Christian Cowan (born 30 November 1995) is an English

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...

er. His eponymous fashion label launched in 2017. He gained prominence for his vibrant, playful fashion designs, often featuring sequins, bright colors, and dramatic silhouettes, and has dressed numerous celebrities, including Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey,

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

, Cardi B, and Miley Cyrus.

Early life

Cowan grew up in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. His parents divorced when he was seven and both remarried, and he grew up in a blended family of eleven children, primarily at Longstowe Hall, a 16th century estate in Cambridgeshire owned by his father.

Career

Cowan completed a foundation year at

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of short ...

, then transferred to the

London College of Fashion The London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate study, short courses, study-abroad courses and business t ...

to pursue his degree in fashion design. In 2014, while still a student, Cowan designed a glittering pink tuxedo that

Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a quarterly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. ''Dazed'' is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for produ ...

magazine posted on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. A week later,

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

wore it to an interview. Miley Cyrus and Rihanna soon made appearances in his clothes. In 2017, he moved to New York City to found his label, which debuted its first collection at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

that year. In 2018, Cowan was a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist. The same year, he partnered with

Giuseppe Zanotti Giuseppe Zanotti is an Italian luxury footwear and fashion designer known for his sculptural, jeweled heels, luxury sneakers, handbags, jewelry, and leather ready-to-wear. His wholly owned company, Vicini S.p.A., manufactures his eponymous label, ...

on a line of shoes with gold watches for straps, which Cowan showed with his spring 2019 ready-to-wear line at New York Fashion Week. In 2019, Cowan partnered with

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

on a collection inspired by

The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American Superhero fiction, superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network. The show centers on Blossom ...

, which was shown in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

. Proceeds from the collection benefited nonprofit organization

She's The First She's the First (STF) is a non-profit organization whose stated mission is to "team up with grassroots organizations to make sure girls everywhere are educated, respected, and heard." She's the First was founded in New York, New York, by Tammy T ...

. The same year,

Lil Nas X Montero Lamar Hill (born April 9, 1999), better known by his stage name Lil Nas X ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his 2018 country rap single "Old Town Road," the longest-running nu ...

wore Cowan’s first ever menswear look, a silver sequined suit with a frilled blouse, to the

2019 MTV Video Music Awards The 2019 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 26, 2019, at the Prudential Center in Newark, being the first VMA ceremony to be held in New Jersey. Sebastian Maniscalco hosted the 36th annual ceremony. Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and Bil ...

. In 2020, Cowan released a capsule collection with British online fast fashion retailer

ASOS ASOS or Asos may refer to: * Asos, a village in Greece * ASOS (retailer), a UK online fashion store * '' A Storm of Swords'', a book in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' saga by G. R. R. Martin * Action short of strike, industrial action undertake ...

. The same year, for his Spring/Summer 2021 collection, Cowan partnered with Lil Nas X to create a unisex collection, proceeds of which funded a black queer youth initiative within the Loveland Foundation, an organization founded by Rachel Cargle. Cowan has shown ready-to-wear collections at New York Fashion week since 2017. The label made its Paris debut showing a spring ready-to-wear line in 2024.

Personal life

In May 2024, Cowan confirmed his then-two-year romantic partnership with singer-songwriter

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they rose to prominence when they featured on Disclosure (band), Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch (song), Latch", which peaked at number eleven on ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Christian Living people 1995 births English fashion designers People from Cambridgeshire