“A love affair”
In 2027, Charles & Ron celebrate a deeply personal milestone: 35 years since Charles and Ron first met in Amsterdam. What began as a meeting between two young creatives evolved into a lifelong partnership and a distinctive design language rooted in colour, craftsmanship, Mediterranean culture and, above all, Malta.
For Spring/Summer 2027, the designers look back in order to move forward.
Presented on 18th September at St. John’s Church Hyde Park, London during London Fashion Week powered by Art Hearts Fashion and Fashion week & the City.
The show was attend by international guests, press and Maltese guests. Maltese model Matthew Saliba walked the runway for C&R in London. Matthew was part of the very early Charles & Ron shows in Malta, so this reunion was a special moment for the designers and Matthew.
Entitled A Love Affair, the collection revisits 35 years of Charles & Ron through the colours, symbols, prints, techniques and inspirations that have become part of the house’s visual identity. Rather than recreating the past, familiar elements are reimagined, layered and transformed for today, making the collection both a celebration of where C&R have been and a statement of where they are going.
Colour has always been central to the Charles & Ron universe. For Spring/Summer 2027, a joyful pastel palette brings together signature lilac, a recurring C&R colour throughout the years, with butter yellow, soft orange, lime green, mint and light blue. Ombré effects allow one shade to melt into another, creating fluid transitions of colour throughout the collection.
EXPLORE THE COLLECTION
Stripes, another recurring element in the designers’ work, appear alongside prints that bring together fragments and references from previous Charles & Ron collections, creating a visual archive that feels simultaneously familiar and new.
A pattern originally introduced in the Festa collection has been revisited and enriched for the anniversary. Its celebratory character is heightened through a bejewelled effect and the addition of Maltese symbols, including the iconic Luzzu eye and the crown of St Helena.
The Maltese bandalori, the decorative banners associated with traditional village festas provide another source of inspiration. Reinterpreted through print, they frame a landscape view of Marsaxlokk, transforming familiar scenes into colourful graphic compositions.
The C&R coat of arms, originally created for an earlier collection, also makes its return. Another emblem from the house archives reimagined for a new chapter.
Archival scarves from some of the designers’ most recognisable collections are given an entirely new life. Rather than simply being styled as accessories, they become part of the garments themselves. Through ruching, draping and pleating, the scarves are reconstructed into dresses, allowing pieces of the Charles & Ron story to be worn in a completely new way.
The dialogue between past and present continues through fabrication. Soft, flowing fabrics are contrasted with more structured taffetas, creating a balance between movement and sculptural volume. Hand-beaded fabrics draw inspiration from the elaborate decorative paintings associated with the Maltese festa and are further embellished with sparkle and light-catching details, amplifying the celebratory spirit of the anniversary collection.
Alongside several accessories designed in-house by Charles & Ron, A Love Affair also shines a spotlight on an increasingly rare piece of Gozitan craftsmanship: the traditional handwoven wide-brimmed hat.
Created from palm leaves using a technique passed down through generations, these distinctive hats are part of Gozo’s traditional craft heritage. Today, the original hats can be found through Mario tal-Monti in Victoria, Gozo, while Maria from Nadur is believed to be the last remaining artisan still creating them by hand.
For Spring/Summer 2027, Charles & Ron have reimagined the traditional Gozitan hats through the house’s own visual language, embellishing them with signature C&R details and giving them a prominent place on the runway.
Their inclusion goes beyond styling. By placing these handmade pieces within an international fashion context, Charles & Ron hope to draw attention to a disappearing local craft and celebrate the skill, patience and knowledge required to create it. In a collection that revisits the designers’ own 35-year creative heritage, the hats serve as a reminder that heritage is not simply something to look back on, it is something to recognise, protect and carry forward.
At its heart, A Love Affair is a celebration of a shared journey: 35 years of creativity, ideas, experimentation, challenges, friendship and an enduring passion for fashion.
It is also a love letter to Malta and to the inspirations that have continually shaped the Charles & Ron story, the Mediterranean, village festas, traditional craftsmanship, architecture, landscape, colour and the distinctive symbols of the Maltese islands.
A Love Affair does not look back with nostalgia alone. The archive becomes a starting point. Familiar ideas are taken apart, recoloured, embellished and reconstructed, allowing the past to become something new.
Thirty-five years after Charles and Ron first met in Amsterdam, the love affair continues.