Glastonbury returns after a two year absence in 2022, meaning this is going to be one hot festival summer. And Alicia Robinson, founder of AGR, has you covered for scene-stealing pieces perfect for Worthy Farm and beyond. Her brand’s signatures are pleasingly bright – bestsellers include stretchy elastic-knit dresses and brushed mohair jumpers – but they are also the antithesis of throwaway festival fashion. “It’s really important that our clothes are high quality, and for me it’s all about getting the shape and the fit,” Alicia explains. “We’re always diving into old knitting books that have stitches that we can revive with different colours and yarns.” These retro references manifest as spray paint-esque squiggles and digitally-printed tie-dye, all in rave-ready neons. “The colours have to be super bright, otherwise I don’t like it!” Robinson says with a laugh.
Having been introduced to knitting by her mother as a child, knitwear became like a second language to Alicia, who went on to study the technique at university. After graduating, she was tapped to provide show pieces for A-Cold-Wall, Helen Lawrence and James Long, among others, while working pub and club jobs on the side. Then along came AGR – albeit in an entirely unexpected way.
Back in 2019, so many friends asked Alicia to make them custom outfits to wear to Notting Hill Carnival, she found herself with a mini capsule collection. Ahead of Carnival, Alicia tasked a photographer friend with shooting the looks she created, Nike supplied some shoes, and it duly blew up on Instagram. “It was very organic,” she says. “People were using [the shoot] for their mood boards.” Buyers swiftly came calling, and AGR was born. “It went from three stockists to 11, and this season, we’ve got 36 worldwide,” she says.
Now Robinson is preparing to unveil a brand new collection, which will be shown at AGR’s first runway show at London Fashion Week on 11 June. It will be a chance to reflect on the success of her nascent brand, which – unlike many small businesses – witnessed serious growth during the pandemic. So much so that Alicia and the team moved into a bigger studio, and invested in an industrial knitting machine that allows them to make samples in house.
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Her secret to success? Knowing her customer, and the unwavering “vibrancy and energy” of the AGR brand. “[During the pandemic], people were looking for a little bit of hope and a little bit of colour in their life,” she muses. “They expressed themselves with what they were wearing because you couldn’t really do anything else.”
It’s an attitude that has won her a celebrity fan base: Lewis Hamilton, AJ Tracey, A$AP Rocky, De’arra Taylor, Pa Salieu, IAMDDB, Lakwena, and Robinson’s favourite artist Burna Boy have all worn her designs, and she’s heard rumours that they’ve made their way into Rihanna’s wardrobe, too. Perhaps the ultimate seal of approval.
