing. Like I've been very fortunate to have captured just a few different kind of demographic of women's attention. Like really, I would say the bulk of it is the runway collection mostly serves as a woman who is professional and has a fair amount of cash. And she really is. She's confident. Our customers always confident. They want to be seen. They want. They want the compliment. They want the photo and they know they're going to achieve that in the dress. Like they love people running up to them on the street being like, Oh, my gosh, where's your dress from? You look incredible. Can I take photo view? But then we service a different target audience with our collaborations. You'll notice a lot of our collaborations are at the lower price point level and that's because we can't service those people with the runway offerings, but we don't want to lose out on them. And also there are aspirational customer. You know, one day they'll be able to buy the dresses. And so we do the things like the crocs or the toms or all these different collaborations so that they can start being part of the brand because I remember being, you know, 14 in the English countryside desperate to have a piece of magic from the runway show that I adored. But there was no way to access that unless I bought like a key chain, which was still like $600 and I couldn't afford. I really try to allow as many opportunities for a consumer to access the brand. So also we've got like menswear offerings that are growing this season, you've seen a lot more menswear from us in a different capacity than we've done it before. Because, you know, I think sometimes brands feel to look at your social media analytics. Who are the people who follow you? We saw a 35% male audience or a brand should monetize that, a brand should expand into that. So we've got lots of different consumers and I love it. And I think a lot of that came from all the musicians we dressed because you reach so many different audiences. Because like you're dressing in Dea but you're also dressing Cardi B and you get such different audiences and they've all got spending power and they all love a fun creative moment. So it's just about having all the stuff for them. Right on. That makes good sense to me. Is it every man for themselves like in the fashion world? Do you bounce ideas or like is there a community happening or what's the vibe? I think so. I think I don't think it's every man. I think there's a community. Like I've always just loved connecting with other designers. I think we all get to do the best job ever and it's so fun to connect and back years ago when I did the Fashion Fund that was such an enjoyable part of that process. It was my favorite part of the process. And I've been very fortunate to have just had so much support and love from idols of mine. Like even very early in my career it was people like I'm from Firstenburg or Mark Jacobs or you know these people really who say in Shalayan like they really gave me advice and some of the best advice I've ever had in my business. Like I remember DVF early on she told me if you make your business surrounded like circling a lot of stretch fabric you will always have a business. She was like women love stretch fabric. And I was like, that is such a golden nugget of advice. So yeah I think the community is there and whenever I meet a young designer or whenever there's an opportunity to do things for students I always jump at it because it's so cool. And like it's fun to share knowledge we're all stronger together maybe sharing so totally seems like you have a good grasp on everything is there anything that's like especially challenging for you but also kind of young designers in general. Like obviously I mean it can be related to the economy and whether people are going out or like rental market and all these other kind of competitive areas but tell me tell me. I definitely think what's hard for this time of designers is we grew up witnessing these like meteoric rises in the fashion industry. And so obviously we wanted to emulate that and we wanted to be the tallest growing tree that gets the sun first. But it's just not that environment anymore it's not the same and it's about building something that's really steady and stable and takes much longer to grow to something that people perceive as a massive brand. And so it is hard and I think economically it's definitely a very different time it's not as meteoric and I'm trying to think what are the struggles that I have. I don't know I think maybe two years ago I would have said a designer can encounter a feeling of claustrophobia sometimes from what the brand identity has become. This is something I felt like you know the brand identity is something you adore but it may not be every single creative outlet that you wanted to do and you want to grow the business you have to stay within that identity. And so I think one piece of advice I would give is really find other opportunities to express your different size of creativity. So I really started seeking out on the side that costume design opportunities because it was so fun to also be challenged in a completely different brief and I recently did Queen of Versailles which is a big Broadway show that's opening in the summer. It just did it's pretty broadway stint and doing it outside of projects I think is a key thing to keep on bringing fresh stuff into your inspiration pool that then can go into a brand. If that makes any sense and they've rambled. Keep the creative juices flowing. Keep it running. I think designers like we love to live in a bubble of our own team and they're usually a very loyal team and it's important to bring newness and to be challenged and to have some stuff that you had when you were a student. When everything was new, you need that throughout your career. And so I feel that was an important part for me. For sure. Well, it seems like you went pretty much the quote unquote traditional route like you went to design school. You went support from the CFDA. I mean you didn't launch at Barney's but like that kind of one, two, three step like what would be your advice for somebody who like you is like has this dream of being this mega designer. I mean they just want to get involved. Become successful and they're just getting involved. You want to do it perfectly but you just need to accept it's never going to be perfect. For example, for me, I did the Vogue Fashion Fund way too early. I was just basically like a kid making clothes. Like I didn't really have like a proper business set up. But also I learned so much that helped me set it up. But I definitely think embrace it in perfection. I think also there is such a feeling of external pressure to be a certain thing. And that will really be the death of you. You have to just be your authentic. It sounds cheesy everyone says you have to be your authentic unique self. You have to be weird or quirky or whatever you are. You have to do that because that's the only thing that will make you stand out. And then I think