It’s been a hectic summer for Co’s Stephanie Danan. In between finishing the Spring 2025 collection, she was also planning a move to a new apartment, which would leave her “officially” living in Paris. “I get the keys on October 1 and it will be the penultimate day of the market,” she explained via a Zoom from her showroom. “I actually have to pack all the boxes at night, and I have a kid, so there’s all this school stuff too….” It is a scene that will be familiar to many working women: when it rains, it pours! Unsurprisingly, the lookbook opens with an image of a woman wearing a white cotton shirt with a draped neckline and a gathered cotton maxi skirt, finished with a cotton canvas workwear jacket and chunky flat leather sandals. On one arm an oversized leather tote bag, on the other an oversized leather clutch. “It’s so funny to look at it like that, but it’s a reflection of exactly what I went through and what I had to wear,” she added when I pointed out that it seemed like a case of art reflecting life.
The personal anecdote wasn’t necessary as proof that Danan has dedicated the past few seasons to making clothes for women who live very real, full lives. All you have to do is look at her lineup, which this season was dominated by utilitarian silhouettes in classic washed cotton canvas. But instead of just repeating the same old silhouettes, Danan combines them with elegance and perhaps even a sense of occasion. Such as the long-washed canvas coat with large patch pockets on the chest, with a very long cape-like back that can be draped dramatically over the body in the same way as an evening coat. It also has internal straps so it can be worn like a backpack, something that serves both a practical purpose (it’s too hot for this coat!) and an aesthetic one (now I’m wearing an extravagant cape!). The designer also cut the same functional pieces from silk with a satin finish and from semi-sheer cotton that had the look of technical nylon, giving the collection a bohemian explorer feel in the case of the former, and a Y2k experimental energy with the last.
“What I’ve realized is that I’ve been battling my two cultures a lot, where at times I feel like I’m a chic Parisian person, and at other times I’m more of a practical American sportswear person, because I grew up in both cultures and have a kind of love-hate relationship with both,” says Danan. “And over the last few seasons I’ve been like, ‘No, this is who I am,’ that the collections are a combination of the more feminine side and the need for functional, practical clothing that can keep up with fashion. the crazy life we live… that’s what makes it cool.”