Christian Cowan Shares the Story Behind His Viral Disco-Ball Dress Design

Published on 10/6/2023 at 11:45 AM

Christian Cowan is stepping into a new era. The celebrity-favorite designer — whose dazzling, party-ready standards have been worn by Megan Thee Stallion, Jenna Ortega, Lil Nas X, Halsey, and more — made his Paris Fashion Week debut on Sept. 29, signaling a shift in his creative approach.

For several years, the New York City-based Cowan has shown his collections at New York Fashion Week. Paris as the backdrop for his spring 2024 runway show was a conscious choice, rooted in the spirit of stepping beyond what people have come to expect from the designer.

"It's a big change for us," Cowan tells POPSUGAR. "Everything we're releasing, it's just such a level up. It's night and day from what we were doing before."

His brand's long-standing signatures — sequins, crystals, fur-lined silk satin — are still prevalent in the spring 2024 collection. The Paris influence adds a touch of Old World charm to Cowan's otherwise visually audacious looks, which range from a pink tweed blazer dress adorned with an oversize floral appliqué to an airy poplin white button-up to a literal giant disco ball.

"[Pete Burns] portrays the joy but also the tragedy that's inflicted upon the queer experience in pop culture."

"There is a disco-ball-themed look," he says. "She's a big, big slay, and we all love her in the office. I've danced around in her a number of times."

The inspiration for this collection is "really based on Pete Burns," Cowan reveals. The queer British club icon was in the band Dead or Alive and is perhaps best known for the hit song "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)."

In every show, Cowan selects a different queer figure who he thinks "portrays the joy but also the tragedy that's inflicted upon the queer experience in pop culture." "Pete Burns was an icon to me growing up," he says. "In the UK, I think they really symbolized a punk attitude toward beauty and glamour and an unapologeticness that I just wanted to pay homage to."

Ahead of his buzzy Paris Fashion Week debut, Cowan hosted an exclusive preview of look 50 from his spring 2024 show, a two-piece set made in part using upcycled plastic from empty Core Hydration bottles. The ensemble includes an off-the-shoulder crop top and a hip-baring, low-rise skirt.

"Paillettes and sequins have always been a big part of my brand's history, and we've always really tried our best to find suppliers who do recycled plastic sequins," he says. "But then I saw this article saying apparently, a bunch of those suppliers lie and they say it's recycled, but it's not." And so, Cowan set out to find an alternative.

"I was like, we should make paillettes out of these bottles," he recalls. "Because I cut one off and I love that if you cut the circle, it's got a natural curve to it that gives just more of a feathery feel to the embellishment."

Reusing materials is important to Cowan, whose father regularly brought environmental issues to their everyday conversations. "My father was a glaciologist, someone who studies glaciers," he shares. "Environmental impact was a huge, huge topic of my entire upbringing all the time. I always want to be as sustainable as possible."

In addition to minimizing his brand's environmental impact, Cowan is focused on evolving as a designer without losing the essence of his eponymous label. "What I love is our customers, when I see them wearing our clothes, they're always laughing and smiling and just doing poses," he says. "And I love that it gives that kind of power to whoever's wearing it. I would never want to leave that energy no matter what heights the brand grows to — I always want to be a joyful brand."