Perhaps the most polarizing collection last LFW was Meadham Kirchhoff’s daring and uncompromising vision of young princesses done up in tinsel and veils, taking in ethnic influences as far flung as India and Spain and even macabre filmic references like Tim Burton’s ‘The Corpse Bride’. Fashion editors loved it while the more mainstream hacks bemoaned the lack of wearable clothes. But break down the collection to its component parts and there was much to love from the hand painted leather jackets to the delicate trailing chiffon dresses. In a fantastic riposte to their detractors, the duo have decided to refine on the themes of the last collection, this time imagining Riot Grrls (the original, Courtney Love is a self-proclaimed fan) their hair a myriad of colours and bedecked in exquisite tiaras from Nasir Mazhar, eyes a spooked out wash of glitter, gliding along in some weird underworld where all the fauna and flora has been dyed a sickly hot pink. The tattered moth-eaten lace and dip-dyed dissolving dresses amounted to a sense of lost innocence, indicating something deeply personal for the duo. If the last proceedings were done in a riot of Bollywood energy, this time round there was an almost eerie sense of calm as we took in a strange new interpretation of Meadham Kirchhoff’s twilight beauties.

Dazed Digital: How did you feel about the reaction to last season?

Edward Meadham: Last season there was a really odd reaction, in fact there was this vehement reaction against it so this one was to emphasize that even more and say well fuck you!

DD: I thought of Riot Grrls when I saw the collection and Wednesday Adams

Edward Meadham: This is how my brain evolves, I grew up with these things.

DD: This seemed more serene and refined this time around

Edward Meadham: Hopefully it was both serene and surreal! We wanted an element of psychedelia and refinement.

Benjamin Kirchhoff: When we looked at the lineup, the stronger pieces in the collection were mainly all the dresses and the worked through pieces. The layered outfits were more quiet than what they could have been.

DD: There’s always a darkness with your collections.

Benjamin Kirchhoff: Yeah but I don’t want the darkness to be the prominent feature of what we do. With this collection it was the idea of violence that was more appealing than the idea of violence. By which I mean in the colours – how they’re all mixed up together.

DD: And if you were to sum up an emotion running through the collection?

Benjamin Kirchhoff: Well this season was quite weird because in our studio everything was so calm. But we were unnerved by it being so calm. So I think that came through in the collection.

Film by: Cameron Smith

Track: Teengirl Fantasy - Portofino