also embrace the things you don't want to do. I've learned so much from projects that I was like oh that's not what I was expecting. But now I'm going to have to work around that. And you know like when your fabrics don't arrive in time and suddenly your whole collection screwed or you know manufacturer is grossly late with the delivery lean into it. Like use that as an opportunity to bring something creative and exciting and resourceful into your show rather than like having a meltdown. There's no use to have a meltdown. I love that. Well like you reminded me of something when you said do something you don't want to do because I was like I'm feeling like I should be doing more like TikTok and shit like that. You are a personality I would say. Question let's be real. Like are you like does your shopper know you like you talked about a podcast? Are you like doing the lies? Are you out there and is that necessary? So it's absolutely not necessary. Like if that's not what someone's gig is don't do it. I think for me it's like I was like why not? Like if I was asked to be on a TV show or if I was asked to do this I'd be like sure that sounds great. It's another opportunity to meet new people and to educate new customers. You know you look at people like Michael Kors who his stint on television was such a vital component to his success in the States and so I think if you're trying to achieve something I think you should really try to use all the tools that are available to you and you yourself is at all. But it's also just fun. But you know I understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea and you know if you want to be like Ray Kawakubo never be seen I think that's stunning. I love that. I actually think it's much much cooler. But yeah I enjoy doing the things I've met so many beautiful people and it's enriched our business so greatly. But yeah I'm definitely going to continue doing the things that feel right for me you shouldn't say yes to everyone. Yes well I mean the fact that you're so positive it makes this question funny you're like I see opportunity in a shipping issue like but I was going to ask where you see opportunity because you see it in menswear maybe maybe in stores some day but like what is kind of like peeking your interest now and like maybe that's your next step. It's interesting I'm really in a phase of our career where I'm making decisions that are selfish for the business that only aid us rather than what we should be doing. So for example like we haven't really been expanding into brick and mortar retail because we've found if we put the same resources into our D2C it's just so much better for the business. And you get to keep your customer info you get to make a community like it's superb but in terms of other opportunities I mean a big expansion that we're undergoing in the next kind of like 24 months is leather goods. You know you look at a business like Jackimus who was at 200 million what was it a year ago and it was like 70 something percent of it was leather goods. And you see that time and time again for so many other brands and I've always wanted to but I didn't want to do it until I knew what I wanted it to be. And I knew every single thing you know all the stars aligned the production and the price point and everything. And I'm really excited I've prototyped like I'm not joking like 20 handbags that I've never seen the light of day other than being on my mum's arm or my arm or something like that. And like the bag that we're launching with. Yeah we love samples and also I use it as customer feedback like the bag we're about to launch with loads of my friends have been carrying around like eight months. So like and there have been loads of fixes that we have done to that product from actual wear and tear and use a kind of experience. But so that's a massive opportunity kind of like leather goods and men's where we're expanding into more so over time just because there's such a great response to the suits that we did for myself and Sam at the Met. But yeah just taking it one step at a time taking it one step at a time and just making sure everything that goes out is right. Yes well it's very top of mind so I have to ask you have your namesake label. There's all of this everyone loves to talk about the creative director like a musical chairs is that something that potentially for the future like it would be maybe an opportunity to spread your wings or try something different with like. If you were kind of pulled into another another house or something is what do you feel about that. I feel like if the fit is right. And sometimes you know it's more than just the fit of the brand is if the fit of the working style and like the chain of command and you know all the things that are important with when you're going into something like that. If that was all right I'd absolutely be open to the opportunity you know we've been approached about things in the past and it's just about waiting for something that would feel really beneficial for both sides rather than just one. But yeah I think it's awesome and I thoroughly enjoy seeing the musical chairs of the designers at the brands and I think it's fantastic and it brings so much newness. But yeah I would definitely be open to it one day. Yes one day. You've given us a lot of a lot of teasers about what to expect at the show I'm so excited anything else you would want to share. I'm so excited for this collection because I think it's quite cinematic and theatrical but in like a chill way and I really hope people enjoy it. I definitely do. I love the collection as well. And it's my first ever outdoor show so let's see how the weather treats me. I've always avoided it like the plague. Wow that is everything. I was like we need to do it eventually and also when you're shopping twice in New York every year you start to run out of venues you're like I need to go outside because I can't keep using the same room. So one day but my dream venue one day when I have larger budgets is to do the Bellagio fountain with a glass catwalk in front of the fountain going off. I think that's so tacky and fabulous that it needs to happen but one day. I agree. I agree. You've done so well so far. I remember your last show. I was like taking photos of like the ceiling and like the wall. Like anyway I just remember there it was beautiful but I didn't realize I was going to an outdoor show. I was gearing up for fun knowing that I'm coming to your show but I didn't connect with us. You are outside. Here's the scoop. Bring your raincoats. No don't worry. We've got our brothers and everything for everyone. And thank you so much for the last show. The last show was a fun one. It was more of a chill one. I purposely made it smaller so it was nice that people still got it. Hey very exclusive. I'm glad I was there. Christian I'm so excited. Happy Fashion Week. Thanks for taking the time. Thank you so much for having me. This was so gorgeous and it was such a nice way to kick off the rest of my day. [Music]
