This February, for AW26 Leo Prothman wrote a letter to editors detailing the inspiration behind his All Genders collection, CABAÑA. This is a collection born from a week spent secluded in San José del Pacífico, Mexico, surrounded by mist, earth, and colours Prothmann had never fully understood until time spent living with them. There, he began to notice how buildings carried pigment like memory: mud, mustard, oxblood, teal, forest green, tones shaped slowly by weather and time. Prothmann immersed himself fully in this experience, walking for hours through shifting terrain, returning each evening thinking about structure and collapse, about garments that could hold themselves with clarity and then soften, as bodies do.
This season leans into Prothmann’s personal connection to fashion and garments found in his own wardrobe. Oversized, structured silhouettes fall into a deliberate slouch, while vibrant tones settle into unexpected placements. Comfort and resistance sit side by side.
The shell forms that have long defined the designer’s practice return in a new expression, becoming quilted leather parkas, modular and protective, and morning capes imagined for rituals at first light. Constructed from offcut leather strips and reinforced internally with boning, these pieces maintain their architecture before yielding gently to movement.
Leather remains my the staple fabric used within this season’s offering. For CABAÑA, Prothmann worked closely with Nene Valley Leather, specialists in upholstery hides designed to endure daily life. Using fully by-product leather, firm yet supple, the focus is clearly on longevity and garment life.
As the collection evolved, Edda Gudmundsdottir shaped the styling with instinct, guiding colour and proportion so that contrast feels lived rather than imposed. The garments closest to the skin became equally important. With Carmela Dias at London College of Fashion, contour pieces and thermals that support the structure above them were developed specifically to support this collection.
Inversa Leathers introduces Silverfin fish leather into the collection, sourced from invasive species removed from fragile ecosystems. Through craft, environmental imbalance is redirected into material with intention and consequence. CABAÑA feels intentional and for a London Fashion Week debut seems to already deliver a distinctive signature style and ready made fashion ecosystem, we’re looking forward to seeing more from Leo Prothmann the fashion designer who intertwines his narrative seamlessly into the garments he produces.
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