Shown in the beautiful and opulent surroundings of a chandelier lounge reception room in the Royal Opera House, and accompanied by a decadent soundtrack supplied by Horse Meat Disco's Jim Stanton, Lou Dalton's effortless and refined collection stood out. Updated classics in luxurious fabrics gave the collection a super desirable and elegant yet youthful feel. Looser tailoring was a central idea, worn with oversized wide stripe mohair sweaters, pushing a grungier but still relevant and sharp feel. Blacks and dark tones, greys and deep blues, were shot through with the occasional flash of light yellows and off whites, lifting the feel and giving a pop of colour when needed.

Dazed Digital: What sort of ideas were you thinking about for this collection?
Lou Dalton: I worked closely with John McCarthy and we talked about this under current of Russian Mafia. Actually we had both watched Eastern Promises independently and were introduced to how the Russian mafia use their body as a journal.

DD: Their also felt a looser, slouchier element this season?
Lou Dalton: There was this sort of Seattle scene, the kind of Kurt Cobain look that got me this time round. The oversized jumpers being key to that, but I wanted to emulate it in a softer, more masculine way. I wanted it to be approachable for various ages, I wanted to bring those two things together and make them sit. I often worry about doing this sort of soft tailoring because it can look quite grown up, a little bit too mature, and I don’t want us to be pigeon holed, seen as an ageless label. That's why we try to mix with the layers and the volume.

DD: Can you tell me about the colour palette?
Lou Dalton: We get sponsored by Arthur Harrison, an amazing woollen mill in Yorkshire. Their palette is often grey darks and black so I researched these sort of really dark rich colours. And then we did a lot of over-dying to give us a palette. We also had the embroidery that was inspired by the tattoos. I think the mohair just gave it that added flash and also made it a bit younger.

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