This season was all about contrasts for Emilio de la Morena. Juxtaposing light and dark, soft and hard, the Spanish designer came up with two very different women for his collection. One was softer, accessible and nice, while the other was, in his words, “nasty”. Geometric panelling appeared through the collection, incorporated into dresses, jackets, blouses and skirts. The resulting varying levels and cut away sections were accompanied by layering and pleating which gave a sense of flow to the mainly strict contouring. Fabrics were leathers, cottons, silks and crochet wools which came in mainly black, although reds, purples and white were also spread thinly across the season. Detailing included ruffled collars, simple, repetitive line prints and embroidery in the form of more geometrics.

Dazed Digital: What was the starting point for this season?
Emilio de la Morena: It was images from 1870 made by a relatively unknown artist who was actually a member of my family, a long way down the line. I was looking at the paintings and their depiction of suffering. It made me think about those people in history who had a difficult life, and that became my starting point.

DD: So it was quite a difficult beginning?
Emilio de la Morena: Yes actually I was in such a negative state at the beginning that it kind of made me define the girl of the collection very clearly. It came down to two people, one who was very light and soft and nice and another that was quite a nasty girl.

DD: How did that translate into the collection?
Emilio de la Morena: Well we went for the two polar opposites really, on one side realy heavy fabrics, leathers and wools, and on the really light cottons and silks.

DD: Is that where the layering came into play?
Emilio de la Morena: It is where it evolved from yes. We combined the sheer fabrics with the layers of leather to complement each other but also go against each other and contrast, it had to balance.

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