Meet the woman dressing Gen Z

It’s an early April afternoon in central London and mere days into the bricks-and-mortar rendition of Aries, the streetwear brand founded in 2014 by the half-English, half-Italian designer Sofia Prantera. The new airy 4,000sq ft Soho store is attracting a steady footfall; a trio of guys sprawled on the benches, typical customers in their easy mix of oversized denim and sweats, are biting into fat chunks of sourdough and slugging back coffees courtesy of cult Paris café PaperBoy. 

Prantera arrives, hot off her bike, pushing her short wavy hair back from her face and apologising for the chain oil on her cargo pants. Puckish, and in possession of a charming Britalian accent, she ranks among the most elusive women in fashion. After our interview, she’ll wonder aloud if it’s really necessary to have a portrait of her to accompany this piece. “I always think: ‘Why does anyone need to see me?’” 

One of the few established female designers in streetwear, Prantera has been breaking the rules since she left Central Saint Martins. After working as a stylist for The Face and Vogue Italia, then founding cult streetwear labels Holmes and Silas, she created Aries as a move into denim with a more high-fashion offering. The brand soon gained recognition for its classic temple logo and “No Problemo” T-shirts, now retailing at £80, and its sweats in trippy mélanges that are reminiscent of ’90s acid house. A secret big hitter, friend of many photographers, stylists and designers, she requires none of the spotlight demanded by better-known disruptors. And it’s an approach that is reaping rich dividends: with no outsider investment, revenue is reported to be getting close to £20mn. Between 2021 and 2023, says Aries CEO Nicki Bidder, business doubled. 

“The branding is an instantly recognisable house code and the graphic and bold designs still feel elevated and dynamic,” says Damien Paul, head of menswear at MatchesFashion, which has stocked the label since 2018. “It’s been a truly genderless brand from the outset” –  its website categorises products as “Men”, “Women” and “Don’t Care” – “and its ageless appeal is remarkable; I see as many people in their 40s wearing Aries as I do in their 20s.” 

Cotton Column hoodie, £205

Dip-dyed cotton Desert Drip T-shirt, £185

Cotton acid-washed Batten jeans, £290

Corduroy tailored trousers

The brand has enjoyed an organic growth in visibility that would ordinarily cost millions: Zendaya wears Aries underwear on the cult Gen Z television series Euphoria, while Dua Lipa does social media in its technicolour tie-dye separates. Well-known advocates also include Lily Allen, Romeo Beckham, model Paloma Elsesser and The White Lotus actress Haley Lu Richardson. Closer to home, Prantera’s 17-year-old daughter models in some of the brand’s campaigns (and on this page).

Skate culture was a massive inspiration, but more in terms of the mindset, the sense of freedom

Growing up in Rome, Prantera was always interested in sportswear, fashion branding and subcultures. Her English mother, recognising the curiosity in her daughter, started bringing home magazines such as The Face and i-D. “She made my sister and I realise that there was a world out there that wasn’t what we were experiencing in a very provincial place,” says Prantera. “Rome wasn’t like Milan, it was still very, very small.” She headed to London and Central Saint Martins to study fashion. “It was sort of rave time, I guess,” she recalls. “Fashion was on a bit of a back foot then, but Alexander McQueen was already there, Hussein Chalayan was there, so there was this sense that maybe things were going to happen. It was a special time in the UK and I was very lucky to experience it.”

She graduated with a collection of sportswear that struck a note with Slam City Skates, then based in Rough Trade Records. Slam City Skates asked her to design for the brand and she stayed for six years. “I was really interested in applications of graphics in clothes,” she says. “For me, fashion was never about the boutique-type thing. It was always about the energy of subcultures. At the time, all those little companies were run by young people with very little previous experience, and they were just starting businesses that people loved.”

Although neither of them ever actually skated, Prantera and Bidder first met through the skateboarding community that sprang up in London in the ’90s. “Skate culture was a massive inspiration, but more in terms of what it meant, the mindset,” says Prantera. “More as a sense of freedom. It’s about the freedom of approach.” 

“Soph always summed up a womanhood that I liked,” says Bidder. “Her clothes represented this idea of girls who always felt like they were a little bit more boyish. Not necessarily dressed tomboyish, but there was just an attitude. So even if you’re wearing something super-cut-out and slashed-back, it’s more of a sense of just not being willing to be defined by womenswear.” 

The CEO, who has been with the brand since 2017, is still enjoying the newness of in-real-life shoppers and keeps stealing glances over at them. “We know our customer really well, we know them from what they buy and we’ve seen them at our events,” she says – the store’s launch party saw the crowd dancing in the basement and spilling out onto the street in usual Aries style. “But still there’s something nice about seeing people hang out in our space.” 

The new store, designed in-house in collaboration with Brinkworth and Wilson Brothers, is on two floors and includes a statement scaffolding-inspired staircase with mismatched marble treads. There’s a mix of Aries products, from clothing to Italian-made leather bags, branded rag rugs and door mats, as well as collaborations and pop-ups from different brands selling vintage products, music and books. When I visit, a perky Juicy Couture collab sits downstairs alongside a curation of cute retro ’90s and ’00s T-shirts from the online vintage reseller Jerks. “Key collaborations have only propelled the brand further,” Paul says. Past projects have seen them partner up with Vans and Umbro, while there’s an imminent launch planned with Clarks shoes.

No Problemo cap, £60

Eye socks, £25

Upstairs, the classic T-shirts are piled next to bright, fuzzy patchwork fleeces and branded knitwear in off-shades of violet and lime green. Trend forecasters have predicted that the demand for streetwear is declining, which might explain why the brand has lately been pushing into new categories. 

“Jersey is always a big seller for us, of course,” says Bidder. “During the pandemic we saw that massive rise of easy streetwear and we still sell that. But I think, as that pie shrinks again, that’s possibly only a good thing for us because as other people stop making the product, we still stand as an authentic point. But denim is also now a huge seller, knitwear is doing really well and things like shirting are doing great.” 

Customers might also be surprised to see Prantera’s more sensual women’s designs – sexy lacy bodysuits (from £115), tie-dyed slip dresses (from £115) and drill camo bra tops (from £275). They were always part of Aries’s collections, but less bought by retailers (the stores Boon, Ssense, SKP, Galeries Lafayette, One Block Down, Bodega and End are among its 160 international stockists). “It just opens up the brand a lot more, having a physical space,” Bidder says. That goes not just for merchandise, but for brand-building events and projects. Downstairs has been built as a space to host exhibitions and experiences – David Sims’s black-and-white campaign image for SS23 is currently on display. 

That’s an attitude that appeals just as much to Gen Z as it did to skaters back in the late ’90s and ’00s. Only more so now, since sportswear and streetwear have become an established, if not essential, part of the high-fashion wardrobe. In many ways Prantera was ahead of her time; the rest of the world is just catching up.