A broken heart, a yellow brick road and front row tears exhorted by a recording of a Belgian girls’ choir doing a rendition of Radiohead’s “Creep”: Ashish Gupta’s AW17 catwalk display—falling on the penultimate day of London Fashion Week, almost a month to the day after the colossal Women’s March on Washington—was the sum of several emotionally charged parts.

Comprised of Gupta’s trademark sequins, nods to the women’s movement shone through in pieces adorned with tributes to Planned Parenthood and the like, while nestled between those more politically charged pieces, a series of universally optimistic statements—“unity in adversity” and “keep the faith”—formed a preview of the designer’s new collaboration with Major League Baseball.

“I was only really aware of baseball as a traditional American sport, something that defines American culture, like Mickey Mouse or Marilyn Monroe,” the Delhi-born, London-based designer explains of his initial understanding of the MLB. “I didn’t know the rich heritage of the game—the teams, the way it brought a range of communities together in its early days. It was a game of the people, of immigrants.”

Lensed here by photographer Richard Dowker and the director Kaj Jefferies, the collection marries an all American palette (think red, white and blue) and traditional sports notes with the designer’s fancy for sparkle and an aforementioned focus on the inclusive.

“Baseball had the power to really influence the American public and reach people in a way politicians could not,” he continues, presumably recognising how his label uses fashion as a similar vehicle. “Sport is a way of bringing people together, and it should be a celebration of the best people in a chosen field, regardless of where they come from, or what colour their skin is.”

Taken from the Summer 17 Issue of Wonderland; out now and available to buy here.