AW23 The Doll’s House is On Fire

Inspired by the passing of innocence and acts of kindness, the collection drew from a sense of dissatisfaction with the accepted gloom of British winters and a return to childlike fancies.

Moving on from our summer collection, which took music and the outdoors as its main focus, I went inside, not just the walls of the home but into the wooden boards of the dollhouse, designing for overgrown borrowers and peg dolls. Heavier wools and cotton cords worked with vintage lace and hand dyed cotton, upcycled towels brushed against babies blankets and vintage fringing.

The mix of darker natural colour ways and bright kiddie core patterns were inspired by the two film references I looked at this season, the Rankin and Bass animated The Last Unicorn and Louis Malle’s experimental art film Black Moon, both featuring unicorns and an existential loss of innocence.

Designing this season meant expanding on my staple pieces, corsets, regency inspired babydoll dresses and pleated mini skirts, and drafting new patterns for garments I’ve been wanting to create and wear since starting the brand. Parachute trousers, with a cage like strapping over the top and upcycled shoe lace drawstrings were a new addition. Along with a knitted playsuit, reminiscent of vintage barbie swimsuits, knitted up in ethically sourced cream aran wool and matching hand knit hat. This season the commitment to second hand fabrics was doubled, this time sourcing fabrics from charity shops and carboots, as well as using scrap fabrics saved from the collections past to create patchwork skirts, shoe covers and hair accessories.