An LVMH Prize 2023 finalist, Paolina Russo is a London-based fashion brand founded by Paolina Russo and Lucile Guilmard. The knitwear brand is influenced by Russo's suburban upbringing in Canada, and Guilmard's French folklore references. In 2020, Russo struck a deal to sell her thesis collection of knitwear at the Montreal-based luxury retailer Ssense and inked a deal with Adidas to design a collection for Adidas Originals, as well as Olympic-themed pieces timed to the Tokyo Games. In November 2023, Russo partnered with digital fashion platform Sknups to translate three key looks of its fall 2023 collection for Roblox. This year, the pair landed a deal with Nordstrom, which will stock the brand's pieces as of this month. Celebrities like Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, Caroline Polachek, FKA Twigs, Kylie Jenner and Phoebe Bridgers have been spotted wearing their designs.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 This year's 30 Under 30 Europe list
00:05 features 300 founders and entrepreneurs
00:08 that have raised more than $1 billion
00:10 for companies that are reinventing
00:12 the European entrepreneurial landscape.
00:14 We traveled to London to meet a number of the honorees,
00:18 including Paulina and Lucille, the co-founders of clothing
00:21 brand Paulina Russo.
00:23 Their pieces have been worn by Megan Thee Stallion, Rihanna,
00:26 and more.
00:27 What makes Paulina and Lucille interesting to me
00:29 is their multi-pronged approach to fashion and multiple
00:32 business streams.
00:33 They aren't just creating clothes.
00:35 They're thinking about the future of fashion,
00:37 making digital garments for platforms
00:38 like Roblox and others, all while creating
00:41 avant-garde physical pieces.
00:43 The way that we develop our collections
00:53 is we always start in the factory.
00:58 In terms of the pieces, it's really
01:00 focused on how to innovate those crafts
01:03 and put them into a modern context.
01:05 So for example, these pieces are our signature.
01:09 They're called illusion knitting.
01:11 It has this lenticular effect where images appear and
01:13 disappear as the garment moves.
01:16 And that was inspired by a hand-knitting technique.
01:19 It was super beautiful.
01:20 We were like, how do we take this and make it more detailed?
01:24 How do we industrialize it?
01:26 And that's always a challenge every season, finding new crafts
01:29 to partner with some sort of technology
01:31 and find new ways to do it.
01:34 Our brand really revolves around three pillars
01:40 that are extremely important for us and makes us different.
01:44 Those pillars are sustainability, people,
01:46 and craft.
01:49 We work so closely with our manufacturers
01:51 to come up with solutions to make our garments last
01:54 on the long term and creating clothes that
01:57 will last in someone's wardrobe and eventually be passed down.
02:00 The people who help us developing ideas around us
02:06 are a huge part of the creative process, the way we work.
02:09 Everybody from the person who makes
02:11 to the person who's wearing the clothes,
02:13 everybody has an input with us.
02:15 And we really bring this community along.
02:16 Craft can mean so many things.
02:22 And I think something special about us
02:24 is that we really want to elevate local craft because
02:26 of where we're from, being the suburbs of Toronto in Canada
02:30 for Paulina and the countryside west coast of France for me.
02:35 What we grew up with was local craft.
02:38 You know what your neighbors kind of like paints
02:41 on their table for family dinners?
02:42 You know, that's a craft.
02:43 All those crafts that makes you really
02:45 feel connected on a very secret level almost
02:49 is really what we cherish.
02:50 And we really want to highlight.
02:53 We have three pricing points in our range.
02:58 We have things that are more entry price points.
03:00 So they'll range between like 80 pounds to 220 pounds.
03:05 That's just like easier things to get.
03:07 Like it'll be our Lycra or swimwear or some
03:10 of our knitted accessories.
03:12 And then we have a more like wider middle range
03:15 of things that are between like 220 and like 600
03:19 that are the creative knit pieces.
03:21 For example, like our knitted corset pieces.
03:23 These are our best sellers.
03:25 They're like this mixture between something
03:27 that looks very, you know, like of course is very restricted,
03:30 but actually it's extremely comfy.
03:33 And then we have things that are more like artisan.
03:36 And that's between like 600 to 1,000.
03:39 But we really make sure that we kind of never
03:42 go over 1,000 pounds.
03:44 You know, if you're like a student and you love the brand
03:46 or you're a fan, you could get something and still
03:49 be a part of the world.
03:50 We have had issues with complete copycats of the clothes.
03:55 We had no idea, but we started getting emails
03:58 from like people who follow the brand.
04:00 But like they saw our pieces like being replicated
04:03 in a store in China.
04:04 And there's only so much you can do with things like that.
04:07 Like if someone does that, like you can report it.
04:10 But we're not also in the position to like see someone.
