Entering Lucila Safdie’s universe allows us to find connection in our hidden spaces. Whether it’s our bedrooms, our social media, the folded page of an old book or even the conversation shared with a stranger at a party, the Argentinian-born designer has forged a viral community by exploring our most vulnerable moments.
Yet, for her AW26 show, held at the Argentine Embassy, Safdie fell far from the familiar comforts of her Fashion Week debut last year. Instead of white, cotton pillow cases and delicate wooden furniture that replicate the sanctuary of a childhood bedroom, Run Away Bunny Bell takes place between Corinthian columns and pedimented doorways. It follows the story of a debutante, rejecting her entrance into high society – a window into Safdie’s life as a teenager growing up in Argentina, forced to watch, but never to be a part of, the world of irrepressible proms and balls portrayed in early 2000s American cinema.
“I really love coming of age movies,” said Safdie who, fittingly, also runs her own film club. “I drew inspiration from films like Tart and Metropolitan. I wanted to create this cinematic scene where the girls change into different outfits for the ball, but they don’t want to be there.”
The show takes place in the dreamlike space that follows a party. Where debutantes wander wistfully from sofa to floor, floor to foot-stool, drably dancing between discarded shoes, poker sets, old books and champagne glasses. A Grand Piano – played by Bar Italia’s Nina Cristante, who had been dressed in a pink-frill mini-dress – sat amongst them, and, if stood too close, you could catch the faint smell of whiskey protruding out of the crystal tumblers scattered around the room.
“When I make a collection I need to create this universe,” continues Safdie. “And sometimes they feel like a continuation of the same one. I found these pictures on Flickr of girls running on the street in their prom dresses and I thought that was so great. In Argentina you don’t do proms or debutante balls, so I’ve always had a voyeuristic view on those things.”
If you want to find the Central Saint Martins graduate, you need look no further than the cavalry of silk hairbands and ‘LS’ branded jeans surrounding her. When I spoke to Safdie, she was sporting a similar uniform herself, in a black puff-sleeve cardigan, pleated sports-dress and hair slung back in a ponytail. Run Away Bully Bell echoes this same essence. Anyone familiar with Safdie’s work would have recognised the signature ultra-crop polo shirts, brightly coloured lace and cursive slogan-tees the models were wearing. “I wanted to play more into this idea of discomfort and comfort. Night clothes versus day clothes and the tension between both. It’s lace but it’s purple lace, it’s tweed but as a cropped jacket. It is still connected to the idea of a girl dressing and undressing, but this time it’s more like a story,” she continued.
There is arguably no one better suited to explore the formidable lives of the socially-elite than Safdie, who, since starting her namesake brand in 2022, has dressed some of this generation’s most notable internet it-girls. Last summer, pop-singer Addison Rae opened Lana Del Ray’s Wembley Show in a custom striped two-piece from the designer, and since has been joined by the likes of Alex Consani, Devon Lee Carlson and Rachel Sennott. That’s all without mentioning her wishlist of online royalty, consisting of Ethel Cain, Anya Taylor-Joy (who is, of course, Argentinian herself), and Olympic champion Alisa Liu. “I feel like she needs to wear [my designs]. I could make an outfit for her to wear on the ice,” she said.
The reason it connects with them? Because it too was born online. “It was made as a project with my friends and took off on Instagram,” Safdie continued. “So, the fact that it connects with these ‘online-it girls’ makes it feel really genuine.It’s not a bureaucratic idea of what fashion should be, but has been picked by the girls themselves. I love making clothes, I love clothes in general. I moved here when I was super young, I made the effort, so I wanted to make what I wanted to see in the world. And, if it works great! If it fails it’s because I was true to myself.”
To build a community like Lucila Safdie’s, one must exceed the world of fashion. This is something that the 27-year-old has no difficulty doing: between a film club, constant references to feminist literature (many have cited seeing her carry around a copy of the Bell Jar), or an interest in historical tragedy (her last collection was inspired by the story of the Romanov sisters), it’s not just the clothes that resonate with us – it’s Safdie herself.
