Banner image courtesy of Sophia Carrasco.
Traditional fashion venues typically come with barriers: cost, hierarchy and strict expectations that shape how work is presented. For many young designers, getting collections out of the studio and into the public eye remains difficult.
Founded by Vogue College of Fashion master’s student Sterling Latham in collaboration with peers Kaki Huebner, Emily Crowe and Shannon McCarthy, Rogue Runway provides emerging creatives access to spaces where they can present their work.
The idea is intentionally simple: there’s no brief, imposed theme or expectation to conform.
Designers provide their collections, and Rogue Runway supplies photographers, music and an audience of students, creatives and industry insiders. The result is less a conventional runway and more an open, immersive environment where movement, interaction and spontaneity shape the experience.
Rogue Runway’s Debut Show
Set inside the iconic Glasshouse Stores in Soho, London, Rogue Runway’s debut show was brimming with an exciting and inviting energy.
Guests stood throughout the space, moving around the collections as they unfolded and dissolving the traditional separation between runway and audience. The show felt active rather than staged, aligning with the platform’s emphasis on fashion as lived experience.
Each designer had a different approach. Tailored pieces appeared alongside experimental silhouettes, accessories-based concepts were placed next to deconstructed garments, and some presentations moved fluidly between fashion and fine art. Without a unifying theme, the differences became the structure of the show.
This lack of imposed direction is central to Rogue Runway’s identity. The space provided each collection room to flourish. The result felt less like a meticulously staged show and more like a shared moment shaped by multiple perspectives.
Abe House And the Language of Craft
Opening the show was Imogen Downey, founder of Abe House. Downey studied bespoke tailoring at London College of Fashion before moving into fashion design at the Amsterdam Fashion Academy.
Instead of creating something entirely new for the show, she brought together pieces spanning the brand’s history. Downey describes it as less of a “collection” and more as a continuation, something that she’s been building over time. The pieces sat harmoniously next to each other, and each look gradually merged into the next.
That approach carries through in how she talks about her work. There’s no real interest in chasing newness for the sake of it. What matters more is consistency. She builds a language that slowly develops through fabric, construction and repetition.
British heritage is apparent, but it’s subtle. Her use of deadstock wool reinforces a focus on material and how it holds shape over time, with attention placed on longevity.
Reflecting on the show, Downey describes a change in perspective: “It was amazing to meet so many new people and see Abe House in a completely different environment. Watching the pieces come to life on the runway and seeing people’s live reactions was very special.”
Folded And the Afterlife of Print
Bell Johnson and Brynlie Grantland’s project moved in a more object-based direction. They presented Folded: a series of one-of-a-kind clutches made from archival print magazines.
At a time when most fashion media is consumed digitally and print magazines feel increasingly distant, Folded returns to the physical. The magazine is no longer just something you flip through but something you can hold onto. Fragments of imagery and text are reworked into objects that feel both familiar and new.
“We wanted to revive the original magazine clutch in a way that felt more personal. Folded is about celebrating fashion, curiosity and the cultural significance of printed archival magazines.”
Each clutch is designed with care and delicate craftsmanship, resulting in a collection of unique clutches that imbue the source material with new life.
Moodi Studio and the Modern Woman
Moodi Studio, founded by Mersedeh Heydari, took a narrative approach to the runway. The collection is inspired by the modern day woman: ambitious but forced to navigate social pressure and identity in her daily life. The collection is grounded in observation, capturing how identity changes in real time.
Heydari explores the idea that the woman who is composed in one setting is also unguarded in another. “The woman who closed a deal yesterday is also the one who let loose last night,” she explains. “A woman’s sparkle never disappears; it’s just rearranged.”
This concept is the foundation of the collection. The pieces are tailored but delicate. The silhouettes are structured yet fluid, and nothing feels too fixed.
Some pieces feel slightly undone, as if they’ve already been worn throughout different moments in the day. Heydari’s concept sits in that in-between space, where everything has structure but isn’t rigid.
Chloe Wing and Fine Art in Fashion
Closing the show was Chloe Wing, a fine artist invited by Rogue Runway to present her hand-cut pieces. Although her work has been shown in art contexts before, this was her first time presenting it within a fashion setting.
Everything in Wing’s collection is cut by hand, drawing on years of practicing her craft. Through her work, Wing explored fashion’s relationship with light and shadow—more specifically, what is revealed and what is concealed.
Through close inspection, you can see that her garments are constructed with multiple sheer layers, each one partially covering the next. From a distance, the pieces feel complete, but as you move closer, details begin to shift. What sits underneath becomes just as important as what is visible on the surface.
“The layering is really about what you choose to reveal and what you hold back,” Wing explains. “I’m interested in how something can be present yet never fully visible.”
Certain parts of the pieces are exposed, while others are softened or obscured. As the pieces move, they catch the light differently, at times becoming almost transparent before returning into view.
Wing’s work reflects her journey as an artist. She began in fashion, moved into fine art and has now returned to fashion on her own terms.
Because of that, the work doesn’t feel like a reference or translation. It feels like both practices meeting in the same place.
Creating Access for Emerging Designers
What Rogue Runway’s first show made clear is the importance not just of giving designers visibility but of how that visibility is offered. The platform allows work to be shown as it is, whether complete or still in progress.
There’s also significance in the way the platform operates. As a platform built by students and young creatives for new designers, Rogue Runway inherently provides a range of people in the industry an opportunity to acquire experience and a launchpad for their careers.
Rogue Runway does not attempt to define what emerging fashion should look like. That openness is central to its identity. It allows new voices to develop on their own terms while positioning fashion as something lived, immediate and connected to the city around it.
Images courtesy of Ana Casasola.
