Paula Einfalt's Fashion Empire to Debt: A Designer's Resilient Debut

Paula Einfalt, a Croatian-born designer based in Paris, has launched her first collection outside Central Saint Martins (CSM) for Spring/Summer 2027, photographed by Alessandro Raimondo and styled by Rebecca Perlmutar for AnOther. Her parents founded the brand Skandal in the 1990s, building it into 32 shops before the 2007 economic crisis led to bankruptcy, her father's death, and Einfalt inheriting his debt. Despite this, she pursued fashion, accidentally applying to knitwear at CSM before studying bags and accessories at London College of Fashion. Her father died the year she entered CSM; a Sarabande scholarship and support from the British Fashion Council enabled her to stay. She made the collection for about €2,000 using deadstock fabrics from Paris, selling direct-to-consumer via Instagram. The collection blends lace, Lycra, feathers, and activewear, inspired by the 1920s and 1950s. Einfalt, who has dyslexia, sees fashion as her fluent language. She works with an 85-year-old seamstress in Croatia.