Karoline Vitto is building her business. “I don’t even shy away from the word commercial because ultimately [the clothes] need to be worn and need to be wearable,” the designer said at a preview. This continued a thread of conversation that came up a lot this season, especially among independent designers. London, where Vitto is based and held her first solo runway show, for spring, was centered around alternative formats that challenged the traditional Fashion Week model—and in lieu of a show, Vitto presented via look book and was in the cohort of BFC NewGen talents that took over the 180 Strand hub, which allowed her to converse with press and buyers who could see her new offering up close. “You have to do what is good for the longevity of the brand,” she said. “I personally love doing shows, but I also feel like I get a lot from showing once per year, maximizing that moment, then having the other seasons to think about the business side of it more.”
A smart move from a designer who, courtesy of her previous runway shows—spring’s solo outing and those she did previously with incubator platform Fashion East—has shaken up the city’s casting. Thus, Vitto’s absence on the fall catwalks was felt: Lineups have echoed the limited progress made last season (as outlined by the Vogue Business Size Inclusivity Report from October). “It feels really weird to be so small as a brand, but at the same time to carry the weight of representing sizing across everyone that’s showing,” she said. But, like the authentic others who are championing size inclusivity, her commitment lives beyond the catwalk. For fall, this meant doubling down on silhouettes and honing in on the way they fit across different sizes.
Manufacturing has moved back to her native Brazil—where she hopes to sell more going forward—and she worked closely with a factory to refine adjustable elements like bra straps and her signature metal ladder inserts, to cater to all bodies, and scalable digital printing techniques. (Learnings that she’ll keep in a “backlog of information” to refer back to each time she designs.) In the past, Vitto made pieces primarily from deadstock (“It made sense in the context of making small in London”), but with a renewed focus on production, fall pushed her to create the “best alternatives,” including Tencel Modal, no-wash denim, and Dye Clean viscose, the latter of which involved reusing dye baths.
To elevate these new materials, Vitto manipulated them in ways that felt organic to the strong visual identity she has explored from the outset; a method called subtraction cutting brought interesting shapes that envelop the body (the soft Modal came into its own here, to maximize comfort and sensuality in equal measure). Two dresses, in fiery red and chocolate brown, were the result of draping that Vitto did on herself and on her assistant. Testament to her attention to detail for fall, she sampled in larger sizes, before grading down, making tweaks, and grading back up again.
People are at the heart of Karoline Vitto—the person and the brand. Be it the collaborators she has worked with, like Tabitha Ringwood and Carlos Penna, who made footwear and jewelry, respectively, for fall, or her private clients, many of whom flocked to her sample sale last November, which “felt like a show.” They bring everything she stands for and creates to life.