“I thrive on crafting characters and narratives in my designs, drawing inspiration from Victorian mourning attire and 1920s flapper fashion,” says designer Jade Robertson, a pin cushion affixed to her wrist like a bracelet. Hailing from Manchester, Robertson cut her teeth at queer fashion brand Luis de Javier, worked for Meg Kim in Seoul during her study abroad programme, and is now in the concluding months of her degree. The 21-year-old’s graduate collection draws inspiration from the imagined life of a magpie in various human characters, featuring bulbous tailoring and floor-sweeping bias-cut dresses. Robertson envisions herself creating elaborate costumes for theatre and ballet. As she puts it, “My aim is to strike a balance between theatricality and chic wearability.” AK
Central Saint Martins
A passionate collector of bric-a-brac, Slovenian designer Lovro Lukic transforms vintage and secondhand fabrics into playfully elegant womenswear. Editors took serious note of Lukic’s MA graduate collection, which featured 1980s-era kick-and-flare skirts overlaid with dresses that bobbed with faux-fur peplums, imagined in kitsch chartreuse, brown and mustard. “Whether it’s a slightly off-kilter silhouette or an unconventional colour palette, my work always carries a hint of the strange and eerie,” he explains. On set, the British Vogue team couldn’t resist Lukic’s zingy faux neckpieces, so it’s little wonder that his next move sees him launching an accessories brand of flocked shoes and bags with his girlfriend, Paula Mihovilović Einfalt. AK
Hair: Maki Tanaka. Make-up: Marie Bruce. Set design: Juliet Caswell. Production: Diana Eastman. Digital artwork: Frisian. Model: He Cong
Like the Beatles before them, a slew of British brands are taking the US by storm with their whimsical dresses and cosy knitwear.The Guardian’s journalism is