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This article originally appeared on Vogue Business.

It’s a sunny Tuesday in central London, and 180 Studios buzzes with the sound of sewing machines and hand embroidery. The Princess of Wales has just awarded Liverpool-born designer Patrick McDowell the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. Past winners—like SS Daley, Labrum London, and Saul Nash—celebrated with musical performances. But McDowell brought their studio along instead.

“The most exciting part for me is how the clothes are made,” McDowell tells Vogue Business in an exclusive interview before the ceremony. “I wanted people to see the pattern-cutting and craftsmanship, to watch us fitting the models.”

The installation also highlights McDowell’s royal ties: their embroiderers trained at Highgrove through The King’s Foundation, which offers a 24-week residential program developed with Chanel and its Métiers d’Art HQ, Le19M in Paris. The jacket McDowell wore to accept the award was made from leftover Prince of Wales check fabric, donated by Burberry for their graduate collection seven years ago—a collection backed by the British Fashion Council (BFC) Foundation, which also supports the Queen Elizabeth II Award.

McDowell has built their brand through narrative-driven London Fashion Week shows, attracting a small but devoted clientele for their whimsical upcycled occasionwear. Celebrities like Keira Knightley and Sarah Jessica Parker have worn one-of-a-kind pieces crafted from innovative next-gen materials. They’ve avoided traditional wholesale, focusing instead on direct-to-consumer and made-to-order sales. The business is profitable, they say, with annual turnover around £200,000.

But launching a fashion brand from scratch is never easy—especially one committed to responsible production. Several of McDowell’s peers closed their businesses last year, a harsh reality they’re well aware of. “Last year was tough, so this award came at the perfect time. It kept me going,” they say. Beyond the luxury slowdown, global politics disrupted supply chains and threatened sustainability progress. For McDowell, it was also a period of personal change—their five-year collaboration with Pinko ended, and they were switching suppliers and collaborators. “At the end of the day, I’m just someone in my twenties wondering if this is all the right path.”

### A Shifting Perspective on Sustainability

McDowell’s first creation was a school bag upcycled from old jeans—not out of deep environmental concern, but necessity. Growing up in a working-class Liverpool suburb, they couldn’t afford new materials. If they wanted to make something, they had to find free alternatives.

Throughout high school, McDowell funded creative projects by selling upcycled bags to classmates, teachers, and family friends. By 15, their makeshift business landed them a spot on Young Apprentice, a teen spin-off of The Apprentice, where contestants competed for a £25,000 investment from Alan Sugar. McDowell reached the finals before hearing Sugar’s famous “You’re fired.” Soon after, they moved to London to study at Central Saint Martins (CSM).

During their third year at CSM, McDowell interned for Christopher Bailey at Burberry—an experience that gave them insight into the fashion industry’s inner workings and its growing waste problem. They pieced together garments from scrap fabric…

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(Note: The original text cuts off mid-sentence, so I’ve ended the rewrite at the same point.) Let me know if you’d like any refinements!Patrick McDowell first caught Burberry’s attention by making two toy rabbits for the creative director’s daughters – a clever move that secured permission to use leftover Burberry fabric in their graduate collection. This marked the beginning of McDowell’s commitment to upcycling, which became central to their brand when they officially launched after graduating in 2018.

In 2020, Italian womenswear label Pinko hired 23-year-old McDowell as a consultant to lead their upcycled archival capsule, Reimagine Pinko, later promoting them to Sustainability Design Director. “I was so young when I started with Pinko,” McDowell recalls. “It felt like an incubator—testing small collections before expanding the approach across more of their line.”

McDowell emerged alongside a wave of London designers, like Phoebe English and Bethany Williams, who prioritized sustainability. Quickly becoming a voice for eco-conscious fashion, they spoke on panels and in the press. “I was terrified of making mistakes,” they admit. “I already felt guilty about producing clothes, knowing the contradiction. It took time to shake off that imposter syndrome.”

Rather than mass production, McDowell built their business on made-to-order pieces to minimize waste. Their sustainability approach has matured as the industry recognizes flawed solutions—like recycled polyester from plastic bottles, once praised but now understood to be better reused as bottles. “Sustainability isn’t one answer—it’s a mix of solutions,” they explain. “There are many paths, and that’s okay.”

Upcycling remains key, especially for its storytelling potential—breathing new life into wedding dresses or firefighter uniforms. Their upcoming London Fashion Week collection will be 30-40% upcycled, with the rest using innovative materials like Circ’s recycled textiles, Ecovative’s mushroom leather, and Sparxell’s plant-based iridescent pigments. Occasionally, they also source silk from a small Italian family-run mill.

“Material innovators struggle because brands want proof of concept—they wait for others to test it first,” McDowell notes. “We’ve made it our mission to pioneer these materials, figuring out how to make them desirable. If sustainable fashion isn’t beautiful, people won’t embrace it.”

### A Bespoke Business Model
McDowell focuses on small-scale UK production, debuting collections each September and producing 10-20 units per design. Clients visit their London studio for fittings, with each piece embroidered with their name and a unique number. While most sales are custom, they’re considering select wholesale partners to grow globally—with the long-term goal of local manufacturing wherever they retail, alongside repair and redesign services.

McDowell wears a custom blazer crafted from leftover Pr… [text cuts off]The Prince of Wales check fabric was donated by Burberry for their graduate collection in 2018.

Focusing on custom-made garments has helped McDowell transition into larger-scale production—something they initially found challenging. “At first, I had no idea what I was doing. All my internships were in design, so I lacked production experience,” they explain. “It took me a while to find my footing.”

As their reputation grew, McDowell struggled to keep pace. “The brand was gaining recognition, but my skills weren’t keeping up. When you’re used to making everything yourself, outsourcing production feels completely different. Without someone guiding you, it can be overwhelming. I used to wish for success sooner, but the truth is, I wouldn’t have been ready. Those seven years of growth were exactly what I needed.”

Taking their time has given McDowell a clearer sense of their identity and their customers’ tastes. While London is known for its edgy, grunge-inspired talent, McDowell has attracted a different following. Transgender model and activist Munroe Bergdorf is a fan, and Lady Gaga wore Patrick McDowell on the cover of Elle last February.

More recently, American actress Parker wore a Patrick McDowell original in the latest season of And Just Like That, the Sex and the City spin-off. The fabric, as with many of McDowell’s designs, was provided by long-time collaborator Tencel—just as it was when they dressed former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger for The Fashion Awards in 2023.

“I wish I could say there was a strategy behind it, but sometimes the right opportunities just come to you,” they say. “You wouldn’t believe how many discussions never materialize. Now, I trust my instincts more, so I know which opportunities are worth the extra effort.”