Chopova Lowena

Chopova Lowena is a London-based womenswear brand founded by designers Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena, who met while studying at Central Saint Martins. Launched in 2018, the label quickly gained attention for a distinct hybrid of folkloric references and subcultural edge, presenting pieces that read as both crafted and confrontational rather than conventionally polished. The project developed from a sharply defined signature into a fuller wardrobe offer while keeping its collision of tradition and sport-minded functionality.

Press and retail profiles often single out the brand’s pleated, kilt-like skirts, which combine traditional-looking textiles with climbing-inspired hardware and an engineered, almost utilitarian feel. The wider collections extend those ideas into dresses, outerwear and layered separates, maintaining an emphasis on texture, pattern and construction. The brand’s visibility has been amplified by strong editorial pickup and by inclusion in industry platforms such as the LVMH Prize ecosystem.

The brand has also become a reference point for a new generation of London labels that treat “heritage” as material to be edited rather than preserved.

Stated brand values foreground responsible making, with a repeated focus on upcycling, deadstock sourcing and small-scale production with specialist makers. Rather than treating sustainability as a minimalist aesthetic, the label positions it as a means to keep decorative craft alive and to give existing materials a new life through contemporary construction. Official profiles stress collaboration with specialist workshops and an interest in techniques that carry place-specific knowledge.

The brand’s references to Bulgarian and wider Eastern European traditions are presented as living culture, not costume: motifs and techniques are recontextualised into modern silhouettes and everyday wardrobe pieces. That mix of heritage and disruption is central to the ethos, aligning craft with a punk insistence on individuality, friction and joy in wearing clothes that refuse to behave politely.

The underlying principle is transformation: taking the familiar and pushing it into unexpected territory without erasing its origins. This keeps the work expressive while still tied to the realities of sourcing, labour and long-term wear.