Nominal London: Redefining High Fashion and Streetwear
Encompassing a mosaic of values and styles, Nominal London emerges as a contending defining force on the contemporary fashion scene. Debuted in 2023, Nominal London is the collaborative creation of Krisztina Kalman and Sean Solomon, a product of their shared vision and partnership. This is a brand that unites people by blending expressive streetwear with the bold creativity of Haute Couture traditions. Their distinctive visual approach, paired with an ethos centred around community and passion, has resulted in a brand that thrives in its creative experiments and breathes life into its garments. With an emphasis on confidence and courage, Nominal London asserts its identity through striking colour choices, primarily black and red. The brand celebrates through collectiveness. Community lies at the heart of both the brand and its creators; it is the driving force behind its founding and the guiding principle in its future trajectory.
In their latest collection, Nominal London continues to champion these values, showcasing vivid, dynamic looks that cement the brand’s identity. We had the opportunity to sit down with founders to discuss their journey to Nominal London, their vision for the future, their creative processes, and the impact they hope the brand will have. With a true spirit of collaboration and innovation, Nominal is a brand to keep an eye on. Following their London Fashion Week debut, STRAND caught up with Krisztina and Sean…
STRAND: After meeting in the members club for the first time, what inspired the founding of Nominal London, and how does the brand reflect London's culture?
Sean: I think the club functioned as a perfect melting pot for fashion, art and creativity which allowed us to explore what our common denominators were. In the exploration and building of the brand, we started to find areas where we connected and how that then subsequently reflects modern day London with our multicultural backgrounds.
Krisztina: We bonded over liking each other’s style and then started to think of how we could create together. One particular starting point was thinking of a particular kind of punk jacket that you can only really find in vintage shops or Camden market. We wanted to make one that could fit a person who is a professional and wears this garment as a form of expression, without it necessarily being from Camden market – something you wear in your free time whilst having a job in finance. The idea was that we’d create this garment and start a platform to do exactly that. There was an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from our friends and so we knew there was more to what we were doing.
Can you elaborate on your approach to combining streetwear with high fashion?
Sean: I think the key aspect to understand is how they feed into each other. There are aspirations for streetwear to represent high fashion or to have high quality materials.. I found that high fashion is always chasing what’s inspiring people and what’s considered “cool” to stay relevant with their audiences. The best high fashion brands don’t chase, they create. Playing with the two spaces allows for us to find an interesting blend. It doesn’t have to be one or the other – most people in this world embody duality, perspectives or perceptions all at once and shouldn’t be limited.
Krisztina: I think it’s important to point out that there doesn’t seem to be a clear distinction between what high fashion and streetwear is in the market. People wear streetwear casually, but when they go out, they prefer “high fashion”. We see this more and more from celebrities and brands who don’t want to be confined to either one. They’re mixing this and I think it clearly defines how people see their own style.
How does Nominal London integrate sustainability in its designs and operations?
Krisztina: Sustainability is such a self-evident and integral aspect of our brand that we don’t necessarily feel the need to have it on our website. We produce all we can in the UK from sustainable materials. . Upcycling is also a part of what makes our brand unique – if there’s something we haven’t sold, we create something new and sell it as an upcycled garment.
Sean: Our leather is sustainably sourced and comes as a by-product of the meat industry. Our main source when going into production is deadstock fabric. It allows for no unnecessary reproduction or making of fabrics that already exist.
What are the main values you hope to communicate through Nominal London’s designs?
Sean: Nominal as a whole brand embodies and champions self-expression, creativity and authenticity. Those are the three main values to myself and Krisztina. You have to keep it real within yourself and make sure it represents you.
Krisztina: Our slogan is “CONTEMPORARY, BRITISH, ICONOCLAST FASHION BRAND”. We aspire to be a luxury brand but are not quite there yet. Even though we are both not British, we feel at home here in the energy of London and the mixture of different cultures and that you’re not judged. You can wear latex or a punk jacket and still feel integrated.
Can you discuss how storytelling shapes your collections?
Sean: The brand is the story. Even the aesthetics and styles, pieces and themes we’re making from show to show – that’s a story in itself. From my perspective, to prevent myself from getting too boxed down on the short term details, I like to think about how that story is told. To think that that one meeting there has then spawned this brand is crazy. Where possible within our Nominal community, we’ve tried to help those in it and make their career go further. Most of the people coming to our events have a certain mindset of “we’re not going to be able to do this alone.” We rely on each other to build this progressive and community-focused brand.
Krisztina: We also don’t believe in transactional relationships. We insist that people understand us and want to promote us as we are. Each collection is a story for us and comes from our collaborations with artists who show how they fit into our concept.
How do you envision Nominal London evolving over the next few years?
Krisztina: We would like to continue down the current path we’re on, whilst pulling from different creative arts and expanding the brand. We have communities beyond the UK which are keen to participate but ultimately we would love to bring Nominal to the U.S. and bring our garments to a showroom.
Sean: I would love to do couture and create something so impressive it leaves peoples’ mouths agape. I understand that it won’t be something that only Krisztina and I work on… it will be with the efforts of a design, creative, marketing and sales team. The business is going to become this beautiful little nucleus that reacts and creates. That’s the direction I see us going in but we just need to put the team together to execute it.
What role does customer engagement play in shaping your brand’s identity?
Krisztina: Participation and community is very important for us – that people come and meet us. We are quite approachable and don’t sit up in a throne somewhere. Anyone can speak to us and if someone brings a creative idea or an artist comes up to us, we’re more than happy to talk. User generated content of posting our garments and shows on social media is also important.
Sean: There've been a lot of brands in the past that make the mistake of just having influencers promoting their brand. I find that if you find ways of getting the brand ambassadors to have real buy-in, it becomes a lot less transactional and feels as though they have a stake in the brand.
How has the response been to Nominal London’s unique aesthetic?
Krisztina: We’ve been told that we’re unique in terms of our energy: the shows, the events, and us. Sean and I couldn’t be more different and you can’t imagine how much we fight but that leads to this amazing creative input. Looking from a horoscope perspective, Sean’s a Gemini and I’m an Aquarius. This combination has the highest energy and alongside our completely different backgrounds, has allowed us to bring two worlds together that induce creativity.
Sean: Someone said this to me yesterday in a really interesting way: the energy that comes from me and Krisztina of putting our heads together, these so-called “sparks”, that’s alchemy. Through that alchemy, Nominal is born and everything around it.
Check out Nominal London, Here: https://nominallondon.com/
Read our coverage of Nominal London's LFW Show, Here: https://www.strandmagazine.co.uk/single-post/nominal-london-on-the-catwalk
Written by Daria Slikker and Emma Todbjerg
Edited by Daisy Packwood, Fashion Editor
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