Worn by Rihanna, seen on the cover–and in the pages–of British Vogue (Yasmin Finney wore an azure minidress for the December 2022 issue), Supriya Lele’s trajectory has reached far beyond her London studio. And after a hiatus from the London Fashion Week schedule, the British-Indian designer now has hit another milestone: a collaboration with Mango, launching 5 June.
“Hopefully this will be the beginning of a slow reintegration in whatever way feels right,” Lele tells Vogue of working with the Spanish retailer as the first partner of the Mango Collective, a platform “dedicated to celebrating the creativity and innovation of niche designers.” The union will introduce a new customer to the Supriya universe and, in turn, project her namesake brand to a global audience–a worthy opportunity in this testing fashion landscape. Amounting pressure on Supriya and her London cohort has presented an array of impossibilities in recent years: “It’s so sad that we’re in a position where everybody is having to skip out, step back,” she says of her London Fashion Week pause. It’s no small feat to be an independent brand right now.
“I love making collections–that’s why I love what I do,” she explains of returning to the process of building an idea into a full look. And the Mango collab followed the same tried-and-tested method she uses each season: starting with research and conjuring a direction, then fittings with a model and her stylist, Jane How. “We have the same brain,” she says of How, who first loaned looks when Supriya was showing with the capital’s renowned incubator, Fashion East.
Amidst core archive silhouettes revived from previous seasons–including body-flossed waist cut-outs, swaddling silhouettes and sheer, conceal-reveal fabrications–Supriya was able to bring her longtime visions for shoes, bags and jewellery to life. She was in constant dialogue with Jane and her friends about what people would want to wear. “I like every single piece. There’s not a piece in there I don’t like or that I wouldn’t wear. I’d wear every single one,” she asserts.
From London, they went to the Mango HQ in Barcelona, where they worked closely with the design team and created a commercial collection, while retaining Supriya’s unique “identity and aesthetic.” “Everything that I’ve done has always been about the visual language and the way that it’s presented–and that’s so important to me,” she explains of the “sensitivity” that the team had towards the finer details, such as swing tags and the size of the font inside the shoes. Despite the refined attention to detail, the overall journey was straightforward and decisions were made fast– something that Supriya credits to her adaptability as a brand founder. “You’re a manager, you’re HR… I’m like, ‘can I do my accounts on the bus?’” she laughs. “Then there’s a fancy dinner and I’m wondering… ‘what am I going to wear?’”.
London also provided the backdrop for the accompanying campaign. Supriya tapped Johnny Dufort (who just shot Billie Eilish for British Vogue’s May 2025 cover) to capture the looks in both the studio and outdoors with a nighttime skyline in the background. (This is where the collection’s title, “A Summer Reverie” comes in.) “It’s so fresh and visually arresting,” she says.
The collection only goes up to a size 12, which will exclude a portion of customers. “Mango has worked on inclusive sizing for a very long time, and includes sizes in a selection of clothing from its main collections that ranges from XXS to 4XL. For special limited edition collections such as Supriya Lele X Mango, the collection is very limited both in units and also in sale time, so Mango has also limited the sizing to its most commercial sizes to ensure the best outcome,” the brand said in a statement about the restrictive size range. Moving forward, it would be disappointing for the retailer to not implement broader sizing across the board. This is especially prevalent given that the conversation around size inclusivity in fashion has taken a backward turn in recent seasons.
Loyal fans–like myself–may be familiar with Supriya’s Bermondsey sales, but the collaboration will take her exposure to the next level. In her words: “It’s fun to be able to take it out of just a kind of niche, high-fashion context for a minute and see how the response is.” Here, Vogue brings an exclusive look at the collection.
