The British do love their gardens and Phoebe English certainly cultivated that notion with a collection that unfolded like a botanical almanac.
“The collection is following a calendar year across the year,” said the designer. “So you go from January to December… snowdrops and then we have dandelion, lentils all the way through to holly and ivy.”
As is her sustainable wont, English started from surplus yardage and off-cuts. This time a wide array of silks, satins and tulle acquired from bridal companies guided the all-white creations she presented in an art gallery in Bethnal Green.
Initial looks had the fragile transparency of new leaves, with translucent tops, dresses and trousers constructed from delicately creased panels. Soon enough, the silhouettes nodding to spring months felt denser and fuller, like April’s juxtaposition of cream and white satin cut in a boxy shirt and drawstring pants.
Toward the end, squint and you could imagine the ferns visible in the tulle layers of a suit as mementos pressed between the leaves of a book. Throughout, English departed from the realistic wardrobe she’d explored until now in her collections presented once a year to lean into organic shapes, turning irregular outlines into features rather than flaws.
The result was “an illustration of the beauty of those plants when they’re in their full fashion throat, and the magic that I feel when I experience them,” she said. “Hopefully, they transfer some magic.”
English’s work has the enduring charm of a perennial plant, growing more vibrant year after year from its existing, sustainable roots.
