AGR

The incalculably broad heritage of knitwear in the British Isles converges to several recognizable points: the basic wool jersey crewneck, fabricated in a range of natural tones; the vibrant stranded colorwork of Fair Isle motifs; and the variegated multigauge cables and ribs born of the Aran Islands. While elements of these styles reliably appear in international collections the world over, it is entirely fitting that their reexamination and recontextualization is being spearheaded by London-based designer Alicia Robinson, operating as AGR. Upon graduating from Chelsea College of Arts in 2013, Robinson went to sharpen her craft in the burgeoning London fashion scene, initially working with designers James Long and Helen Lawrence before later transitioning to freelance work. Via AGR, Robinson compresses the vivid multicultural whirlwind that is London and its people—her most immediate source of inspiration—into a stochastic puzzle of mismatched stripes and blaring tie-dye vortices. In artfully bending the tacky and the eye-watering into a full range of impossible-to-ignore ready-to-wear, AGR displays exactly the right blend of unapologetic verve and unpretentious vision needed to sustain the bleeding edge of fashion.