Last week, we flew to Athens to hit up COS’s Spring/Summer 2025 show, where the brand took over an opulent marble quarry to showcase its latest minimalist collection, brimming with historic references. After the show, we got the opportunity to sit down with COS’s Design Director Karin Gustafsson and talk about this season’s inspiration, and how the brand has evolved over the past decade. Here’s what went down.
You've been at COS since its inception in 2007. How has the brand evolved since then?
“We have evolved with the culture, community, what's happening in the world and what's happening around us in a quite organic way. I think the biggest change is probably that when we first started, the mindset of the customer was ever so slightly different. I think our focus now is on longevity.”
COS is renowned for its sustainability. This season, how did your approach and design process reflect that?
“What we always do is think of design and the quality behind the design and the concept. And then of course, the use of materials that are durable, but also that have that type of feeling to them that we know they're going to be liked and loved for many seasons ahead. You know, we don't in any way foresee that you would wear the same thing over and over, it’s about not wanting to throw away clothes and rather give them away or have them rest in your wardrobe and go back to them.”
What is the key to creating a timeless silhouette?
“It needs to be wearable, making the wearer feel empowered rather than the garments taking over your personality. I think that's super important and we tend to focus on refined materials, but also in dress sense and making collections that allow the wearer to show their personality.”
Why is elevated design—in a world where fast fashion is growing—a priority for you?
“I think it's important that we deliver something that the customer wants to have because if not, it's just another material brought into the world with no future. So that's why I think it’s really, really important to think a lot about how things feel when you wear them. And adding extra elements such as internal solutions that can make pants bigger or smaller. If you change your body or want to lend or give away to someone else, the hems are always generous. All these small things really add to the feeling of something being long-lasting and [high] quality.”
What references influenced this collection?
“Our references in general are about the culture, the creative culture and community around us. This time, however, we looked towards the era of the Renaissance and the paintings from this time—this sort of extreme femininity, extreme masculinity, really soft. And that's unusual for us. We’re normally more contemporary, but we felt that it was interesting to look at something that is more historical and then marry together with COS’s aesthetic that is more refined in the now, and understated.”
What made you choose Athens as the site of the show?
“Our inspiration and our starting point was looking towards these paintings with a lot of material in them. The collection really explores texture – cashmere, soft suede, cascading drapes and shapes that are sort of architectural, but very soft. Everything from the architecture for structure and the natural landscape for colours, to the blend of ancient and contemporary come to mind, aligning with our way of working through the classic and the modern. The team who always does an incredible job of finding locations, continued to look at marble—which is also seen as the backdrop of our campaign collection. And, yeah, this venue came up and felt right.”
Did you hit any roadblocks while designing this collection, and how did you overcome them?
“We hit many, to be honest. I think if you don't you're not going to get anywhere. They are part of the process and sometimes it's the mistake that makes the final [collection], this is not unheard of. The printed [fabric] is now a marble. It actually started off being bouquets of flowers. So I think in the process when things change and turn out differently, it often becomes stronger.”
What’s your approach to elevating everyday garments and turning them into something the wearer never wants to part with?
“Every detail needs attention, and you really need to understand how it feels. You really need to feel the cut—when you put something on, you should have some notion of quality and how the fabric performs. It's about being really, really careful and detailed in the making of the product.”
The collection is available in COS stores and on cos.com
Featured images by Aurelia Lorimer for Culted©
More on Culted
See: Story mfg. and Asics have linked up for a quilt-making workshop to celebrate their new collab
