Maximilian Raynor designs the way other people write tragedies—one eye on the romance, the other daring you to survive it. A Central Saint Martins graduate, the London-based independent fashion designer launched his eponymous label in 2024, following formative years at JW Anderson under Jonathan Anderson. He treats fashion as full-world storytelling: immersive, character-driven shows that feel like film sets caught mid-scene.
That instinct for narrative predates the label itself. At ten, he wrote to Vivienne Westwood and ended up in her studio, poring over a book of eighteenth-century shirts and learning to treat history as raw material. The habit stuck. British tailoring codes get stripped down and rebuilt through a queer, anarchic lens; deadstock fashion materials get handled with the same reverence usually reserved for silk. hube asked Raynor about the making of his most personal collection, the vision behind the Equinix dress, and what it actually takes for emerging fashion designers to keep an independent label standing on its own two feet.
hube: At the age of 10, you wrote to Vivienne Westwood and were invited to her studio—a rare moment of recognition for such a young dreamer. Looking back, what did that encounter reveal to you about the power of fashion as a form of imagination, communication, and possibility?
Maximilian Raynor: The importance of history was a key takeaway from my time with Vivienne. We studied a book of 18th century shirts together and she explained the way they were cut and how they can inspire modern iterations. Aged 10, it was a wild and overwhelming experience that I’ll never forget.
h: Your work often draws from literature, theatre, cinema, and historical tragedy. Are there particular stories, characters, or moments from these worlds that continue to haunt your creative imagination?
MR: Tragedies inspire me more than happier stories, for some reason. I adore the drama of Shakespeare—Lady Macbeth’s incarnadine hands, the three witches, star-crossed lovers, and all that! I’m obsessed with the epic romance of Moulin Rouge, The English Patient, Love in the Time of Cholera.
