Chopova Lowena’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection continues their ethos of merging traditional with contemporary through their combination of elements with this season’s Romanian folk dress and Roller Derby. The designers have taken inspiration from the volume of Romanian blouses and skirts, and complement this with the tight, sporty style and signature attitude of Roller Derby. Romanian folk dress often incorporates elements of western mainstream dress into their traditional self-presentation, which the incorporation of Roller Derby’s athletic attire emphasizes. The two seemingly disparate worlds were thoughtfully combined with reference to shared color stories, allusionary patterning and complimentary, yet contrasted silhouettes, then amalgamated to construct the harmonious collection.

The designers of Chopova Lowena are continuing their efforts of honoring the process of making. In addition to progressing their work with Bulgarian female artisans, for Spring/Summer 2021 Chopova Lowena is collaborating with five female artists of different mediums. Each artist has been tasked with producing a short film that visualises the process of making and displays the emotional relationship a wearer can forge with their clothing.

The collaborators include Georgia Kemball, a jewelry designer, Ami Evelyn Hughes, a visual artist and Faye Wei Wei, a painter, who are each collaborating on the production of the collection itself. Kemball, for example, is contributing charms for the collection’s jewellery and her short film explores her process of making the charms. Rhea Dillion, a poet and spoken word performer and Jewel Yang, a make-up artist, have produced original filmed content while wearing Chopova Lowena Designs. Yang’s contribution consists of a make-up tutorial, which explores how curated self-presentation through dress informs individual artistry. These five artists and Chopova Lowena’s interns are featured in the Spring/Summer 2021 lookbook, connecting the behind-the-scenes makers with their celebrated work.

Chopova Lowena maintains a focus on sustainability through the use and upcycling of deadstock materials in their Spring/Summer 2021 collection. This season features Bulgarian wood block printed textiles and white embroidered wall hangings, English tea towels, crochet lace handkerchiefs and jacquard blankets. Additionally, the designers have expanded their jewellery production to include vintage keychains, deadstock charms and beading. Their exploration into beaded necklaces is facilitated by a female Bulgarian artisan and made on a traditional beading loom. Thoughtfully printed textiles on organza and taffeta affirms the hybridity of Chopova Lowena’s signature folkloric modernization. This collection expands on the designer’s archetypal skirts and jeans, and will interplay special pieces in limited edition runs.