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Monoliths — ancient stone formations that transcend temporality. The spirit of this idea was what LVMH prize finalists Paolino Russo channelled in their runway debut at Copenhagen's SS/24 fashion week.
Who are Paolina Russo?
Winners of the Zalando Visionary Award, a programme focusing on the role of sustainable practices in fashion, London-based Paolina Russo made their runway debut as part of the award. The brand is masterminded by Central Saint Martins (CSM) graduates Paolina Russo and Lucile Guilmard. Russo graduated from CSM's MA Fashion (Knitwear) program and single handedly launched her eponymous label. Russo found herself sharing a studio with fellow CSM graduate Lucile Guilmard and, after some discussion, decided that two heads were better than one in running the brand.
Russo and Guilmard come from different backgrounds — Guilmard grew up in France while Russo grew up in Canada. Despite this, there's a clear conversation that takes place between their backgrounds and interests that is pivotal to the brand and what it seeks to achieve. Amongst this conversation, Russo and Guilmard find common ground in their via Zalando Corporate
introductions to artisinal clothes-making by their families while they were growing up. Integrating that appreciation gives their designs a more organic feel, bridging the ephemeral craft of clothes making with forward thinking ideas of production.
In an interview with AnOther Magazine, the brand's core is described as “something that has existed for thousands of years but there’s so much newness in it and excitement about where you can take it into the future.” Not only is the core of the brand perfectly described by that statement but Paolina Russo's debut encompassed that sentiment at Copenhagen SS24.
Monolithic: Copenhagen Debut
The brand works with sculptural silhouettes and sustainable materials, arousing the theme of connecting the old and the new. Clothes at their debut runway featured dirty denim, ribbed knits, rainbow tones and a vibe that can only be described as future-primitive. The collection also featured printed bodycon pieces, bolero jackets and miniskirts framed within the same idea.
via Luxferity
The "Monolithic" collection was, as described by Russo to Vogue, attempting to make a connection to symbols and markers made by humans that seem to be lost to time but are actually just as similar as drawing on a pavement as a kid. There is a sense of naivety, but also a strong existential statement to be made, by marking and drawing symbols that you see around you — regardless if you are a kid or a primitive ancestor.
Redefining Timeslessness
The Paolina Russo brand does more than just symbolically look at time, but equally places importance in the clothes' journey through time. From the birth of the piece, Paolina Russo takes care in knowing and working with suppliers and craftspeople. The Russo and Guilmard take care documenting every step in their process on social media and even choose to exclusively work with one fibre for each collection. With Monolithic the fibre was cotton. To Paolina Russo, the post-consumer journey is still part of their clothes' overall journey through time. If it means that the piece ends up in a land-fill, Paolina Russo wants to make sure they stay true to their goal of sustainability.
via HIGHXTAR
As the brand continues to grow and innovate, Paolina Russo is a name that we'll definitely be hearing more from. Monolithic gave us an amazing insight into what the brand can do but equally forced us to confront how we perceive fashion as dynamic, moving backwards and forwards through time; knitting the primal and the future.
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