Liverpool Street is rarely a place that makes you think about childhood dreams. On any weekday, the area is filled with people moving between offices, trains and meetings. In the rhythm of hurried footsteps and passing crowds, I found myself wondering what I once imagined adulthood would look like.
I found my answer just around the corner, behind a wall covered in colourful stickers spelling out Paolina Russo. Inside is a world of crafts, music, games, sport and friends — the things we loved before we ever thought of them as anything more than fun. For Paolina Russo and Lucile Guilmard, the duo behind the London-based label, those things were never really left behind. Instead, they seem to have carried that same openness to trying things, following unexpected ideas and taking fun seriously into the way they build the brand.
That curiosity runs through their latest collaboration with Desperados. The Freeze-Fit brings together colour, music, spontaneity and technology in a festival jacket filled with playful, interactive details. From thermochromic materials that respond to touch and temperature to an integrated cooling system, every element pushes what a festival jacket can do.
A2Z visited Paolina Russo’s London studio to talk about the collaboration, growing up outside the traditional centres of fashion, the role of technology in their work, and the hobbies, friendships and everyday obsessions that continue to shape the world around the brand.
A2Z: You both grew up outside the traditional centres of fashion and entered the industry through London and Central Saint Martins. Do you think being outside fashion for so long shaped the way you see it? What did you have to learn when you arrived, and what did you bring with you that you've held onto?
PAOLINA: It's a really good question. I grew up in the suburbs of Canada, and Lucile, who is the other half of the brand, grew up in a small town in France. When we were growing up, we didn't have this idea of fashion. All of our creativity came out of the fact that there was nothing to do — they were very small towns, so all we were doing was arts and crafts, playing local team sports and playing video games. That became our language for creating and how we understood the world. So when I arrived in London, it was such an explosion of opportunities and people and energy, and it felt so exciting. Everything felt like a first: you're seeing things for the first time, so it becomes so much more exciting and vibrant. Growing up outside a traditional fashion city, and not having that experience, really allows you to dream and to create your own language of making, because you have to create with what you have, not necessarily with what already exists.
A2Z: Your recent collaboration with Desperados on the Freeze-Fit feels like such an unexpected collision between a beer and a jacket, yet the two come together in so many ways. Can you walk us through how the idea took shape and evolved as you developed it?
PAOLINA: We really connect with the energy of Desperados. Desperados is so much about fun and spontaneity, and they also have this huge connection to music. At Paolina Russo we have such similar values — you could see it at our show in Copenhagen, which was so built around music and excitement — so we really connected to that when we first started the project. When we began thinking about the jacket and the design, we took so much inspiration from the Desperados colour and world. They have this explosion of colour that runs through everything: the bottle, the campaigns. We're such a colourful brand ourselves, and colour is such an amazing way to communicate that idea of spontaneity, excitement and fun. So that was really the starting point of the design: how do we capture that spontaneity, fun and colour in a jacket that's both Paolina Russo and Desperados?
A2Z: The collaboration feels particularly rooted in the idea of fashion as an experience rather than simply something you wear. Was that something you and Desperados were consciously trying to create together?
PAOLINA: Yes, for sure. When we were designing the jacket, it had a purpose. The jacket was made for festivals, and when you're at a festival there are so many things going on — there's music, you have your friends, and you want to enjoy the experience. So we wanted to create a jacket that allowed you to live in the experience of a festival and really be there in the moment. The jacket makes you festival-ready, whether it's cold or hot: it can heat you up, cool you down, and it holds your drink. It has everything that allows you to be hands-free and to experience moments together with your friends. Community is so important for us, and moments of fun are so important for us, so creating a garment that allows people to live in the moment was the goal.
A2Z: Desperados has always had a strong connection to nightlife, music and letting loose. How did that spirit translate into this collaboration and the Freeze-Fit?
PAOLINA: It's the same as what I was speaking about before. We care so much about community and connection with people, and about having fun with your friends. Paolina Russo is a team built around friendship and community — everyone who works on the team is friends, and we're always sharing these moments together. So any way we can bring that into the clothing and into the design is really important for us. We really love the idea that when people wear Paolina Russo they feel like themselves, and that they can be themselves among others. I think that energy was brought into the jacket as well, along with the Desperados energy of spontaneity and excitement. I also think everyone has their own memories with Desperados, and moments with their friends, and this jacket is also about creating those memories. On the colour-changing aspect: the colour changes with temperature, but it also changes with touch. So if you hug your friends, you have this moment of their hug on you. It feels very community-driven to be able to share those moments, and then have them represented on the jacket. It's a jacket that helps you connect with the people around you — you're all wearing it together, you're having fun together, you have your own group, your own tribe, your own little club of people. It's a really innovative way to collaborate, because we have two different sides of expertise, and at the end of the day we wanted to come together to create a moment. That's so special, especially in this world — it's so nice to have moments of positivity. We need more moments of positivity in the world, so I just see this collaboration as such a great way to create a happy, positive, spontaneous moment together with your friends. Lucile and I are such free-spirited people, and we run our business in such a human way, so it just feels like the right way to work together. And I think it's cool that you can see it in the design too. We wanted it to make people happy. Look at these prints.
