By Anna Carlson
Your last breath belongs to Andrew Curwen. That is how his guests felt when his debut show, Your Last Breath Belongs to Me, unfolded one evening in the summer of 2025, a dark and dramatic dream. The presentation was a stunning display of artistry and control, with attendees captivated as Curwen orchestrated the spectacle from behind the curtain. Barely a month later, he was at it again; sketching, sewing, and whispering visions into existence for Jane Wade’s Fall New York Fashion Week collection. Since unveiling his first archival offering under his own name, Curwen has landed in the pages of major fashion magazines and found interest among the women he once only imagined dressing. His ascent onto the main stage feels inevitable and necessary; a breath of fresh air.
Rain spoke with the emerging designer to discuss fantasy, rebellion, and the kind of beauty that refuses to remain quiet. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design, Curwen’s entry into fashion began in his high school drama department in Florida, where he designed costumes for plays. His early influences, beyond the late Alexander Lee McQueen, were rooted in cinema and the fantastical.
“There was a snatcher in Harry Potter [the film]. Oh, my gosh. He wore a long, leather trench coat with a red lining, which was visible only for a brief moment as he ran, along with dark tartan trousers and beat-up leather boots. The fact that many of those characters wore somewhat unconventional cuts that also felt lived-in. There's magic in that aspect,” Curwen enthused. "I also really love that scene from Pirates of the Caribbean right before Keira Knightley falls off the cliff. It's a very visceral scene of her getting laced into her corset dress, and she looks great, but then faints off a cliff.”
These impressions have clearly left their mark. Curwen’s designs pulse with richness, romance, and a touch of danger. Curwen began assembling his debut collection in February, but his ideas have been percolating for years. Each piece carries the echo of long informed concepts, such as the skirt in the opening look which showcased a ruffling technique he had long wanted to bring to life. “I let the designs evolve, because it means I can still hold on to the idea, and now I have a new one that's a little fresher for this moment,” Curwen remarked.
His design process begins with a storytelling concept, but he allows instinct to take over. “I'll sketch first to give myself a sense of what I want, and then I'll start making something. As I'm working on it, other ideas usually come up. And then everything can change, too... When I had an idea for a structured fencing coat, I figured out a fun little way to incorporate a dart-like feature that runs in a cool line across the body,” he explained. While Curwen’s creations exude high fashion, he insists they’re not meant to live only on runways or in archives. His goal is to design pieces that become part of someone’s narrative; garments that enhance the story of their wearer.
"I design for myself, and the ideas, and the people who I've created in my head. Like I've never met, like Isabella Blow, or women like that. But the versions of them that exist in my head,” Cuwen shared. “I have some new coats that are coming into season two. That I wouldn't describe as a basic everyday coat. But I do also imagine it, hanging on someone's coat rack, right by their door. I can visualize them throwing it on and grabbing the newspaper. The Andrew Curwen woman understands who she is and what she wants to present to the world."
Andrew Curwen's debut collection: Looks 2, 6 (Images courtesy of Aana Mirdita)
“There is a lot of really amazing fashion and art that isn't available. I think it's a shame because this is, like culture, how we communicate and express ourselves, especially in a time when expression is increasingly limited. So, my challenge is actually going to be to try and force what would be less commercially viable, in the eyes of many buyers, into a space that is being picked up to be bought. What I'm going to try and do is like, talk with my suppliers, and my factories, as to what is, the most we can do, that still exists, in a reasonable realm, for the target customer.”
For him, launching his label during a time of chaos and threats to expression was not naïve; it was a deliberate statement of participation. “That is the main form of protest I have right now, to do my best in the face of everything that's going on. And to share that fantasy and hope with anyone who wants to see it. And know that this is still here. It's like a fantasy that's still around.” After years of feeling jaded, Curwen found himself crying at John Galliano’s Margiela show in January 2024. “I thought I was jaded or something, but when Galliano did the Margiela show, I was sobbing. I was sobbing at that, because I didn't think it was possible to feel that way about a show again, but it felt like the first time I was introduced to Galliano.”
It is this emotional connection between the designer, the art, and the audience that fuels his creative contributions. Curwen wants people to engage with fashion as a form of cultural reflection and escape. "As a lens for softening reality, it also makes it easier for you to exist in reality.” In his world, the fantasy is a way back to wonder, and if fashion really is breath, then Andrew Curwen is making sure we do not waste ours.