LONDON — Since graduating from Fashion East last season, designer Olympia Schiele of Louther is most definitely not having a post-grad crisis.
If joining Dover Street Market Paris’ brand development program and the British Fashion Council’s Newgen roster wasn’t enough, Louther is also holding a presentation during London Fashion Week, and launching a Carhartt WIP collaboration in DSM stores on Oct. 1.
Amid trade wars, geopolitical turmoil, and a slowdown in spending, emerging designers are facing particularly challenging circumstances right now. Yet Schiele’s brand is succeeding. What’s her secret?
“I’m not 20 anymore,” said the German designer. “I’m more confident, and I put more experimental work out. I think the brand just needed to grow with me.”
The label offers a new, deconstructed take on tailoring.
Courtesy of Louther / Olympia Schiele
Drawing on Schiele’s streetwear background, Louther is defining the new London look. Styles blend fine tailoring à la Giorgio Armani with quietly sexy silhouettes ranging from cozy knits and supple leather pieces to lived-in denim. Think leather jackets twisted just so, rough-and-tumble slouchy pants, sumptuous faux fur coats and lots of trim suits.
“We’ve been through all the stages. In the beginning, we were a very drop-heavy, Instagram-accessible brand, but without much world building,” she said. “When we joined Fashion East, I wanted to find a way to narrate a story around the brand — because it’s not just about the garments.”
With its strong silhouettes and fine craftsmanship, Louther’s world is one filled with confidence.
The brand offers womenswear and menswear.
Courtesy of Louther / Olympia Schiele
The spring 2026 collection, titled “Hard Candy,” is brimming with that can-do attitude.
“We started the collection by thinking about the person who wears it. It’s someone who has no problem being confident in their work, their clothes, and how they express themselves,” Schiele said.
“We looked at a lot of architecture and interior design because I was thinking, ‘Where does this person go in their clothes? Are they going to meetings? Work? The Tube?’ I wanted to have an interplay between what these places would look like, and the clothes,” she added.
Sturdy upholstery fabrics, burnished with florals and chintzy patterns, were boiled down until they were flimsy and distressed enough to become dresses. Silvery garments and breezy overcoats have raw edges, giving them a lived-in feeling.
Courtesy of Louther / Olympia Schiele
“These details, like the unfinished-ness, make it feel quite raw — but also like it has a history. I like when there’s a romanticism to clothing,” the designer said. “There’s something really rich about clothing holding memories and becoming this focal point of someone’s life, how you’ll be remembered by others.”
She added: “Like if you fall in love with someone, and then that person takes your clothes because it reminds you of them. It’s a memory card.”
Well-loved clothing is a familiar concept for Louther, which first launched at Dover Street Market with an entirely upcycled collection. For Louther’s upcoming collaboration with Carhartt’s streetwear-inspired subbrand Carhartt WIP, the brand is returning to those roots.
A piece from Louther’s upcoming collaboration with Carhartt.
Courtesy of Louther / Olympia Schiele
“The conversation with Carhartt started two years ago, probably,” said Schiele, explaining that the collaboration was postponed as Louther developed at Fashion East. It was only recently, as the label hit its stride, that the capsule came to fruition.
“It’s an overlap of something that’s very wearable and still has a lot of character. There’s so much heritage within Carhartt, I think it was really exciting that they wanted to do an upcycling project,” she said.
The capsule features a main line of upcycled garments, like patchworked denims, reworked chinos, and rugged crewnecks, which will be available across DSM stores worldwide. One-off pieces made from the collection’s off-cuts, including a dress fashioned from what appears to be an infinite number of knotted T-shirts, will be featured in Louther’s London Fashion Week presentation.
