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Achilles Ion Gabriel, the 36-year-old shoemaker behind footwear company Camper and its experimental line Camperlab, where he has worked as creative director over the last four years, is branching out on his own with the launch of his namesake brand.
The brand, which includes gender-neutral ready-to-wear, footwear and accessories, will be introduced in January 2024 at Pitti Uomo in Florence, alongside the trade fair’s special guests 2022 LVMH Prize-winning label SS Daley and Magliano, and presented at Paris Fashion Week Men’s later in the month. It will be sold via its own e-commerce and selected global retailers, soon to be announced. What the collection will entail and prices are also yet to be revealed.
Gabriel, who is based between Camper’s headquarters in Mallorca and his home in Paris, has a lot to prove in a market crowded with big luxury conglomerates, independent fashion labels and buzzy upstarts with die-hard communities. While Gabriel is a charismatic fashion personality — he often shares his outfits on Instagram, where he counts over 73,600 followers — and he has designed occasional clothing pieces for Camper and Camperlab, this is the first time he is creating and producing an entire ready-to-wear collection.
Expanding his universe has been a long-term goal, according to Gabriel, who has always defined himself as a “maker” rather than a “designer”. “I always wanted to work on the full silhouette but just started with the shoes,” he says from his studio. The brand is independent, with “a strong team of partners” behind it, says Gabriel, though he declined to share who.
“I love designing for everyone, from kids to their grandparents, [whether they] are fashion-oriented or less [so]. As long as it is an expression of their own identity, it brings me joy, and I’m very enthusiastic to see my collection on people out there in the world,” Gabriel says. Asked why he chose Pitti to debut his work, he says: “I’ve always regarded Pitti as a major actor in the industry, and Florence is the birthplace of Italian fashion after all. It’s an honour for me and my team.”
Gabriel’s trajectory is unusual: he was born in Finland and studied footwear design in the country. In 2012, while living in Paris, he launched his first namesake shoe brand, whose quirky, well-made unisex styles won over speciality retailers, including Dover Street Market worldwide, The Broken Arm in Paris and LN-CC in London. He stopped the label when he began consulting for brands including Marni, Sunnei and Marimekko.
Some fashion designers put their own brands on pause when joining a bigger company (such as Maximilian Davis at Ferragamo), while others split themselves between their own labels and the brands they work for, including Jonathan Anderson (Loewe), Peter Do (Helmut Lang) and Harris Reed (Nina Ricci). Gabriel has chosen the latter route: he will retain his role at Camper and Camperlab while working on his own brand.
A handful of designers, including Stefano Pilati, Riccardo Tisci and Phoebe Philo, have gone down the route of launching (or, in some cases, reviving) their namesake labels after working for a bigger house but have yet to prove an ability to scale, despite their loyal fanbases. However, what unites them is the recognisable design codes and signatures they have honed.
Gabriel might not have much experience with clothing, but his shoes are memorable and non-derivative of other brands. If the designer is able to take the energy that he has cultivated in footwear and accessories and apply it to fashion, it may help him carve out a space in the competitive market.
For now, Gabriel is keeping mum on what to expect. “Save the date – January 11, 2024 – for the show and the big reveal,” he says.
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