Aaron Esh’s Spring 2027 Collection Was So Wrong, It Was Right
The most obvious talking point of Aaron Esh’s spring 2027 collection was the young British designer’s embrace of color. After four and a half years of building one of London’s buzziest labels on the back of sharply tailored pieces mostly in shades of black, gray, white, and the occasional navy blue, his latest collection was full of shocking pinks, candy-apple crimsons, and electric teals. But Esh wasn’t after some Pierpaolo Piccioli-esque romantic color story inspired by Renaissance paintings. He wanted the colors to be aggressive and clashing; appealing even as they were almost appalling—very “wrong” at first glance, but very “right” to the person wearing them. He likens the shade of aniline leather pieces in an unnatural nude to the color of vomit, and he worked hard to achieve the perfectly off-putting hue. “We treated it all by hand because it was so difficult to find the exact nude,” he said from his studio before the show.
“I really thought about where I was in my journey of my business, my brand, and me as a designer,” Esh added. “I think we're at this stage now where it's very clear who the girl and who the boy is. This is the first collection where we could really push the boundaries in terms of color.”
Held on September 18 at the Camden nightclub Electric Ballroom—where the speakers blared songs by Justice and The Cult—the runway show opened with a flouncy silk dress, cut in a slightly skewed silhouette with a sheer, hot-pink layer atop bright red. Later, another version appeared, but the palette was swapped with the even more challenging combination of taupe and chartreuse worn with teal tights. A jacket in the “vomit-y” leather is paired with a yellow shirt. If Esh has already attracted the kind of costumer who prefers to keep their closet like their coffee (all black), there are more than enough options here. But even then, the designer tries to coax them into a little color: perhaps an aquamarine t-shirt layered underneath, or at least a hot-pink leather belt? If critics can’t help but compare Esh’s work to the days of indie sleaze, this collection will undoubtedly be likened to the very British, neon-soaked sub-strain of ‘00s hipsterdom known as nü rave.
Usually, Esh’s collection show notes are written by British Vogue contributing editor Osman Ahmed. But when the designer typed out his own personal manifesto for spring 2027 and sent it to Ahmed, she urged him to publish it as is.
“I have always been interested in the point where taste becomes personal. When something is technically wrong but instinctively right,” he wrote. “When you see someone wearing a combination you would never have imagined and immediately want to wear it. It is no longer about following rules. It is about instinct.”
Perhaps he’s looking back to this particular period of life (“that short period when everything feels heightened,” he described it,) because the past few years of his own have taken him further from it. Just four and a half years ago, Esh’s Central Saint Martins graduate collection was bought by the e-tailer Ssense, and he’s been on the upswing ever since. Katy England, the veteran British stylist and former Alexander McQueen collaborator, now styles his runway show. His logo baseball caps have become an accessibly priced if-you-know-you-know status symbol in London similar to Telfar bags in New York (even Gracie Abrams is a fan). A collaboration with On running shoes was teased on the runway. Last year, the fashion retailer AllSaints appointed him as creative director. His first efforts for the brand arrived in stores this season, and his namesake label now takes up space in AllSaints’s Spitalfields headquarters.
Esh and his team said they’re eager to grow into the rapid maturity. He told me he hopes this collection no longer bares the evidence of an “emerging designer,” and was eager to point out button closures, linings, and the technique used on a pair of croc-embossed sheer tights. The clothes are full of interesting details, labored-over finishes, and couture technique. One coat that looked like purple shearling was actually made from hand-cut strips of dip-dyed silk organza. I asked Esh how long the process took. He said, “at least a hundred hours.” A member of his team across the studio clarified it was “hundreds” with an s.
“I still feel like I'm doing my PhD in how to be a fashion designer,” he said. “I've loved the previous collections, but this feels like a proper fashion show, a proper fashion collection. I just want to do my best work, and I feel quite proud of that.”
