IN THE Chopova Lowena world, sport is not just a pastime – it’s a mythology.
For Spring/ Summer 2026, Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena-Irons turn the cheerleader into a folkloric heroine through blending American football grit and sideline enthusiasm with the jagger romance of Southern Bulgarian Karakachani costume. The result is a collection aptly titled Cheerlore: a team uniform for misfits. Always loud, layered and totally unafraid.
The clothes themselves revel in contradictions: varsity sweaters and pleated skirts get remixed with the brand’s carabiner fastenings, track pants and 3D-printed cleat boots. Shoulder-pad panniers and pom-pom jackets stake out turf between gridiron and girldom, while chainmail acts as both armour and talisman.
Of course sport-centric details reign: football-lace bras, bag-ball hybrids and zip-off dresses that transform from maxi to mini. Each look is overloaded with trims, embellishments and exaggeration, echoing the universal urge to dress beyond function but for fun.
Chopova Lowena never separates clothing from culture, and this season the runway became a full sensory field. Perfume mascots ushered in the brand’s debut fragrances – Green Ruth, Queen Rose and Hay, Zhasmina! – while custom Chilly’s water bottles in leather harnesses reimagined the idea of the “water boy” of the squad.
A collaboration with Sony saw Alto bags reworked in fleece to house headphones, underscoring the soundscape’s importance: a chaotic collage of cheer chants, Bulgarian folk remixes, ASMR roleplay and Emma’s secondary school jazz bad. Just like the clothes, the show’s soundtrack was a rallying call for all CL girls.
This season, the cheerleader isn’t a cliché term but a totem – equal parts athlete, warrior and dreamer. Togetherness at Chopova Lowena is stitched into carabiner skirts, strapped into every harness and blared through the speakers of your local sports hall.
by Imogen Clark