Orschel-Read

Stefán Orschel-Read was born in India and grew up in Scotland. He was a gold medal winning dressage rider for Great Britain and studied law prior to pursuing a career in fashion.

Stefán graduated from the prestigious Central Saint Martin's in 2008 with an honours degree in Menswear Fashion. His graduate collection 'Mourning for Orlando' was an avant-garde menswear line inspired by Virginia Woolf's 1928 novel Orlando. After graduating Stefán was offered several elite design jobs, however he opted to set up his own label. He went on to complete a Masters at the Royal College of Art. He has been a NewGen Men finalist three times.

Prior to his degree he collaborated with Pavel Rudanovsky on the conceptual 'UnFashion Show' series. In 2007 he presented his first solo menswear couture show in aid of the Hope Rwanda charity. Stefán was also awarded Reserve Champion of the Can You Cut It "Young Designer of the Year 2005".

Stefán launched his eponymous label 'Orschel-Read' in 2008 and presented his debut Ready-To-Wear collection "CXII" for SS 2010, at London Fashion Week 2009, alongside the Couture collection "DXII". Inspired by Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Hindu artwork and London's multicultural youth, the two collections merged couture liberty fabrics with wearable silhouettes and accessible tailoring, marrying innovative leather work, contemporary pagan influences and organic materials. Both collections generated strong press attention, with magazines including British Vogue, 7th Man, AnOther, V, Sunday Times Style, and Dazed & Confused shooting pieces for features by photographers including Hedi Slimane, Nick Knight and David Bailey. Fashion icons Lady Gaga and Naomi Campbell have worn several pieces from the collections. One of the looks from the Couture collection adorns the Lady Gaga waxwork at Madame Tussauds in Shanghai, China.

The AW2010/11 R-T-W collection "Fågeln" received a fantastic response when it was presented at Vauxhall Fashion Scout during London Fashion Week in February 2010. The inspiration stemmed from the subtle beauty of female birds and the ceiling murals of Stockholm's Storkyrkan Cathedral. The collection harmonized technical tailoring with a classic sportswear feel, in earthy tweeds, digitally printed leathers, knit and fine tailoring wools.

For SS2011 Orschel-Read presented his highly anticipated, third menswear R-T-W collection "The Spy Who Becomes Me" in September 2010. The inspiration for the collection explored the transitional phase of a young playboy in the Riviera of the Ligurian Sea and his journey to become a self-sufficient gentleman of responsibilities. With hints of military, safari and James Bond glamour, combined with on trend designs, the collection included elegant and modern, wearable pieces such as slim-fit suits, pinstripe jeans, flight jackets and jewel coloured tuxedo shirts. The collection balanced classic utilitarian shapes with flattering sartorial elegance, in Sea Island cotton, dupion silk, bamboo fibre knit, iridescent tonic and British cashmere tailoring wools, with monogram prints inspired by art nouveau and microscopic marine life forms.

Orschel-Read's AW2011/12 collection "Memories of a Lost Wilderness" explored rugged masculinity present in those that live in challenging environments where the behaviour of masculinity is dictated by the hardship of life, focusing on Appalachian mountain men and Arctic warriors. The inspiration was explored in materials that were 100% natural being applied to a sartorial take on classic British casual wear, where floral embossed leather, wool canvas and waxed linens created the palette for kaleidoscopic panelled Harringtons, cropped Pea Coats and dazzle-camouflage pattern quilted Liddesdales.

"Edges of the World" was Orschel-Read's collection for SS2012 shown in both London and Moscow. Following the journey of a sailor aboard Vasco De Gama's journey to India in 1497 the collection explored trompe l'oeil, modernity underpinned by traditional hand-tailoring techniques and the elements of Earth, Sea and Sky. Complex cutting created folded collars, panelling mimicking pleats, sharply cut knitted suits and a balance between bespoke tailoring and sleek ready-to-wear, utilising British cashmere suiting, Sea Island cotton and organic Toile-de-Jouy linen.

The most recent AW2012 collection "Lord Paget: The Fascination" explores a privileged Peter Pan libertine living in the aristocratic English countryside. Strictly sartorial, the collection uses primarily British tailoring wools, tartans, hand-woven tweeds and raw unbleached silks; in forest green, ecru, lovat green, navy and royal purple. Key pieces include panelled and pleated slim-cut suit jackets, heavily pleated formal trousers, trench coats, covert coats and high collar formal shirts.

In September 2011 Stefán was appointed consultant head designer at Danish formalwear label Alsinger Copenhagen.

The Orschel-Read collections are all designed and produced in-house in London.