There's no shame in designing clothes that everyone will wear time and time again and whilst previously for Richard Nicoll, his staples were beautiful shirting that jaunted into quirky sensibilities, this time round, his repertoire expanded a lot more, fuelled by an imaginary muse (created together with Linder Sterling, a previous collaborator of Nicoll's) and a "70s chic Parisian" according to his show notes. The latter may not be immediately apparent as Nicoll pulls our some unexpected twists and turns by altering proportions to a slightly masculine level and adding utilitarian details like D-ring straps and Erickson Beamon provided some bejewelled bull dog clips that changed the fit of pieces. All of this, coupled with the sumptuous fabric choices enabled by the sponsorship of Cotton USA, plays on opacity and a colour palette of beautiful not-quite navy and duck-egg blue, rust and various shades of grey and we have ourselves a strongly articulated collection that women will immediately want to dissect and mark out their territory.

DD: It felt like you were deliberately paring it down with the collection - was there a conscious decision with this?
Richard Nicoll: It wasn't conscious and very instinctive. I don't feel it was minimal. It was simplicity without humility.

DD: The 70s chic Parisian wasn't immediately apparent - how did this come through in the collection?
Richard Nicoll: I guess the proof's in the collection. I wanted to use the tongue in cheek references to the French aspect by using 70s fabrics like taffeta, moire and crushed velvet. fabric. We looked at photos of Tina Chow too.

DD: And the idea behind the bulldog clips?
Richard Nicoll: They're by Erickson Beamon and they're very much styling techniques.

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