Steven Stokey-Daley, winner of this year’s Queen Elizabeth II Award, said the launch of his first women’s collection brought him joy and freedom.
“I started the brand during the pandemic. It felt really scary to do women’s, which is why I wanted to do it. I felt so alive creatively, like switched on and free,” said the designer, who has long been surrounded by women at home and work.
He said there has been a brewing demand from them to launch a women’s line, which would essentially share the same core as his men’s offering, where there is a love for arts and crafts and a spectator’s take on the British class system. But what was presented on Friday – in front of investor and pop star Harry Styles – came across as something different: It felt younger, more upbeat, and confident.
Harry Styles at S.S. Daley RTW Spring 2025 as part of London Ready to Wear Fashion Week on September 13, 2024 in London, England.
Saira MacLeoud/WWD
Stokey-Daley said the collection was based on the British artist Gluck – born Hannah Gluckstein – and her pioneering gender-bending way of dressing. The artist was known for floral paintings and portraits of her lovers and friends whose style was femme.
“She came from an aristocracy-like family of the J. Lyons and Co. dynasty, but chose to reject that and become an artist in Cornwall with a group of like-minded girls,” he added.
The design offered a new take on Gluck’s genderless wardrobe for the TikTok generation, where utilitarian uniforms and traditional attire were reinterpreted with techniques used in women’s fashion, like pleating, draping, and ruching.
There were also beautiful skirts – some hand-beaded and printed with pixilated prints inspired by Gluck’s floral motif – and a feathered tie, inspired by one of Gluck’s last paintings, as well as dog print separates, statement coats, a floral trench, and lace shorts.
