Designer Nicomede Talavera Is Back, on His Own Terms

"Fashion is very good at announcing returns, and it is less interested in accounting for what happens in the time in between. Designers disappear, reappear and are soon asked to explain themselves, preferably in the language of growth. London-based designer Nicomede Talavera has done this twice already. His new collection under his eponymous label Nicomede, Sacred Journey, is somewhat of a third arrival, serving as a reminder that stepping away can sharpen a vision, not dilute it."

"Talavera first emerged in the early 2010s, graduating from Central Saint Martins after completing his MA under the late Louise Wilson. His graduate collection was spare and self-reflective: elongated silhouettes, largely monochrome, drawing on clerical dress and ceremonial uniforms, softened by sportswear references and distortions of proportion. The clothes felt protective and inward-looking, garments that suggested ritual, faith and restraint. Even then, there was a sense that Talavera was less interested in fashion as spectacle than in fashion as a way of organising feeling."

"He returned in 2019 with Nicomede, reframing the label around wellness and working on his own terms. Then, in 2023, he paused again. Now, with Episode Seven (Talavera names each collection by episodes), he reappears refreshed and unhurried. "Every time that I pause, I come back so much wiser," Talavera says, speaking from Shanghai, where his partner lives. "I have such a deeper understanding of craftsmanship. I have just a deeper understanding of where I want to navigate to.""

Nicomede Talavera emerged from Central Saint Martins in the early 2010s with spare, self-reflective graduate work featuring elongated silhouettes, monochrome palettes, and references to clerical dress and ceremonial uniforms softened by sportswear. Early momentum led to a menswear label and Fashion East support, followed by a 2015 pause. A 2019 return reframed the label around wellness and autonomous practice, then another pause in 2023 preceded Episode Seven. The new collection, Sacred Journey, returns with a calmer, more measured approach defined by deeper craft knowledge, inward-looking protective garments, ritualistic references, and a renewed curiosity about direction and making.

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