04:15 And in a way, it's very flattering.
04:17 You're like, oh, thank you so much.
04:18 You like the work so much that you would want to do the same.
04:21 That's we really appreciate.
04:24 Personally for us, we have so many products
04:26 that we're continuing to put out there
04:29 that like it doesn't like stifle our creativity
04:32 or stifle what we're doing.
04:34 Yeah, and also in like total honesty,
04:36 there's like some techniques that are really core to us
04:39 that are really hard to replicate.
04:41 A copy can exist, but the original is really kind of
04:44 like a copy of the original.
04:45 The original is really kind of like you can recognize it.
04:49 ♪
04:55 Lucille and I met when we were studying
04:59 at Central Saint Martins.
05:01 I was studying fashion design with a specialism in knitwear
05:03 and Lucille was studying fashion design
05:05 with a specialism in womenswear.
05:08 After both of us graduated from Central Saint Martins,
05:11 we were both looking for studios.
05:12 We both knew this woman called Olya who runs One Granary,
05:17 which is a fashion magazine/support system
05:20 for emerging designers and students.
05:23 And she put us in contact with each other like,
05:25 "Hey, you guys should share a studio."
05:27 And that's where we properly met.
05:29 ♪
05:31 We were in the same space for like two, three months,
05:34 really observing what she does,
05:35 all the people working with her, her team.
05:38 But I was working on my own things.
05:39 I was in one corner doing my thing
05:41 and she was in the other corner doing her thing.
05:43 And I think we always were kind of looking at each other like,
05:45 "I really like what she's doing.
05:47 Like, this is really interesting."
05:48 ♪
05:50 And then one day I remember not being able to sleep
05:52 and thinking like, "I don't know how to really express this,
05:55 but I know that we should work together."
05:58 I just had this epiphany.
06:00 I woke up being like, "I feel like if we work together,
06:04 we could take over the world."
06:05 But how do you tell someone that?
06:08 So I came in that day acting really weird.
06:10 I didn't know how to bring it up.
06:12 She was acting extremely weird.
06:14 Instead of doing my work, I was cleaning and stuff.
06:16 So I'm like, "Why is she cleaning the studio?
06:18 Something is going on."
06:20 I'm just going to step right in.
06:22 "Hey, have you ever thought of kind of like expanding
06:25 and doing this with someone?"
06:27 And she straight up got it.
06:28 She was like, "Yeah, do you want to do this with me?"
06:30 I'm like, "Yeah, cool. Nice."
06:32 It was just this true like synergy type of moment
06:35 where we were both thinking the same thing,
06:37 but we didn't realize.
06:38 And so she spoke it into reality.
06:40 And then I was like, "Yeah, let's do it."
06:42 When we decided to work on the brand together,
06:47 the brand had already started.
06:48 I started on my own.
06:49 I was like a poor student.
06:52 I didn't have any money to start a label.
06:54 And actually when I was in school,
06:56 I had no intentions of starting a business.
06:58 I didn't know what I was going to do after school.
07:00 But when I was on my BA at Central Saint Martins,
07:03 my final collection that I presented
07:05 won the L'Oreal Prize for creative talent.
07:09 And there was prize money,
07:11 but also it was like huge press
07:13 for the work that I was doing.
07:15 Like the work went on to then
07:17 be on the cover of "Dazed" magazine.
07:19 I had this corset that I'd made out of sneakers
07:23 that I used to wear when I was growing up in Canada.
07:27 And I had crocheted them together
07:29 to create this sneaker corset.
07:30 And that was worn on the cover of "Dazed" by Solange Knowles.
07:33 So there was a lot of this like press coming in
07:35 and prizes.
07:37 And when I went on to study on my master's
07:39 and I did that all through scholarships
07:41 from the British Fashion Council.
07:43 I got contacted by Adidas
07:45 and they wanted to do a collaboration
07:47 between me and them.
07:49 And at that point I didn't have a brand.
07:50 So I was like, okay, so I guess I'm starting a brand
07:53 and this brand is gonna collaborate with Adidas.
07:56 And from the money that I received from that collaboration,
07:59 that was the initial capital to start the business.
08:02 (soft music)
08:05 So loads of people call me Alex.
08:09 My full name is Paulina Alexandra Russo.
08:11 So for me, like Paulina Russo is its own entity.
08:15 Like we are Paulina Russo.
08:16 - I mean, I like how you can see like this one
08:30 and those two points quite clearly.
08:32 - This is working.
08:32 - This is more hairy, but not as like napkinny as before.
08:36 - Napkin out.
08:38 I also think that we should try to find a way
08:41 to like have this.
08:43 Yeah.
08:44 - I think the color would be really nice.
08:46 - Then it would be really nice.
