Poster Girl Launches AW23 Collection: Its Boldest Yet

Think futuristic pirates infused with the opulence of renaissance, elevated with the modern day chaotic energy that screams “seedy motel sex”, and you get Poster Girl’s new Autumn/Winter 23 collection.

Francesca Capper and Natasha Somerville, the creative duo behind London’s hottest fashion label, are unapologetically frank when it comes to describing the brand’s aesthetics for the latest season. “Luxury hoe!” Somerville playfully muses. Capper elaborates further: “We are obsessed with surface textures, body forming/accentuating silhouettes, and tongue-in-cheek humorous touches!”

For Poster Girl’s new collection, Capper and Somerville “have dived into eclectic eras for a fresh take on the ice-age,” — with plentiful of chainmail, latex, ribbons, oversized faux fur, thigh-high lace tights and bold accessories — completed with larges swatches of bare skin, of course. Featuring rapper JT of City Girls as the brand’s latest muse with makeup created by no other than Isamaya Ffrench, the AW23 campaign is shot in Los Angeles’s streets and motels, coining the collection’s wild and trippy theme.

Three new categories in shapewear are introduced this season including a striped wide lattice category, a transparent mesh category and a flocked control wear category, together with evolved jewelry line in collaboration with Parisian jeweler, Hugo Kreit.

“We tend to find inspiration in unusual ways,” says Capper. “Our shapewear line came from the inspiration behind crotchless bodystockings and bedroom attire. I think the theme was initiated subconsciously while we were both interning in Paris, walking through Pigalle and obsessing over all the sex shop windows.”

“Post Covid was a real turning point for us when our shapewear category went viral,” says Somerville, referring to the brand’s sold-out bodycon dresses and jumpsuits that were seen on everyone and anyone from Dua Lipa to Megan Thee Stallion to Love Island starlets.

That’s where Poster Girl’s charm truly shines through. Capper and Somerville represent, and lead, a new generation of homegrown raw talents with an international reach, and deliver season after season uniquely inspired, high-fashion worthy designs minus the price tag and snobbiness often associated.

The inclusive nature means there is no “ideal audience” for Poster Girl. “I kinda love the fact that one week Dua Lipa is seen wearing a leather corset top from [our] SS23 [collection], and the next you’re watching The Real Housewives of Cape Town and they’re wearing one of the shapewear pieces,” says Somerville, whose current obsession of balletcore and ribbons weaves throughout the latest collection. “I don’t think we have an ideal audience we are trying to appeal to; more that we are creating clothes to make you feel super sexy and confident.”

Capper, who says her style is Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous meets Paris Hilton in 2005, agrees. She further touches on the brand’s decision of opting out of a runway show this season: “Poster Girl is an accessible brand, we are not here to just follow suit. We want to connect directly to our wide audience, who we are dedicated to. This season we have been more playful in the way we want to present our new collection.”

Fear not, Capper and Somerville are not ruling out any runway options in the future, the duo simply want to “present differently and in ways that are less ‘expected’ as an advanced contemporary label.”

The cofounders have come a long way since pooling their £8,000 savings together and settling on the name “Poster Girl” for their inaugural brand — the fun-inspiring, hotter-than-hell brand is here to stay for the long run. “I still will never forget an ex-boyfriend calling Poster Girl a ‘passion project’,” says Somerville. “Yes it’s a passion — there’s no doubt about that, but certainly never a project. 45% of businesses fail in the first 5 years. It was our 5 year anniversary in July last year and I really can’t wait for the future.”

Check out Poster Girl’s AW23 collection at www.poster-girl.com.