A2Z: Your work often moves between handcraft and technology. In the Freeze-Fit, technology plays a central role, from the thermochromic materials to its integrated cooling system. How did these technologies influence the design?
PAOLINA: We were trying to find innovative ways to communicate that idea of fun, but also to make a jacket that could be with you through an entire experience at a festival. We were trying to solve this problem where you're at a festival and in the morning it's super, super hot, and then by the evening it's super, super cold — so how can you stay comfortable and in the moment throughout the entire day? Temperature was the first thing we had to solve, and that is what we solved by integrating the fan system. When you close the jacket up and turn the fan on, it creates this airflow inside the jacket, which keeps you cool. Then, if you're too cold, you turn the fan off and the jacket is warming — it's waterproof and insulating, so it keeps you warm. And then incorporating the drink into the jacket also continues to cool you down and keep you hydrated, keeping the fun going throughout the entire experience. We incorporated a concealed water bladder and straw system inside the jacket, so you can carry on having your drink while staying hands-free. You can dance, you can hang out, and you don't feel restricted about what you can do at the festival. You can just have fun.
A2Z: The Freeze-Fit is also full of playful, interactive details. Is there one feature or hidden element you're especially excited for people to experience or discover for themselves?
PAOLINA: In design there are so many details and so much thought put into every single aspect of it, from the label to the colour to everything. Every little part of the design was very considered, and it's cool to see people discover those elements when they wear the jacket. We've incorporated the Desperados iguana — Lizzy. She's their mascot, and she's so cute. She's there with you on your arm — that little fun, hidden Desperados moment on the sleeve. But you only notice these things when you wear it, when you're in it.
A2Z: You've described what you make as a "uniform for belonging". Was there a moment when you realised people were connecting with each other through the brand — that it had become a real community?
PAOLINA: Clothes are a way to express who you are. When you put on something that you feel amazing in, you become confident, you feel great, and people can see that as well. It's also cool that when we create a brand and people wear the clothes all over the world, they're able to connect with each other in a similar way. I think that's so special: I own a pair of jeans or a jacket that someone else owns across the world, and we have a very similar feeling and connection to it. That creates this uniform for belonging — we all belong together, and there's this feeling of togetherness. I also love the idea that people can wear things their own way, especially within Paolina Russo. It's not a prescriptive uniform. When you think of a uniform at school, it's about being the same, but our uniform is a uniform to make people stand out, feel different and feel like themselves. The most important thing for us at the end of the day is that when people wear Paolina Russo, they feel like themselves.
A2Z: A lot of your collections grow out of things you love outside fashion, like gaming, sports and crafts. What are you obsessed with at the moment? Or is there a hobby you've had for years that we haven't really seen in the work yet?
PAOLINA: Of course, I'm so obsessed with music. I'm a very avid playlist maker, and I'm always making playlists for my friends. That was a huge drive for the most recent presentation we did at Copenhagen Fashion Week: we had our own special playlist that we wanted to show by having multiple artists in the show, like our own little Paolina Russo festival. In terms of arts and crafts, I don't know if it's something that will ever be displayed in the clothes, but I love plating food. I love making every aspect of my life really pretty, so everything has to feel important and purposeful. When I plate my food, I always make sure that it's really pretty. The food is delicious — I love cooking, I love cooking so much — but it also has to be as pretty as it tastes.
A2Z: One day, a food collaboration with Paolina Russo.
PAOLINA: We'll have a beautiful dinner one day.
A2Z: I can't wait for that. Is there anyone you'd love to collaborate with in the future — in fashion, music, or even outside those worlds?
PAOLINA: Whenever we want to collaborate on something, we just want to make sure that it's meaningful, and that it's something inspiring for us. Music has been such a special part of the work we've been doing. We got to collaborate earlier this year with OK Lou, and on the recent collection we collaborated with Halo Plus and Grace Ives. At the moment, on my playlist — this is totally different from the Paolina Russo world — I really love Geese so much. If we could ever make something with Geese, something very rock and roll, that could be very cool. Music is just so important to us, so any way we can weave music into the work. I really want to make a music video. That's my next goal: to make a music video.
