Some of my favorite clothing right now is designed by twin sisters Laura and Deanna Fanning, who head up womenswear for London brand Kiko Kostadinov.
My love for their work is shared by nearly everyone else I know who works in fashion or obsesses over it online. And yet whenever I try to describe it to the uninitiated, I struggle to find the words. Even those of us who are familiar tend to talk about Kiko Kostadinov exclusively in fangirl sign language—hands to chest, the impression of a deep sigh, clenched fists with a giddy grin. It all roughly translates to, “It’s just so good.”
Kiko Kostadinov started as a menswear brand bearing the name of its designer, who launched it with an attention-grabbing Central Saint Martins’ MA graduate show in 2016. Since then, he's worked with streetwear brand Stüssy and sneaker brand Asics on collaborations that sold out instantly. Kostadinov's clothing has hype because it is both tactical and transcendent; it is grounded in practicality while also somehow existing in its own colorful and warped plane of reality. The Fanning sisters have brought that same hype to the womenswear iteration, which launched in 2018.
During Paris Fashion Week, I asked the Fanning sisters what makes their clothing so special. They responded by telling me about the 2014 documentary Advanced Style, which chronicled the lives of seven older, eccentric, and exceptionally well-dressed New Yorkers, like the late Iris Apfel.
“Our industry is so youth-focused, and all of the advertising campaigns basically show you people who are under 25,” Laura said. “But sometimes it takes a lifetime to accumulate that wealth of ease, and the ability to dress and style yourself and put textures and colors together. Looking at the women [of Advanced Style], they probably are at a point where they don't have to please anyone—they're truly just pleasing themselves and having joy in what they wear.”
The Fanning sisters' Kiko Kostadinov feels exactly like that wealth of ease. Their funnily-shaped bags hang from carabiner clips on neon belts slung on billowing Bermuda shorts. Their red snakeskin hybrid ballet flat/sneakers lace up with chunky ribbons. Their striped knits feel trippy, like the color bars of a broken television screen, until you realize your eye is being tricked by intentionally warped ruching, cut-outs, and unexpected asymmetrical foldings. They make clothing that’s nutty and delightful without feeling intimidating. They don’t try hard—they just go hard.
But it also doesn’t feel like the kind of clothing one would associate with maturity. It's very much in line with the individualized way young people want to dress. (Case in point: they recently collaborated with Gen Z favorite Heaven). The Advanced Style of it all comes from the way the clothing speaks for itself. When you’re young and still searching for your personal style, that uncertainty can telegraph itself through a level of try-hardness. Kostadinov’s clothing comes with the ease built in.
Deanna thinks that has to do with their very specific approach to glamor. "We’re very drawn to things that feel powerful, things that feel glamorous. There’s the power of women and the power of how they present themselves. They have a mystique.” She sees lots of people these days trying to claim ownership over that, and as women designing for women, she hopes she and her sister can help give some of that power back through the clothing they make.
According to Laura, the sisters are always asking themselves, “How do you embody that feminine power, but in a way that you can wear it on a daily basis? How do you keep the essence of something you’d reserve for a special occasion, but make it work for everyday?” To her, dressing that strikes that specific balance is “the joy of living!”
And they use the word “joy” again to describe their accessory-making process, specifically the creation of the hybrid shoes they have become known for. You can always recognize a Kiko shoe because it looks like a mish-mash of extremes across the style spectrum—like dainty ballet flats and dad sneakers, or go-go boots and lace-up boxing shoes.
“We develop things for the joy of developing them!” Deanna said. “We're actually not trained in bags and shoes. I think the execution there can be difficult because of that, but I think it can be quite liberating in terms of idea generation. You really don't feel like 'Oh, I wouldn't do it like that!'” Because their training is in ready-to-wear, they often don’t know what isn’t possible right off the bat for shoes or bags, which is exactly why their accessories look like they’ve landed here from a different, more exciting, planet.
As expected, at the most recent womenswear show, the Fanning sisters' show notes discussed the idea of dichotomies. The last line read: “A variety of desires play out; intact or wounded, tender or aggressive serving as distinct markers of vulnerability within us.”
But perhaps the most present dichotomy is the one they seem to address every season, between the need for ease and the need for mysticism. At Kiko Kostadinov, you can have both. Their woman is an otherworldly being who was born with the wealth of ease often bestowed only on those who have lived through the trials and tribulations of a terrestrial life.
All the Looks from Kiko Kostadinov Fall 2024
