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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.

The post 60 Seconds with Danielle Romeril appeared first on Wonderland.

NEWGEN’s Danielle Romeril is a Wonderland fave. Her Cali-inspired SS16 collection, that saw Venice Beach meet Palm Springs, had us dreaming in shades of green for days. The lush tropical clothes aside, nothing caught our eye quite as much as the footwear in all its crazy-weird yet totally covetable incarnations. Courtesy of a collaboration with everyone’s fave 90s shoe brand Kickers, Danielle fused her signature textured and playful style with their iconic chunky soles. The result? A collection to die for. Two parts girly, one part punk, the sandals have been created with contrasting textures, fabrics and colours in true Danielle fashion and that classic Kickers sole is the cherry on top of our California-poolside ice cream sundae. We grabbed a minute with Danielle herself to talk us through the collab.

What inspired you for SS16?

A portrait series called “Farm’ by photographer Jackie Nickerson, it was published in 2002 and I fell in love with the images of African farmers at work in their fields back in Uni, I stumbled upon it again in the library researching the new collection- the images just felt so fresh and relevant. I loved the textures and the layering and knotting. I took the colour palette from a Vivanne Sassen image titled ‘Paradise Lost’ and that is where the collection’s name came from.

What made you want to collaborate with Kickers?

Kickers were such a big part or the uniform of my youth that it seemed like a really fun collaboration to do. I got to delve into the archives and re imagine the iconic Kick Hi and Kick Lo. The Danielle Romeril girl is always out and about, too busy living her life to wear up tight clothes or shoes – so Kickers really works with that life. I wanted to create something unexpected and a bit off kilter. To keep the shape simple and a touch sporty but to really focus on the texture and surface.  

What was your studio soundtrack whilst creating the collection? I discovered this amazing track from a Japanese artist from the 80’s called Mariah, the track is Shinzo No Tobira, it’s a classic but sounds so fresh-everyone should listen to it. It was on repeat for a lot of the collection, I’m sure the team in the studio were fit to chuck the speakers out the window by the end of the season. We played a lot of FKA Twigs when we were working on her bespoke pieces for Bestival.

I also listened to a lot of Young Fathers- they are just so amazing live, hands down the gig at Koko in May was the best gig I have ever seen. On stressful days I like to listen to Fleetwood Mac, Rumour or The Savages.

Jamie XX In Colour was a pretty amazing summer soundtrack and got us through the later nights.

Can you sum up the collection in three words? 

Tieing- Layering- Texure

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Paradise Found

Muted summer greens, blacks and whites were frayed, layered and woven in Danielle Romeril’s heading-on-holiday collection. The NEWGEN supported label has been on the LFW schedule for a fair few seasons now, and this presentation was a sharp offering from a designer who has a real knack for shapes and layers. Together, the looks were skillful constructions of oversized trousers, paneled tie-up cummerbunds, crop tops and sharp hemmed coats. A sheer monochrome check dress covered the shoulder and the knee, while a strapless paper thin black shift sat baggily atop it, the model holding her hands in the gigantic half moon pocket at the waist. Along with highly detailed sling back pool-sliders, with an almost rubber-feathered effect over the foot, the looks were a practical vision of summer dressing.

Palm Springs Eternal

Jackets, tops, trousers and skirts were all repeat-printed with spiky palms, which were at the real centre of the work – offering statement moments in an otherwise beautifully minimal collection. One sleeveless upper was particularly beautiful – with palms in dusty pink and powder green running into each other, while the fabric at the joins seemed to collide producing patches of fray sprouting from the garment. A kick hem skirt in racing green ran down the side, while the words ‘Paradise Lost’ in frayed radioactive green were appliquéd on the odd garment offering covetable, slightly ‘edgier’ moments. The collection was undoubtably really beautiful, skillfully constructed and super wearable. The inspirations for the work came from a series of photographs by Jackie Nickerson entitled ‘African Farmers’. The series itself is absolutely stunning, and you can really see the direct relationship between Nickerson and Romeril’s work here. However, being in a room full of super pricey garms on super gorgeous models, with people snapping away on their iPhones and fishing in their Proenza bags, feels a trillion miles away from ‘Paradise Lost’. The fact that the Paradise Lost vibes were borne out of these beautiful pictures feels rather reductive and misplaced yet again – which is, unfortunately, always the way when it comes to the fashion industry’s treatment of African culture. The Romeril girl would be far more at home wandering down Canon Drive in the LA Summer.

Words: Tom Rasmussen

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