Dilara Fındıkoğlu is a name you might not know, but should. She's dressed everyone from Charli XCX at the Brit Awards, to Chloë Sevigny at the Met Gala, and the designer is showing no signs of slowing down. If you're a fashion fan, you're probably at least a little familiar with her work, but if you aren't, we decided to get you acquainted with the rising star.
On her upbringing ...
Fındıkoğlu was raised in a conservative Muslim household in Istanbul, Turkey, where her father managed an optical factory alongside her older siblings. At 19, she moved to London to study fashion at Central Saint Martins, graduating with honours in 2015.
Reflecting on her upbringing to Another Mag, Fındıkoğlu has said, "I created [my world] when I was a child because I wanted to get away. I didn’t like what Islam was, I didn’t like what religion was, so I thought, ‘This can’t be the real life, it’s so boring'."
She was an avid reader and horror film fan ("Cannibal Holocaust was one of the first ones I watched. And I was a big fan of Dario Argento, his films really inspired my world a lot.") and had a particular interest in magic, alchemy and the occult.
On her career ...
Launching her eponymous label in 2016, the designer has steadily built a world that operates on its own terms. Fındıkoğlu's collections draw from a deep and often overlooked archive: Turkish folklore, Catholic iconography, Victorian dress codes, 1970s occultism. Her silhouettes are often confrontational, with sharply tailored shoulders, exposed boning, and densely embroidered panels. But there’s a precision to the chaos – technical construction meeting a deeply emotional intent. Rather than using fashion as escapism, Fındıkoğlu approaches it as a form of reckoning, both personal and political.
At the centre of her design philosophy is the body. She has spoken of clothes as protection, of using structure and constraint to express both vulnerability and defiance. “I create characters who are fighting for freedom, fighting for the body, fighting for equality," she told Purple Magazine in 2024.
Key moments ...
Guerilla show
After graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2015, Fındıkoğlu organized "Encore CSM," a guerrilla fashion show for students excluded from the official graduate presentation. Sleek Magazine called her "the bad girl of London Fashion Week" as Fındıkoğlu disrupted LFW with her off- schedule SS17 presentation in a seedy Soho strip club.
High-profile clients
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Fındıkoğlu's work has attracted the attention of high-profile fashion clientele like Charli XCX, Chloë Sevigny, Lady Gaga, Madonna, FKA Twigs, Rihanna, Björk, Bella Hadid, Margot Robbie, and Kylie Jenner.
LVMH Prize Semifinalist
In 2017, she was selected as a semifinalist for the prestigious LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers, recognising her as one of the most promising talents in the industry.
Runway and collaborations
Fındıkoğlu has collaborated with brands like Nike and Converse, and her runway shows are known for their theatricality and bold themes. Her Spring Summer 2019 collection, presented on Halloween, featured seven conflict-themed rooms exploring dichotomies such as modesty vs. provocation and natural vs. synthetic.
Last week, Fındıkoğlu announced a collaboration with Kylie Jenner’s label KHY, introducing the vision to a wider audience.
