{"id":457526,"date":"2026-02-19T15:09:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T15:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/?p=457526"},"modified":"2026-02-19T15:09:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T15:09:36","slug":"william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion","title":{"rendered":"William Costelloe eyes international expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Backstage after the brand\u2019s emotionally charged autumn\/winter 26 collection during London Fashion Week, William Costelloe<\/a> told Drapers that his aim is to expand the reach of the business launched by his father in 1979.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be building a bigger market here in the UK, I want to go into Korea and push the Asian markets, and [have] more brand awareness globally. We have tonnes of potential here; no one else can do anything that we can do and I\u2019m very confident that we\u2019re going to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were loud cheers and a standing ovation from the audience, alongside tears backstage at the brand\u2019s first catwalk since the passing of its founder. Broadcaster Laura Whitmore and British Fashion Council CEO Laura Weir were in attendance.<\/p>\n

And how did it feel to get the first show without his father done? \u201cHonestly I feel a slight bit of relief,\u201d said Costelloe, \u201cbut excited for what the future of the Costelloe brand is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere should be a nice, big standalone Paul Costelloe store in the heart of London, so let\u2019s see,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

William Costelloe held the role of design director for seven years before becoming creative director in January. He studied womenswear design and textiles at the Istituto Marangoni in Milan, as well as an undergraduate degree in fine art from London\u2019s Camberwell College of Art and a master\u2019s from Chelsea College of Art.<\/p>\n

Paul Costelloe showed at every edition of London Fashion Week since the event\u2019s inception in 1984. He was born in Dublin in 1945 and studied at the Grafton Academy of Fashion Design before moving to Paris to study haute couture.<\/p>\n

In 1983 Costelloe was appointed personal designer to Diana, Princess of Wales \u2013 a position he held until her death in 1997.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Backstage after the brand\u2019s emotionally charged autumn\/winter 26 collection during London Fashion Week, William Costelloe told Drapers that his aim is to expand the reach of the business launched by his father in 1979. \u201cWe will be building a bigger market here in the UK, I want to go into Korea and push the Asian …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64665,"featured_media":457528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[981,962],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-457526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catwalks","category-news","editorial-catwalks","editorial-london-fashion-week"],"yoast_head":"\nWilliam Costelloe eyes international expansion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"William Costelloe was named creative director of the Paul Costelloe brand earlier this year following his father\u2019s death in November. He tells Drapers that the business has international expansion in its sights.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"William Costelloe eyes international expansion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"William Costelloe was named creative director of the Paul Costelloe brand earlier this year following his father\u2019s death in November. He tells Drapers that the business has international expansion in its sights.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Drapers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-19T15:09:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/19135813\/paul-costelloe-aw26-560x315.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"315\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gabriele Dirvanauskas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gabriele Dirvanauskas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gabriele Dirvanauskas\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8e1fc56c2498ff4de234b4958bb32f6c\"},\"headline\":\"William Costelloe eyes international expansion\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-19T15:09:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion\"},\"wordCount\":301,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/19135813\/paul-costelloe-aw26-scaled.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Catwalks\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion\",\"name\":\"William Costelloe eyes international expansion\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/19135813\/paul-costelloe-aw26-scaled.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-19T15:09:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8e1fc56c2498ff4de234b4958bb32f6c\"},\"description\":\"William Costelloe was named creative director of the Paul Costelloe brand earlier this year following his father\u2019s death in November. He tells Drapers that the business has international expansion in its sights.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/19135813\/paul-costelloe-aw26-scaled.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/19135813\/paul-costelloe-aw26-scaled.jpeg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"paul costelloe aw26\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"William Costelloe eyes international expansion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Drapers\",\"description\":\"Fashion retail industry news, trends and analysis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8e1fc56c2498ff4de234b4958bb32f6c\",\"name\":\"Gabriele Dirvanauskas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/5d0f29d5c62abbc302dcb5496851e6be\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24ef955875fc645ec78236fe1397e052891f9db1bfc9b4acf6fb0945a86a3400?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24ef955875fc645ec78236fe1397e052891f9db1bfc9b4acf6fb0945a86a3400?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gabriele Dirvanauskas\"},\"description\":\"Gabriele Dirvanauskas is acting editor of Drapers, overseeing content and strategy for the brand, and ensuring that Drapers is at the forefront of fashion retail industry news and insight for our audience of informed readers. She also works on Drapers\u2019 roster of market-leading awards and conferences. Gabriele joined Drapers as fashion editor in January 2020, directing the seasonal buying guides and fashion week coverage alongside contributing to wider feature content. Before this, Gabriele was fashion editor at The Sun newspaper. Email her at gabriele.dirvanauskas@emap.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gabi_d_\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/gabriele-dirvanauskas\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/author\/gabriele-dirvanauskas-2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"William Costelloe eyes international expansion","description":"William Costelloe was named creative director of the Paul Costelloe brand earlier this year following his father\u2019s death in November. He tells Drapers that the business has international expansion in its sights.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"William Costelloe eyes international expansion","og_description":"William Costelloe was named creative director of the Paul Costelloe brand earlier this year following his father\u2019s death in November. He tells Drapers that the business has international expansion in its sights.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion","og_site_name":"Drapers","article_published_time":"2026-02-19T15:09:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":560,"height":315,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/19135813\/paul-costelloe-aw26-560x315.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gabriele Dirvanauskas","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gabriele Dirvanauskas","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion"},"author":{"name":"Gabriele Dirvanauskas","@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8e1fc56c2498ff4de234b4958bb32f6c"},"headline":"William Costelloe eyes international expansion","datePublished":"2026-02-19T15:09:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion"},"wordCount":301,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/19135813\/paul-costelloe-aw26-scaled.jpeg","articleSection":["Catwalks","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion","url":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion","name":"William Costelloe eyes international expansion","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/19135813\/paul-costelloe-aw26-scaled.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-02-19T15:09:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8e1fc56c2498ff4de234b4958bb32f6c"},"description":"William Costelloe was named creative director of the Paul Costelloe brand earlier this year following his father\u2019s death in November. He tells Drapers that the business has international expansion in its sights.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/19135813\/paul-costelloe-aw26-scaled.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/19135813\/paul-costelloe-aw26-scaled.jpeg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"paul costelloe aw26"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/product-and-trends\/catwalks\/william-costelloe-eyes-international-expansion#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"William Costelloe eyes international expansion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/","name":"Drapers","description":"Fashion retail industry news, trends and analysis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8e1fc56c2498ff4de234b4958bb32f6c","name":"Gabriele Dirvanauskas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/5d0f29d5c62abbc302dcb5496851e6be","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24ef955875fc645ec78236fe1397e052891f9db1bfc9b4acf6fb0945a86a3400?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24ef955875fc645ec78236fe1397e052891f9db1bfc9b4acf6fb0945a86a3400?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gabriele Dirvanauskas"},"description":"Gabriele Dirvanauskas is acting editor of Drapers, overseeing content and strategy for the brand, and ensuring that Drapers is at the forefront of fashion retail industry news and insight for our audience of informed readers. She also works on Drapers\u2019 roster of market-leading awards and conferences. Gabriele joined Drapers as fashion editor in January 2020, directing the seasonal buying guides and fashion week coverage alongside contributing to wider feature content. Before this, Gabriele was fashion editor at The Sun newspaper. Email her at gabriele.dirvanauskas@emap.com.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gabi_d_\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/gabriele-dirvanauskas\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/author\/gabriele-dirvanauskas-2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64665"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457526"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":457555,"href":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457526\/revisions\/457555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drapersonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}