Paolina Russo Channels History, Mystery and Technology Into Denim
2023 was a landmark year for the London-based knitwear label Paolina Russo, which won the inaugural Zalando Visionary Award in partnership with Copenhagen Fashion Week and ventured into new territory, exploring the possibilities of denim.
The brand, which is designed by Central Saint Martins graduates Paolina Russo and Lucile Guilmard, was founded two years ago, and is best known for its vibrant, sculptural knitwear featuring detailed patterns and lenticular effects.
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For Spring 2024 the designers applied their aesthetic to denim, which they showed during their first runway show in Copenhagen last August.
They began working with the Portuguese manufacture and denim specialist Pizarro. The team at company, which is based near Guimarães, helped them to create colorful, laser-etched denim, which they spun into baggy, low-rise jeans; boxy skirts; Bermuda shorts; and a bolero jacket.
The designers said they chose Pizarro because “it’s a family business, and they focus mainly on sustainable practices in dying and washing denim,” said Russo. “And with anything we make, we want to learn from the expertise of the people in the in the factory. Our brand is really a collective effort, and they were the artists.”
Russo and Guilmard even did some of the laser etching themselves, and loved working with the machines. “A huge positive is that the laser machine does not require any additional dye or water to make the graphics, and the process also means there are no offcuts, or wasted fabric,” she said.
The designers worked with Pizarro’s 100 percent cotton denim fabric, which carries three eco-certifications, Global Organic Textile Standard, Organic Content Standard, and Oeko-Tex.
The inspirations for their whimsical graphics came from several sources, including a thick woollen blanket from the 1970s with flower and gingham patterns. It was originally from Ukraine, and they found it online. “It took two months—and a million stamps—to get to us,” Russo said.
Other ideas came from closer to home.
The designers visited the mysterious Royston Cave in Hertfordshire, England. Discovered in the 18th century and of unknown origin, the cave walls feature intricate medieval-style Christian carvings— saints and their symbols, crucifixion scenes, and Jesus and his disciples—carved into the chalk under an ancient crossroads in the town of Royston.
They also traveled to Wiltshire, England to see the Avebury henge and stone circles, which date to the Neolithic and Bronze Age.
“Those stones were carved thousands of years ago, and today we’re doing the same thing. As children we use colored chalk to draw on pavement, or we put symbols and doodles on our clothes. These are ideas that have endured for thousands of years, and I think we’re very inspired by that collective consciousness,” Russo said.
Guilmard added that when they were at Pizarro transferring their laser designs onto the denim fabric “it was our version of carving into stone.”
The pieces made their debut at Copenhagen Fashion Week, part of the 50,000 euros award from Zalando.
Lena Sophie Röper, Zalando’s director of designer and luxury, said Paolina Russo stood out for its “striking craftsmanship and dedication to creating collections that merge traditional hand craft designs with a futuristic aesthetic to create a selection of vibrant patterns and shapes.”
Their high-energy spring show featured the duo’s signature knits in a rainbow of hues, alone or layered with the doodled denim. The denim silhouettes, said Guilmard, were all designed for comfort, ease and sexiness.
“We were looking for something that was low-waisted, something we do a lot at Paolina Russo. So, once we knew how the jeans were going to sit, it was all about ‘What’s the attitude?’ We wanted them baggy because there’s just an element of cool that you can’t avoid. I cycle a lot, so I need clothes that allow me to be active, but at the same time I feel cool and empowered with them,” Guilmard added.
As with past collections, spring was inspired by armor, corsetry, nature, geometry, and the tension between hand and machine work.
The duo’s expert use of color and sophisticated knitwork caught retailers’ attention early. Paolina Russo is stocked at retailers including Dover Street Market, 10 Corso Como and Ssense. The collection is also stocked on Nordstrom online and in select stores.
