Stefan Cooke Soars To New Heights For FW25
Domestically sourced fabrics and biscuit cutter patches: how Stefan Cooke proves good things in fashion are worth the wait.
After a year-long hiatus, Stefan Cooke triumphantly returned to London Fashion Week, proving that slower fashion is better. According to designers and co-founders Stefan Cooke and Jake Burt, self-editing and tailoring were key inspirations for Fall/Winter 2025’s “Altitude.”
In lieu of a traditional runway show, the designers opted to stage a runway-esque lookbook shoot in their studio building’s garage in East London. The intimacy of the shoot allows the viewer to experience the clothing first and feel second by silencing the external noise of a bustling London Fashion Week.
Turning inwards for inspiration, the show notes describe the collection as a “map of England” through its use of hand-sourced wool, tweeds, and tartans. Additionally, almost the entire collection was designed and produced domestically, which is no minor accomplishment for a burgeoning young label producing and competing with legacy brands on a much smaller scale.
From thrifted silk scarves hand-stitched onto calico trousers to “biscuit cutter” leather patches on vintage jeans, each piece is designed with sharp editorial intention and denotes a mature departure from the youthful prepster that permeates their signature aesthetic. Accessories are derived directly from the Stefan Cooke “canon.” Their dog Ralph’s face is now immortalized on tasseled coin purses, adding a heartwarming personal touch.
“Altitude” also marks the brand’s official return to womenswear after teasing its abilities in the fall of 2022. Dividing the looks 50/50 between the two, the womenswear portion of the collection represents a fully realized additional customer. Some of the standout silhouettes include the opening look: a drop-waist dress that sneakily appears as separates divided by a ruched waistline with horizontal pockets.
Cooke and Burt are in it for the (sustainable) long haul and if the FW25 collection is any indication of their future trajectory, good things are usually worth the wait.
See Stefan Cooke’s Fall/Winter 2025 collection in the gallery above, and stay tuned to Hypebeast for more London Fashion Week coverage.
