Emerging designer Connor Brown channels childhood fantasy into technical menswear
Photography by Lucien Yumru
as told to lara daly
“My collection was really inspired by childhood memories of building make-believe worlds with my brother.”
A former elite cyclist turned emerging designer, Connor Brown’s path into fashion was anything but conventional. After competing in some of the world’s biggest races, an abrupt end to his cycling career in 2021 led him back to a childhood steeped in design, spent among patterns and samples in his mother’s buyer studio.
When that chapter closed, fashion became, in his words, a “saving grace,” sparking an obsession that reshaped his career trajectory. An Honours student at University of Technology Sydney, Connor is now gearing up to present his graduate collection on the runway at PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival next month.
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For the National Graduate Showcase, Connor presents ‘Resembool’, a collection inspired by the make-believe worlds he’d build with his brother. “Growing up we spent hours immersed in games like Dungeons and Dragons and Final Fantasy, to the point where we’d drape blankets as robes and wield sticks as swords,” he tells me.
References like tunics, capes and doublets are reworked through a contemporary lens of technical menswear, capturing what he describes as “that feeling of play and whimsy” while remaining grounded in precision. The design process is deeply emotional for Connor, who explains that his garments often mirror his inner state. “I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve,” he says.
Connor’s is one of 12 graduate collections set to be shown at the National Graduate Showcase on February 24 at the Royal Exhibition Building. It’s an exciting glimpse into the future of Australian fashion, and Fashion Journal is proud to be a long-time media partner of the event.
Fashion Journal: Tell me how you first got into fashion. Did you always want to be a designer?
Connor: No actually, I never even thought about fashion design until later on in life. Before I started studying fashion I was actually a cyclist and I competed in some of the biggest races in the world, so for a long time that was my only goal. Unfortunately that came to a bit of an abrupt stop at the end of 2021.
My mum was a buyer for many years, so I grew up fully immersed in her studio, looking at patterns and samples. When I stopped cycling, I decided to follow that connection to fashion from my childhood, and it became my saving grace and I got completely obsessed with this world.
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Tell me about your collection, ‘Resembool’, you’re showing at Melbourne Fashion Festival. What was the inspiration behind it?
My collection was really inspired by childhood memories of building make-believe worlds with my brother. Growing up we spent hours immersed in games like Dungeons and Dragons and Final Fantasy, to the point where we’d drape blankets as robes and wield sticks as swords.
I really wanted to capture that feeling of play and whimsy within my garments. I also wanted to reinterpret these fantasy silhouettes I saw in these games such as doublets, tunics, and capes through a contemporary lens of technical-detailed oriented menswear.
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What has the design process been like?
I think for me designing is quite an emotional process. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve and I put a lot of myself into my garments – they often become a direct reflection of how I’m feeling during that time. I often find myself in a really somber and melancholic place when I’m designing, and tapping into that emotional register can be pretty draining. I also tend to have a big focus on iteration, I [spend] countless hours toiling and prototyping to perfect my silhouettes.
How would you describe your collection to someone who’s never seen it before?
The best way to describe it would probably be whimsical, fantastical, and technical. While the garments reference fantasy and play, they are grounded in precise pattern-making and technical detail.
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What are you most proud of in your work so far?
I’m really proud of the beaded pleat textile manipulation. The beads were the cornerstone of the collection and acted as tactile interruptions within my structured garments, humanising the technical elements with a hand-crafted sensibility. This fusion of natural materiality and technical oriented form are the grounding points of this collection.
What do you wish you’d known when you first started your collection?
How non-linear the process was going to be. At the beginning, I kind of expected a clearer progression from concept to final but at times I felt like I couldn’t see the pieces fitting together. I also wish I’d understood earlier that uncertainty and doubt aren’t signs of weakness in the work, but integral parts of developing something meaningful.
Learning to trust the process and allowing time for experimentation, without expecting immediate results, was something I really only learnt towards the end of my process.
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Who is exciting you the most in local fashion right now?
Song for the Mute is a super exciting brand right now and a big inspiration to me. I’ve been fortunate enough to work there for just over a year now, and [designers] Melvin and Lyna have been such incredibly generous mentors to me during that time. Being able to witness first hand a brand of that calibre operate from Sydney, while consistently presenting in Paris each season has been truly inspiring.
When do you feel your most creative?
I’m such a morning person! I love to see the sunrise and just having the quiet time before the world fully wakes up is so peaceful. I often find that my mind feels clearer and I’m in a much better creative headspace in the mornings.
What about the local fashion industry do you think needs to change?
I’d love to see more local manufacturing return to Australia. I believe strengthening domestic production would help rejuvenate Australian fashion and textile skills, and craftsmanship, while also giving designers greater control over quality, experimentation, and ethical practices.
A stronger local manufacturing infrastructure would support emerging designers like myself in developing more sustainably, and contribute to a more resilient and self-sufficient fashion industry overall.
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Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I hope to have established a label alongside a close-knit team of friends, where we can collaborate freely and push creativity as far as possible. More importantly, I want to continue creating collections that I genuinely love and feel emotionally invested in.
If you could land a paid internship with any designer in the world, who would it be?
Craig Green has been a big inspiration for me, so I’d love to intern there. I’m very drawn to this technical menswear space that has emerged in the past decade, and I see Craig Green as the pioneer of that space. After recently reading an article about his SS15 collection in The Cutting Class, I was completely struck by the level of design continuity and the meticulous attention to detail across the garments. That sense of cohesion and precision is something I deeply admire and actively strive to achieve in my own work.
How can we see more of your work?
On my Instagram which is @connor.lv.brown, but I’m also planning on releasing a small capsule in June or July, along with a pop-up in Sydney.
Get your tickets to the NGS Showcase at PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival here.
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