The Underground Runway That Smelled of Style and Saint-Nectaire

There are few places in London that feel more everyday than a Tube platform. The hum of commuters, the metallic echo of trains, the gentle scent of diesel and determination. But for one evening at Charing Cross Underground Station, that familiar rhythm gave way to something unexpected. Beneath the city’s pavements, the worlds of food and fashion collided in a show that could only be described as gloriously eccentric.

Hosted by CNIEL, the French Dairy Interbranch Organisation, and supported by the European Union, the event transformed one of London’s busiest stations into a subterranean fashion gallery. In partnership with University of the Arts London, a group of young designers presented a collection inspired entirely by French cheese. Eighteen creations strutted down the platform, each one drawing from the textures, tones and temperaments of France’s most celebrated fromages.

It was absurd. It was brilliant. And it was very, very French.

Students from UAL’s Foundation Diploma in Art and Design took the brief and ran with it, reimagining Brie as a sculpture, Tomme de Savoie as couture, Saint-Nectaire as a molten volcano of fabric and light. Their work blurred the boundaries between gastronomy and design, turning humble cheese into a muse for modern artistry. One look rippled like melted Brie stretching between fingers. Another shimmered with the soft, chalky bloom of a cheese rind. The materials were varied — translucent tulle, soft yarn, textured silk — but the ambition was singular: to translate flavour into form.

The project began as an experiment, a challenge to see whether the poetry of French cheesemaking could be expressed through design. What emerged was something closer to performance art. The garments were playful yet deeply considered, balancing whimsy with craft.

Among the standouts was Some Cheeses Really Grow on You, a collaboration between Daphne Chen and Edie Humphreys, who channelled the earthy beauty of Tomme de Savoie into layers of delicate fabric. The Cheese Pull by Pin Cheng Lu turned melted Brie into kinetic sculpture, a dress caught in mid-stretch, suspended between the tactile and the surreal. And Saint-Nectaire – Terroir Volcanic Dress by Jayden Peng pulsed with energy, its corseted shape and molten palette evoking the volcanic soil of the Auvergne region where the cheese is born.

For CNIEL, the French organisation behind the event, the show was more than a spectacle. It was a way to introduce new audiences to French cheese — not through taste, but through touch, movement and imagination. “There are many parallels in the craftsmanship of cheesemaking and fashion,” said Marie-Laure Martin, CNIEL’s International Communications Director. “Both require patience, precision and passion. Watching these students translate that dedication into wearable art was mesmerising.”

The judging panel was as delightfully unconventional as the concept itself. Franco-British comedian Tatty Macleod joined viral sensation Sabrina Bahsoon, better known as Tube Girl, alongside representatives from UAL and CNIEL. Their collective verdict crowned a new generation of designers who, it seems, are as comfortable working with curd and culture as they are with cotton and chiffon.

Macleod’s take captured the spirit of the evening. “Fashion inspired by Fourme d’Ambert is the most ludicrously brilliant thing I’ve ever heard,” she said. “It’s totally British and utterly French. A combination of my two great loves — Camembert and fashion.”

In a world where collaboration is currency, this event proved that even the most unexpected pairings can create something extraordinary. Beneath the fluorescent lights of Charing Cross, tradition met innovation, and the scent of cheese mingled with the buzz of creativity.

The Underground may have seen its fair share of spectacles, but rarely one quite this bold. For a brief, delicious moment, London’s commuters walked past not just travellers, but trailblazers — and discovered that when you mix couture with Camembert, style really can mature beautifully.