Above The Carnival

There’s no drama at Isa Arfen. Founder and designer Serafina Sama speaks to alice franklin about celebrating our differences through style, and why we need to break down walls, rather than build them up.

- Alice Franklin

THERE ARE MANY brands that come thundering on to the sartorial merry-go-round each season; of these, a rare one or two may find the stars converge and they’re able to take that momentum to create a label that lasts, but the majority take a single turn on the carousel before finding themselves cast on to the scrap heap of last season’s names. Then there are those interesting few that arrive with relatively little fanfare, stepping noiselessly on to fashion’s dizzying ride and quietly settling in to create and craft. Isa Arfen joins the ranks of the latter.

Serafina Sama’s eponymous line (Isa Arfen is an anagram of Serafina) came together in the autumn of 2011, when Sama felt it was time to step into her role as designer following success with a privately launched line among friends and with experience working alongside maisons including Chloé, Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton. A discreet presentation was offered for spring/ summer 2013 and Sama’s signatures blossomed over the coming seasons. Fast forward to 2017 and the Isa Arfen woman is certain of a thing or two: the classic is nothing without a deft hint of eccentricity, fabric and fit come without compromise, and throw-away fashion is for other people.

Each of these concerns has its roots in Sama’s heritage. A childhood spent in Ravenna, eastern Italy, gave Sama her earliest education in style, while a move to study at London’s revered Central Saint Martins brought a brand new vision of fashion’s unique landscape. Stints working in New York, Milan and Paris followed, before Sama found her way back to London’s rain-washed pavements.