“I’ve made this whole collection by hand,” Ronan McKenzie says, not as a boast but as a fact. “Making garments and draping has always been really meditative. It’s like my meditation.”
Known for her work as a photographer and curator, and for founding the gallery space Home, which she closed in 2023, McKenzie launched Selasi in 2020. For years, the brand bubbled alongside her wider practice. Now it takes the foreground. The shift feels organic. Selasi, she explains, has never been forced. It has grown at its own pace. McKenzie shows when it feels right, not because the calendar demands it. Last July’s collection was presented on her own terms; this return feels similarly self-determined.
Endurance is the beating heart of this Fall 2026 collection. McKenzie traces it back to the school bleep test (an escalating timed shuttle run that measures endurance), to asthma and mental grit, to learning through hard work that creativity is “really a marathon, not a sprint.”
The show unfolds in a sports hall, opening with a ballerina before shifting into a running performance. The cast includes Olympian Morgan Lake, close friends, and a former classmate from Walthamstow School for Girls she hasn’t spoken to since Year 11. It’s Selasi people as much as Selasi clothes. “So the show is not just going to be a look, it’s going to be a feel,” she says. After McKenzie discovered she still holds borough records in triple jump and hurdles, she designed an embroidered motif: Queen of PE, undefeated. “I’ve already won,” she says. “I’m just happy to be here.”
Ahead of the show, I caught up with McKenzie to talk endurance, upcycling, character casting, and why Selasi finally feels ready to take center stage.
Alex Kessler: You’re always working across disciplines. What have the past few months looked like?
Ronan McKenzie: I’ve been trying to take things a bit more one by one. Not that I’m doing less, but I’m not sprinting between everything in my head. I’ll have a flower day, a writing day. I’ve also just started working as a florist under my own label, Ronanvillea. But the last month has been very much about Selasi. I’ve made this whole collection by hand, which required a different kind of energy. Draping has always been really meditative for me. It’s like my meditation. It’s felt like a luxury to spend time with the fabrics and really craft each look.
Why does now feel like the right time to bring Selasi forward?
Selasi has been bubbling for years, and in the last year it bubbled over to a point where I can’t keep calling it my side thing. It’s the longest project I’ve worked on. I just wanted to give it a chance and give myself a chance. I’ve never forced it. It’s always been organic.
Has your process evolved?
The feeling hasn’t changed. It’s always been about tactility and connection. But technically, yes. I didn’t study fashion design, so I’ve learned through doing. In the beginning I’d drape shapes that would fall apart if you took the pins out. This time I challenged myself to make fully finished garments that still hold that draped energy. I’ve been doing a lot of hand sewing, which helps me achieve the look I want while making sure the pieces actually stay together.
What sparked this collection?
Endurance. That word summarizes the last few years for me. I kept thinking about the bleep test at school and how creativity is really a marathon, not a sprint. Sport has real parallels with making work. You train, you push, you build stamina. It can be tempting to sprint in fashion, but perseverance is what prevails.
Talk to us about the materials and silhouettes.
I’ve only worked with archive fabrics and materials I already had. I went back to my secondary school and got old track jackets and basketball kits. Browns and beiges are my bread and butter, but you’ll see bottle green and yellow from my school uniform. Leather comes back in a more sculptural way. There’s a boiled wool gown with a hand-sewn pinched technique I’ve developed. There’s power and volume, but also slinkier, athletic shapes. Because I limited myself to existing fabrics, some pieces are one-offs. That constraint pushed me creatively.
Casting feels central. Why?
It’s not about projecting Selasi onto people. It’s about who they become when they put the pieces on. I have Morgan Lake walking, friends, collaborators, and a girl from my school wearing a look made from old PE polos. It’s very much about people and embodiment.
What do you want people to take away?
I want people to have an experience. Invigoration. Movement. It’s not just going to be a look, it’s going to be a feel. And after, I’ll probably find my nephew first. I’ve already won. I’m just happy to be here.
What happens after the show?
I’ll probably find my nephew Isaiah first. Then my friends and family. It might be overwhelming. I’ve never done the designer run-out wave before!
