Your fall 2024 show was held at London’s Savoy Hotel, in the ballroom where Christian Dior once showed. Alex Consani opened; the soundtrack included Björk, as well as monologues from the viral star Tokyo Toni; and your muse Tish Weinstock closed the show in a wedding gown decorated with discarded iPod headphones. It was…
A mind fuck!
But in a good way! Your brand, which you officially launched in 2021, is built around sustainability—a majority of your garments are made from deadstock fabrics or postconsumer waste. How do you manage to balance that with humor?
You have moments when you’ve been working for 15 hours, and you zoom out and realize that you’re debating the hem on a chiffon dress. Then you’re like, Wow, this is so silly. Humor keeps a sense of lightness that is more necessary than ever before. The first thing I say about sustainability is there’s nothing sustainable about making new clothes. I just try to ensure that everything we’re doing can be held within my conscience in a way that I’m proud of.
You attended the fashion program at London’s Central Saint Martins and continue to live and work in London, but you were born and raised in Bedford, New York. What were your earliest memories of fashion?
There’s a famous story that my mom always tells: One of her girlfriends was over, and at the age of 2 or 3, I was telling her, “I love the way your boots go with your skirt.”
At your fall 2025 show, one of the most talked-about looks wasn’t actually on the runway; it was a white T-shirt that said “Protect The Dolls,” which you wore to take a bow. You ended up selling them and donating most of the proceeds to benefit Trans Lifeline, a crisis hotline.
I was so uncomfortable with how things had gone in the months prior. Donald Trump was reelected; we were watching rights being stripped away. I had to say something, and it came back to this question of, well, what is being threatened right now? This felt like a small way we could provide hope. I could never have expected the response that we got. As of right now, I think we’ve donated over half a million pounds to Trans Lifeline. It feels like the proudest moment of my career.
Rihanna was an early fan of your brand. How does it feel to have that kind of support?
So many things that I dreamed of happening were arranged or cosigned by her. Adwoa Aboah wore a look from my first collection to the Met Gala in 2017. Rihanna came up to her and said, “Who made this?” She followed me on Instagram the next day. I didn’t realize until one of her fans DM’ed me, like, “Rihanna just followed you. Who the hell are you?” I was literally 21 at the time. It led to working for Fenty, her label with LVMH. She always ensured that whoever had something to say in meetings, she would quiet the room for them. One day she came, and I had stayed up all night doing sketches. I was a mess. She came up behind me and said, “Conner!” I turned around, and she was wearing one of my old T-shirt dresses I had gifted her. She gave me the biggest hug.
If you could place five celebrities, living or dead, in your front row, who would you choose?
Marlene Dietrich, next to Eartheater. I feel like they’d be best friends. Marisa Tomei after My Cousin Vinny—she’s almost an unsung hero. Rihanna’s never come to a show, so we have to get her there. Then Diana Vreeland, because so much of my childhood was spent in the fantasy of fashion.
When a collection is over, how do you unwind?
I love to draw. I’m always doing the work. I really struggle with a holiday. So maybe I need a retreat where someone pries the iPhone out of my hands and is like, “You need to go lie in that field and touch grass for a bit.” That sounds really ideal right now, but I would probably lose my mind.
Hair by Kei Takano for ORIBE at Agency 41; Makeup by Bari Khalique for Gucci Beauty at The Wall Group. Models: Rafe Crane-Robinson at The MiLK Collective, Tish Weinstock at Best Represents. Photo Assistant: Connor Egan; Retouching: Marine Ferrante; Fashion Assistant: Brigitte Kovats; Hair Assistant: Mariana Feliziani; Makeup Assistant: Lucy Beacall.
Source: W Magazine
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