Meet Chopova Lowena, the British and Bulgarian label worn by every street style star

As a successful juxtaposition, it’s only fitting that Chopova Lowena, a label specializing in traditional dress, was spotted on Instagram. Designer girlfriends Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena were keen on using authentic materials and techniques when luxury e-tailer Matches first spotted the pair. Needless to say, it was both a blessing and a curse for Matches to sell out her first order of 30 a day.

Since then, Chopova and Lowena have streamlined the process. But unlike most other designers who are beloved for their DIY sensibilities, their work and manufacturing techniques remain completely authentic. Two years later, and with only four collections, they have already found demand from everyone from Dover Street Market to Bulgarian National Radio. They appeared in his last two weeks before heading to Paris Fashion Week, and between showrooms, they visually proved that their label had grown into an international street style favourite, this season.

All things considered, the latter was almost inevitable. Each piece by Chopova Lowena is one-of-a-kind yet fully recognizable. After all, how many people show up at Paris Fashion Week wearing a twist on a traditional Bulgarian design meant to warm the ovaries?

“The great thing about street style is that these very extreme pieces look very easy to wear,” Chopova said by phone from Paris earlier this week. “It doesn’t always look that easy in e-shops and hangers.”

At the age of seven, Chopova left her hometown of Sofia for New Jersey. The move only heightened interest in her heritage, and throughout her high school she delved deeper into Bulgarian folklore, while Rowena was raised in the UK. Her upbringing has made her fascinated with old English dresses, especially for children, and in 2011, her appreciation for traditional dress was reflected in her first day of school at Central St. Her Martins in 2011. crossed over. Chopova and Lowena later became her second duo to co-enroll in the university’s Fashion MA program since Marques’Almeida.

The duo are now based in south London, but Chopova is returning to Bulgaria more and more, and the label is starting to gain a more cult following than ever before. “Women would drive up to her house, open their boots, and say, ‘Here’s a bootload of fabric you can use,'” Rowena said. They started giving us traditional dresses to inspire us, and eventually they gave us fabrics as well,” added Chopova. “People know that all the fabrics we use are inherently trash, so I think everyone really likes this aspect of taking it home with pride.”

To keep up with demand, Chopova and Lowena have established relationships with “bigger” sellers. For example, “someone who finds an abandoned factory and has a garage full of storage boxes of buttons and haberdashery and trinkets,” he says Lowena. At this point, they’ve earned enough fame to roam his eBay, Etsy, and Bulgarian auction sites, often without even having to hunt down the material themselves. “Every day I get a lot of messages like, ‘He has 100 of these aprons,'” Chopova said. “It’s fun because I get to meet a lot of different people.”

Skirts are their base product and epitomize the material they are always looking for. Most consist of wide leather belts with heavy buckles that serve as the base for rows of metal carabiners that hang pleats of deadstock fabric. With some keychains, memorabilia and trinkets. Each season they juxtapose traditional ethnic elements in their designs with more sporty ones. That means recycled aprons and handkerchiefs are often paired with sportier materials like spandex, nylon and lycra. I learned to balance all the bulk,” Chopova explained.

Research always begins with exploring each unique heritage. So far, Emma’s Eastern European roots have mostly taken center stage, but for Spring/Summer 2020, the pair will be embracing a Victorian-style look with references to air sports like paragliding and parachuting. We decided to change the language of the traditional English dress by incorporating wool, tartan and deadstock taffeta. , carried over from equestrian vault as the sportier side of the season.

Chopova Lowena has yet to put on a runway show, shooting compelling campaign images and instead opting for a printed look book that doubles as a flip book. (For Fall/Winter 2019, for example, Charlotte Wales shot a collection with members of the British Equestrian vault team.) It will not be published, but please do not worry. , it’s as adventurous as the last time and even more airborne. “I want to parachute,” Chopova said. She knows very well that her dream may soon come true.

Related: London Fashion Week’s street style star explores how to dress for fall