08:47 Yeah, definitely.
08:48 I love the way it draws those lines.
08:50 It's very like, it has such a texture.
08:53 I mean, this draws nicely with the body, the graphic.
08:59 - Our first ever like clients were Essence
09:03 who are also Canadian.
09:04 And then we went on to like expand our like clients
09:09 of like wholesale and retailers that we were working with.
09:13 We got picked up by Dover Sheet Market in London.
09:16 And then we got contacted by a company called Skin Ups
09:19 in London who connect fashion with gaming.
09:23 And that's how we began our collaboration through Roblox,
09:27 bringing Paulina Russo into Roblox.
09:30 - I mean, there's many different ways
09:35 that capital can come in, right?
09:37 That's another like revenue stream to explore
09:40 because it's a whole new community.
09:41 It's people who are interested in fashion,
09:43 but wouldn't necessarily wear it the way that we do
09:46 in the streets, but they would wear it even more
09:48 in like the world that they create online.
09:51 So there's like many different ways like this
09:53 that forms the capital that we have
09:55 that permits us to develop and exist.
09:58 - There's this alternative revenue
10:00 that we wanted to explore.
10:02 And it's something that we're gonna continue
10:03 to explore with the brand.
10:05 And then from there, after that sales season,
10:09 we did our first show during Copenhagen Fashion Week
10:13 because we won the Zalando Visionary Award,
10:16 which is an award that champions brands
10:19 that really look after sustainability,
10:21 community and collaboration, as well as creativity.
10:26 And from that show, we got to meet Nordstrom
10:29 and they were really, apparently, I mean,
10:31 they said to us that they'd been watching the brand
10:33 for a while.
10:34 And after that show, they decided to work with us
10:37 and stock our clothes.
10:39 - Paulina and Lucille were on our radar
10:44 because when we took a look at their collection,
10:46 it looked unique and like something really special.
10:49 We were really validated in our enthusiasm for the brand
10:52 after wrapping up Copenhagen Fashion Week
10:54 and seeing the energy of the show and the clothes in person.
10:58 The purpose of kind of this concept shop
11:02 is to be a place of discovery and inspiration
11:05 and inclusivity.
11:06 So we very often work with young designers
11:09 who are newer and emerging.
11:11 And then we love being the platform for Paulina and Lucille
11:14 as they kind of strategically grow their business as well.
11:17 They really practice what they preach,
11:18 like they are living and breathing
11:20 this positive impact fashion.
11:22 And I think that really resonates with our customers.
11:25 So we will continue this partnership
11:27 and we're looking forward to kind of renew
11:28 the inventory season over season.
11:30 - In terms of financial, we are completely independent
11:42 and that's something that's really important for us.
11:44 We run our own showroom, for example, even press.
11:47 We do everything in the house.
11:49 It's extremely hard for us.
11:51 It's like we understand and we're learning as it goes,
11:56 but financially being an emerging designer
11:57 faces a lot of difficulties in the sense that like
12:01 budget is really complicated to go around
12:03 and we need a lot of support.
12:04 But we understand that if we didn't have
12:06 that system of support, it would be even harder.
12:09 - We have done two shows now on Copenhagen Fashion Week.
12:14 And the first time we did it is the first time
12:16 we've ever done anything like that.
12:18 There were so many people involved.
12:19 You can't imagine like at least like a hundred people.
12:23 And also with the clothes, there's at least a hundred
12:25 people behind the clothes, 'cause it's not just us.
12:27 It was our collaborators, our manufacturers,
12:30 all the people who work at the factory
12:32 all worked on this together.
12:34 - Designing a collection for a lookbook
12:38 and a storytelling and stores is one thing.
12:40 Designing a collection with the aim of showing it
12:43 down the runway for the first time
12:46 is another story.
12:47 - From Copenhagen, we met some people from the Federation
12:52 for Paris Fashion Week.
12:53 - We are going to Paris actually today
12:58 because we are part of the showroom called Sphere.
13:01 It's a showroom organized by
13:03 La Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.
13:05 It is a group showroom.
13:06 So we are part of a group, six designers.
13:11 So we're gonna have the opportunity to talk a lot
13:14 about what we do to new people again.
13:16 - We've had many meetings and we are really putting out
13:22 the intentions and feelers to take the brand
13:25 internationally and do a show in a different country.
13:28 So it's so amazing to do the show in a place like Korea
13:32 or even go to Canada or something,
13:35 like to bring the work somewhere where we also
13:38 connect with the community there.
13:41 It's a dream.
13:43 (upbeat music)
13:46 - We have been in situations before where like our age
13:49 has hindered us, but I think in for the better
13:51 because we are really young and we are starting out
13:55 in a business like with age also comes experience
13:59 and knowledge and time and mistakes.
