We find out what Danielle Romeril has in store for us for AW16.

Talk us through your design process for the collection?

I had this portrait of Isabel de Valois, Consort of King Philip II of Spain. She is wearing the most amazing red coat dress. The research for the collection was a time hoping mission a magpie collection of bits I fancy -bringing in embroidery. futuristic fabrics, historical costume and putting them through a filter for what my AW16 girl would wear.

What were your inspirations behind the collection?

The starting point was a portrait of Isabel de Valois, consort of King Philip II of Spain (16th Century) and I imagined a time travelling girl that hoped and skipped from 16th Century Spain where she hung out with Isabel to the cult Dutch club Studio Paradiso and to the early 90’s where she met her football ‘casual’ boyfriend and then imagined her in the here and now and going to the future sweeping up the best bits of zeitgeist, from historical costume, to parkas, to football jersey and bicycle sip up tops – she makes it her own looking at embroidery’s, antique looking woven linens, psychedelic prints sporty jerseys and cloth that could be leather or could be satin.
Do you have a standout piece from this collection? Yes, one of our double jackets with sculptural sleeves inspired by a portrait of Isabel de Valois, consort of King Philip II of Spain – the challenge was to look at something really historical and hop and skip it to now and create something a but futuristic with it.

What songs or albums were being played the most in the studio while you were making the collection?

I am listening to a lot of Tame Impala, Young Fathers and BBC Radio 6.

How did you go about choosing the music for the show?

It’s one of the first things I think of when it comes to the show- to get the 16th century reference I wanted a track with the harpsichord – so The Strangler’s Golden Brown will make an appearance. Tame Impala opens with all it’s trippy, dreamy, positive energy surrealness! There is a snippet of Arab Strap – The First Big Weekend of The Summer – which sums up the real life my AW16 girl lives in. She lives life a bit fast and hard, Arab Strap’s Glasgow accent in the semi spoken word chorus brings so much atmosphere. Then there is so Jai Paul – Thirteen with a whopper bass line, because everyone likes a dark party track. I’ve steered clear of Kraftwerk- as perfect as it is for this time travelling ‘casual’ girl it is a bit too obvious in a fashion context. There is an Onra track and I think we are going to go with something bang up to date for the outro like – The Internet – Girl produced by Kaytranada.

Sum up the new collection in one sentence…

A time travelling girl- stopping off in King Phillipe’s 16th Century Pain, Studio Paradiso in Amersterdam in the early 80’s and the football terraces in the early 90’s.