A few seasons ago, a buyer at designer Edward Cuming’s Paris showroom said something that stuck with him. “She was putting together a rack and turned to her colleague and said, ‘it feels essential’,” recalled the designer, calling in from Spain. “That word really stuck with me; not essential as in basic, but essential as in it will be worn and worn continuously.”
The idea of wearability and clothes that offer good mileage has become a primary focus of Cuming, who will turn 32 this coming Friday. The Australian-born, Madrid-based designer is now ten seasons in with his eponymous label including this fall 2024 collection, which he is presenting by appointment this week during Paris Fashion Week.
“I think that doing fashion in a capital city that is also not a major fashion capital is the best thing for me,” said Cuming. How does an Australian designer who completed his studies in London end up running a label from Spain? “It’s super lame, but it was love,” Cuming recalled. He met his partner of 13 years, who is Spanish, in Australia, and after a few years going back and forth between the two countries, the designer relocated to Spain after receiving a grant from the University of Westminster to pursue his undergraduate degree in their Barcelona campus. He left to go to Central Saint Martins to receive an MA in Menswear, but returned soon after. “I was looking for a job after graduation, and the only place I could legally live in Europe as an Australian was Spain,” said Cuming. He had been looking for a role at a brand, but the visa situation made his attempts unfruitful. In Spain, he took on freelance work and started teaching at his alma mater.