14:01 So we have been in situations where they're like,
14:03 oh, like, you know, we really love you for this job.
14:06 We really love you for this thing,
14:08 but it's two years too soon.
14:09 Or like, you're a little bit too young now,
14:11 but like in two years, yes.
14:13 And actually like really appreciate that sort of feedback
14:15 because like, we also believe the same.
14:17 I am way smarter and way better at my job now
14:21 than I was two years ago or five years ago.
14:24 So I hope that in like two to five years again,
14:27 that like I grow and we grow as like a brand.
14:30 I would say like the biggest hurdle that we faced
14:35 was really in the beginning,
14:36 because when the brand started,
14:39 we had just come from doing this collaboration with Adidas.
14:42 So there was already a perception about the brand
14:43 that we were really established.
14:45 We are like freshly students and starting a brand
14:49 and starting a business.
14:51 So yeah, really trying to like explain to people
14:53 in the beginning, like, no, we're just starting.
14:55 This is just the beginning.
14:57 I think when you're a young entrepreneur,
15:01 it takes a lot more convincing for people
15:05 like to take you seriously or to think that you're serious
15:07 about the work that you're doing.
15:09 There's also like the sense of like resilience, you know,
15:12 I actually think we're like extremely resilient people
15:15 and we work really hard
15:16 and I have seen it surprise people a lot around us.
15:19 So it'd be like, it's a bit of a myth, you know,
15:22 we're just like, oh, that generation
15:23 or like that kind of work doesn't go
15:26 with those kinds of like qualities in people.
15:28 But I think we're proving that wrong.
15:31 (upbeat music)
15:33 - In 2023, we found out that we were nominated
15:43 for the LVMH Prize.
15:45 In the final round, you have to present your brand
15:47 in front of the creative directors of LVMH.
15:50 So that's Marc Jacobs and like Nicola Ghesquière,
15:53 Kim Jones and Bernard Arnault.
15:56 So it's pretty intimidating
15:58 and you only have five minutes to pitch your brand.
16:01 - In terms of opportunity, being an emerging brand
16:05 associated to the LVMH Prize is incredibly valuable
16:08 to like the industry,
16:10 which really helped us developing and reaching out
16:14 to even more people and expand on what we wanna do
16:17 on a designing level, on a press level,
16:19 on all those kinds of angles that you need
16:22 as an emerging brand.
16:24 - A lot of people who know about us now,
16:25 I think they found us through the LVMH Prize.
16:28 A lot of celebrities who wear the clothes,
16:31 either they buy the clothes and we don't even know about it.
16:35 And we just find out because someone tags us
16:38 on social media wearing Paulina Russo.
16:40 For example, when New Jeans, this Korean pop group,
16:45 wore our clothes for their very first music video,
16:47 we had no clue.
16:49 We saw it actually in the music video
16:52 and they have gone on to wear more pieces.
16:55 When it comes to like other celebrities, we do loans.
16:58 So we'll loan pieces or we'll make custom pieces for them.
17:01 We worked with Doja Cat for her Scarlet tour
17:05 and she wore a lot of the Lycra,
17:07 these like iconic Lycra pieces
17:09 from her fall/winter '23 collection.
17:11 - This year over Christmas, we received a notification
17:16 that we've been tagged on a picture.
17:17 We opened the picture and Rosalia is wearing one of our top.
17:21 That was best Christmas present.
17:24 - At the moment we work with about nine retailers
17:27 around the world.
17:28 And so their customer base is endless.
17:32 But for us, we can only really interact with people
17:36 like online or who we've met in stores before.
17:40 That's the point of us starting e-coms
17:41 is that we want to have a more direct connection
17:43 with our community that's outside of just social media.
17:46 - We're scaling up in terms of production,
17:50 which can be challenging for us
17:51 because obviously we are at the beginning of what we do
17:55 and what our partnerships are like building up.
17:58 So as we're expanding,
17:59 we also need to sort of like work around quantities,
18:02 which can be really challenging for designers
18:06 because manufacturers, they have minimum orders quantity.
18:10 But we're very lucky
18:11 because we work with them extremely closely.
18:14 Then we are able to come up to agreements
18:17 and really work around those difficulties.
18:19 What would it take for us to sell the brand?
18:21 I don't even know.
18:22 What we're building is so like precious, important.
18:25 And so like for the long run,
18:27 selling it is absolutely not the goal.
18:30 Growing the team and having people come in
18:32 and really like work with us is definitely a yes.
18:35 Just in terms of like selling it
18:36 and leaving it to others, it's a no.
18:39 (upbeat music)
18:42 (laughing)
18:45 (bell ringing)
18:47 (upbeat music)
18:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]