Here’s a highly irritating fashion frustration to be filed in the First World Problems bank: see something on the catwalk/in a campaign/on a celebrity, fall in love with it, find out it is going to set you back six months of living expenses. Credit rating or good clothes: you decide. Except, thanks to a niche of haute-street brands, you don’t have to pick a team.
Leading the charge is Cos, whose Atelier collection lands in stores now. Rewind to September’s New York Fashion Week, and that collection was unveiled in a catwalk show. Held in the Manhattan Classic Car Club, in front of the cinematic backdrop of sunset on the Hudson River, a celebrity front row including Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner Smith, Suki Waterhouse and Evan Mock, watch as the likes of Selena Forrest, Jeanne Cadieu and Devyn Garcia took to the runway in cashmere coats and slinky knit dresses and excellent tailoring.
The collection was, as has become familiar territory for COS, the inverse of that famous Dolly Parton quip, ‘it takes a lot of money to look this cheap’. Guess what, it can be surprisingly wallet-friendly to look this expensive! See for yourself as the collection lands in-stores now with highlights including a pared-back wool twill bandeau (£130), a liquid metallic fishtail slip (£225) and asymmetric draped mini skirt (£135) all available. A louche tuxedo suit comes in at £450.
"It was more about a mood. It started with contrast," creative director Karen Gustafsson – the coolly elegant Swede who heads up design at the London-based brand – said on the inspirations, post-show. "Also thinking creating movement, exploring deconstructions and thinking about how you can remake the traditional." She was toying with "statuesque, confident" silhouettes for women, and softer shapes for menswear in a collection defied obvious made-for-Instagram trends.
The inevitable razzmatazz of a fashion show might seem at odds with the quiet power of COS; it’s also a majorly expensive endeavor. So why did Gustafsson feel it was worth it? "The collection really is best when you see it in movement," she explained. "I think that’s what the customer feels too. And of course […] you get the feeling behind the collection coming across."
There is also something of a statement of intent in a brand you would not be intimidated to shop in, presenting their collections in this way, hero-ing luxurious materials and made-to-last designs. Notably, COS is making it clear that it is a brand with opinion, perspective, its own design language. It’s not waiting to see what trends appear on the catwalk and then reproducing them at warp speed.
The rise and rise of COS (ditto Clare Waight Keller’s Uniqlo: C collection) chimes with a more democratic mood in fashion – one where style is not tied to price tag and where the high-street can be taken as seriously as spenny labels (some of the best-dressed women I know seem to mostly answer ‘it’s Cos!’ to questions about what they’re wearing).
It’s about design integrity, respecting your customer and getting that good design is good design. The fact that Cos’s Quilt bag appeared on the Lyst Index of Hottest Products for Q3 2023, alongside Margiela Tabis, Prada pumps and Loewe’s Puzzle tote, suggested that rest of fashion is finally cottoning on.
