Marina Afonina’s Albus Lumen returns to the Australian Fashion Week runway

It’s showtime for Marina Afonina as Albus Lumen returns to Australian Fashion Week tomorrow with a collection that pushes the label ‘to the limit’.

Albus Lumen creative director Marina Afonina with models Larissa and Louis at her Bondi space ahead of Australian Fashion Week. Picture: Jane Dempster​

It’s been three years since Albus Lumen creative director Marina Afonina last showed at Australian Fashion Week and, after the turmoil of Covid, she’s banking on Thursday’s runway return to a 500-strong crowd to be a gear change for her brand.

“It’s all or nothing. I’m pushing myself to the limit,” she says over coffee in the lead-up. “I really want to show what we can do and then see where it’s all going to take us, because it’s a really hard market at the moment. For me, especially, because it’s a very small business. It’s self-invested, all my energy and financials go into the business, so I want … I need to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Afonina, originally a fashion stylist, initially founded Albus Lumen – meaning white light in Latin – in 2015 as a resort offering aimed at the global nomad who failed to connect with the category’s bejewelled caftans or loud bohemian prints when it came time to slip into holiday mode. Her pared-back linen looks ushered in a new, refined way to do resort, during a time when Phoebe Philo’s stealth minimalism at Céline was attracting a cult following internationally.

A year after launch, MatchesFashion.com’s influential buying director, Natalie Kingham, snapped up Afonina’s second collection during a scouting trip to Sydney, which forged an ongoing wholesale relationship that has since seen Albus Lumen launch interiors, bridal and menswear with the e-tailer.

“We love the clean, minimalist aesthetic of Albus Lumen,” reinforces Matches’s current senior buyer, Jenni Thompson. “Marina has been able to create a full lifestyle brand with Albus Lumen, and every item in the collection, whether it’s men’s, home or women’s, is guaranteed to delight the customer. The quiet luxury space is more crowded now,” she adds, referring to labels such as The Row, Toteme and Khaite, with which Albus Lumen shares a customer base, “but our shoppers really respond well to the strong quality of the pieces at a compelling price point too.”

Yet despite the positive PR optics of securing such a premium door overseas, Afonina is candid about the struggles faced by many contemporary brands just as coveted as hers over the past few years.

“When Covid started, it was hard for everyone,” she recalls, “but then coming out of Covid was even harder because when you’re in Covid everyone is on the same page. Coming out of it, it’s like, ‘How do you make your business grow from here?’.”

During this time Afonina founded Albus Lumen Société, her “conceptual hub” in Bondi Beach that functions like “a lab where collaborators can work with me”. However, from a retail perspective her business remains split between her e-com and wholesale.

“It’s hard … you have to start from the beginning again really,” she says. “During the pandemic buyers were not travelling anymore and everyone was buying very safe. A lot of people that used to buy Albus left and moved on somewhere else for all different reasons. We still have a couple of accounts overseas,” she adds, noting Matches and Ounass in Abu Dhabi, “but we have to prove ourselves internationally. That’s why it’s a big-scale show this year, which we haven’t done before.”

Before the pandemic took hold, Afonina was working on her own essentials line that was exclusive to her website. However, given the basics (and athleisurewear) boom that followed lockdown, her polished proposition inevitably got lost in the flood.

“At the end of the day, Albus is not a basic brand,” she says. “When we launched, it was about travelling light, very transitional. It’s a unique brand. It’s a very niche brand,” she adds citing her preference for all-natural, luxury fabrications, and the fact her garments are made in Australia. “It’s very ­sustainable. We don’t overproduce and don’t hold lots of stock either, unlike some brands. For me, it’s very important.”

And while linen remains a staple fibre, her current focus is its elevation. “Back in the day, when we launched no one was doing linen. Now, everyone’s doing linen. It’s easy to disappear in the market. It’s easy to be the same as everyone else. That’s why, for me, the focus is bringing new things, evolving the brand, but obviously, still staying true to yourself.”

An exploration of surface enrichment, the Albus Lumen way, will be key to Thursday’s Resort 2024 collection, which Afonina has named Phase ||. “Usually, we keep it minimal with just simple textures,” she says. “This year, we’ve come up with our own textures: quilting on silk, on cotton, on linen – still using natural fibres, which is very important for me – and ­embellishment, which we have never done before, which is very exciting.”

This decoration will be moderated by her preferred monochromatic palette of black, cream and white. “It’s very neutral with lots of different textures, sheens and satins,” she adds. The runway show will also advocate fashion for real bodies and all ages. “It’s a brand that anyone can wear,” she adds. “We’ve got all silhouettes from bodycon to very loose.”

Phase || is chiefly inspired by the notion of nostalgia. “It’s about the summer that’s gone and those memories of this beautiful holiday. It’s thinking of the past but looking forward to the future. Nostalgia, but in a really positive way, as sometimes nostalgia can be sad and negative. You have to celebrate what we are now and then look towards the future.”

Show-goers can also expect to see a 50-50 split between women’s and menswear on the catwalk – reflective of the latter’s increasing importance to her business. “It was a really small offering,” she says of her initial parlay into menswear in 2021. “Then Matches picked it up and we’ve been doing more exclusive injections because it was doing really well. I’m very excited ­because I love menswear personally. I’m always inspired by menswear tailoring.” Having worked with Afonina at Harper’s Bazaar during her styling years, I can attest that the last time I saw her in a dress may have been her custom-made wedding gown made by a then up-and-coming designer named Dion Lee.

An Albus Lumen dress.

This collection will also build upon Afonina’s initial bridal capsule for Matches – which, unfortunately, dropped just as lockdown hit – with plenty of eveningwear expected on the runway. However, she stresses that at this stage her wedding offering won’t be a custom bridal service, but rather ready-to-wear pieces designed with modern nuptials in mind. “I love to evolve and grow. That’s why the menswear came, that’s why the lifestyle elements: the ceramics, the jewellery, came,” she says of her varied offering. “I don’t want to stay in the same position. The purpose of having the brand is that creative outlet that will push my boundaries. I feel like that’s where creativity blooms at its best. When it’s all too settled and too safe, for me, it becomes boring, it becomes uninspiring. You always have to challenge yourself to the maximum. I mean, the harder it is, the better it is for you because you learn from your mistakes, you work harder for it.”

This week international buyers on the ground will include Net-A-Porter’s Libby Page alongside reps from Browns, Moda Operandi, Le Bon Marche and Neiman Marcus, while Afonina has plans to take the collection back on the road to New York and Paris for sales next month.

Given the current economic climate, would she be open to investment? “Definitely if the right person comes along, someone that understands the brand, because you do have a lot of advantages doing it all by yourself,” she smiles. “But obviously it’s much harder than having someone who can just inject. That sometimes opens other doors, and it could be very a great success story if you have a right ­investor.”

But for now it’s showtime.