COS Womenswear Designer on the Label’s International Aesthetic, Key Pieces
Remember the days when your most stylish friend would return from a trip to Europe armed with a slew of high-fashion finds—all from amazing lower-price retail chains that seemed to only exist abroad?
Well, you can cross another one off your list: After a big U.S. e-commerce list over the summer, H&M sister label COS is officially bicoastal, opening a New York outpost in Soho today to accompany its Los Angeles store, which opened in October. From a fashion perspective, the COS opening has been the most buzzed-about stateside launch since, well, the opening of H&M’s other sister label, & Other Stories (which, incidentally, is also excellent).
MORE: 5 Reasons to Get Really Excited About COS
COS, which stands for Collection of Style, is a truly global brand—it has 116 stores all over the world—with an aesthetic that’s sleek, minimalist, and with a focus on the classics. Considering how upscale the merchandise looks (comparisons to labels like Celine and Carven aren’t off base), the low price tags are truly impressive.
We spoke with Karin Gustafsson, the head of womenswear design for COS, to get some more insight into brand’s international aesthetic, and the key items you should be shopping from the collection. Gustafsson has been with the label almost since the beginning, having joined in 2006 as Assistant Womenswear Designer, and working her way up. (“We were then 15 people, and now we’re 150,” says Gustafsson.)
What are the staple items that any COS girl should have?
Well, the shirt is definitely one of them. We always offer a lot of variations of different shirts, so I think that’s a key garment for everyone. You can wear it in so many different ways—you can dress it up, dress it down. We have casual shirts that are more washed out and more soft, and then crisp or clean [shirts], the reinvented shirt that’s more inventive in cut. Then for winter season, a cashmere polo, merino wool round-neck. You know, the essentials for anyone’s wardrobe.
Also, we offer seasonal highlights. Every season, we sort of give the collection a new face—we look at new inspirations, me and Martin [Andersson], who’s head of menswear. We start off with a blank canvas, from scratch. We tend to look towards art, architecture film—whatever we’ve seen—and create these stories.
You’re originally from Stockholm, Sweden. How has your own personal aesthetic influenced your design work at COS?
As a designer, I’m very much working on a dress style, and I think that’s what—when we started off COS in the beginning, from scratch is to work out the blocks. Working out the silhouettes and the cuts of the garments—that’s something I’m keen on.
Since you’re opening a new store in America, is there anything in American pop culture that you like?
We like a lot of things here. In terms of art, we love the Donald Judd foundation down here—really like his work.
In terms of the store, have you tailored anything in the collection for American audiences?
The collection is the same, actually. We believe the collection is quite international, and our customer’s mind-set is quite international. The aesthetic of COS and the collection is very pared-down—we focus on classic pieces and modernity, and hopefully it will last in our customer’s collections season after season.
Do you notice any difference in how people buy things, from country to country?
Not really—I wouldn’t say so. I think it’s our essentials that are the success, really.
What’s your favorite emoji?
I’m actually very old-fashioned, I’m not very technical—when we do research, we do it the old-school way, like even going to the library or book shops. There’s some really good art shops in London where we tend to find inspiration. I think that’s a nice way to get excited and inspired—spend some time flipping through random books and then something pops out and you investigate that artist, then you start thinking, and that makes you excited.
