August 26, 2022 |
It’s back! The most musical event, the largest street party in Europe – Notting Hill Carnival – the place where cultures come together. And just in time for the vivacious festivities, AGR has launched a streamlined capsule of webstore-exclusive goodies to get you in the mood for a boogie.
The capsule offers all the best-selling AGR styles we know and love so well, but what separates it from the rest, are the four brand-new colourways on offer. The garms are also crafted using the label’s distinctly elasticated knitted-lace technique, which has been adored and acclaimed for its technical ability to be form-forgiving and to really “suck you in,” says AGR’s founder and creative director, Alicia Robinson, in a Zoom interview. Plus, with this particular material you can treat your titties to a little commando-liberty and let it all hang out: “Quite a big thing for me as a woman is not needing to wear a bra; and with these dresses and tops you don’t need to! They really hold you in and you feel super sexy.” Robinson says. “When you go to Carnival, that’s definitely how you want to feel, skin out and sexy.”
Apparent in the four pieces is AGR’s quintessential technicolour aesthetic that has made it so recognizable since the start. For as long as she has known knitting needles, Robinson has been obsessed with utterly effervescent colours, even experimenting with fluorescent hand-dying when she first began. She says: “For me the colours always have to be the brightest of the brightest because they’re so emotive and kind of like colour therapy. It makes you feel good.” If you ask us, if there’s any place to channel the rainbow, it’s Notting Hill Carnival.
Growing up a Londoner through-and-through, Robinson has attended Notting Hill Carnival religiously for years. But, as with many celebrations, the Carnival was forced into a two-year covid-induced hiatus. From the looks of it however, this weekend it’s coming back bigger and better than ever before. For Robinson, this return to the jamboree and her coinciding capsule launch, no doubt, feels like a cathartic full-circle moment. Three years ago, she made her somewhat serendipitous debut when French-Canadian luxury retailer SSense put her on the map following the buzz around some knits that she made for her friend’s to wear to Carnival back in 2018. “My friends all wanted different outfits. Eventually one thing led to another and I was making thirteen different outfits and it turned into a mini capsule,” Robinson recalls. At the time, she was still a pub manager in Tottenham, but when the crew turned up at Carnival, donning head-to-toe kaleidoscopic clobber, it caught the attention of many-a-fashion-fan. With another personal friend, Stefy Pocket, taking pictures the whole ordeal felt more natural than anything. “When you’re being photographed by a friend, it doesn’t seem weird,” Robinson says. “That was one of my first and favourite shoots because it was so organic. I haven’t experienced that since.”
According to the knitwear designer, the best aspects of the West London community celebration are being able to “dance your heart out without being told off for catching a dance with a stranger”, “bumping into friends you haven’t see for a while”, and “just catching jokes with a friend or a random stranger.” But, Robinson’s absolute favourite thing about it is the outfits, dancers, and floats – feathers, beading, bling and all. “That’s so up my street!” she declares. However, while the event is certainly joyous and oozing with fun, Robinson notes that it’s important to remember to wear trainers, bring a little hand fan and bring a pair of sunglasses – we suggest you pack some water too. And obviously, she adds, “Get there early!”
Alongside the launch, AGR has embarked upon an exciting new business-to-consumer venture with its fresh-from-the-IT-techs e-commerce undertaking. While the label’s radiant garms were previously exclusively available in wholesale and department stores, agrknit.co.uk is the new one-stop-shop for all your knitwear needs.
As Robinson and I chat, AGR is deep in its research stage for the upcoming AW23 collection that will show at London Fashion Week in February. But until then, keep your eyes peeled for a Nike community workshop with Lewisham College coming mid-September. For now, grab your AGR knits, hop on the Hammersmith and City line and go get your boogie on. See you this weekend?
Photography courtesy of AGR.
