Princess of Wales-approved designer turns scraps into sustainable showstoppers

When the Princess of Wales handed Patrick McDowell the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design in May earlier this year, it wasn’t just a royal handshake but a public recognition of the young Liverpool-born designer rewriting the rules of luxury.

At London Fashion Week, McDowell proved why, turning deadstock lace, surplus brocade and family memories into The Lancashire Rose – a title acting as a double tribute to McDowell’s northern roots: the historic red rose of Lancashire and to their grandmother, whose sewing inspired their traditional yet ingenious designs.

Instead of the usual, glossy white runway, McDowell chose a decommissioned power station in south London.

The catwalk ran between rows of old dials and Bakelite control panels scattered with rose petals. The setting was an amalgamation of a chapel and a factory, underscoring a show about soft power and hard graft.

The clothes mirrored this tension.

McDowell’s style treads the line between vintage romance and theatrical drama without ever tipping into costume, and The Lancashire Rose collection showed that balance at its best.

Models walked in butter-yellow brocade jackets cut like armour; black satin slip dresses glittering with hand-applied crystals shaped like safety pins; sheer shirt-dresses covered in painterly red and black blooms.

The finale “bride” carried calla lilies like a ghost from an old family wedding, her gown trailing hand-stitched appliques that echoed cracked porcelain.

Roses appeared everywhere as the show’s motif, embroidered, appliqued, layered into tulle or simply suggested in the way a skirt opened like petals.

It was easy to be drawn to the romance, but there was discernible substance to the collection.

Beneath the ruffles and embroidery McDowell showed intense precision with his construction.

Seams were finished as carefully as couture. Linings were cut from rescued silk.

Every garment came from a small, deliberate run rather than mass production.

McDowell has built their reputation by turning down the easy route of bulk manufacturing, and you could see this difference: hems with the weight of real fabric, embroidery with the slight irregularity from a hand rather than a machine.

However, they had announced this collection would be their first ready-to-wear.

“We haven’t done ready-to-wear in the past because I don’t agree with the endless production volumes,” the designer told Vogue Business.

“So the idea is to make it feel extremely special and keep the exclusivity, and each piece will be numbered.”

This notion of slow-living was apparent in the clothes but also in the atmosphere.

Models carried bouquets instead of handbags; the soundtrack mixed industrial hums with hymnal vocals.

The title was more than branding. It was a love letter to McDowell’s grandmother and to their northern roots, but also an exploration of contrasts: a rose is fragile on the surface but has thorns that let it endure.

That theme ran through the silhouettes: soft petals versus sharp cuts, and gave the collection its edge.

Winning the Queen Elizabeth II Award and meeting Kate during the presentation hasn’t softened their vision so much as confirmed it.

McDowell remains one of the few designers able to make circular practices feel like a continuation of British craft rather than an earnest add-on.

The Lancashire Rose collection showcased where British luxury may – or at least should – be heading: romantic, responsible and most importantly, real.

McDowell’s royal connection didn’t end with their award.

Among the guests were the Prince of Wales’ cousins on his mother’s side, Eliza and Amelia Spencer, lending yet another Windsor-adjacent presence to the label.

Their appearance underscores how McDowell’s blend of heritage, craft and sustainability is starting to resonate far beyond fashion insiders – but with the next generation of Britain’s most famous family.