Emilia Wickstead Is an Example of What Commercial Should Look Like

Photo Credit: @emiliawickstead / Instagram

The Emilia Wickstead Spring 2021 collection focused more on how realistic commercial the clothes are rather than the artistic element. But that doesn’t mean it is bad or boring. The designer wanted to create pieces that could be worn in multiple ways and situations. And she did achieve that.

Wickstead decided to revisit old and classic styles from the brand, and also to deconstruct and play with the shirt and skirt silhouettes. This happened partially because she was inspired by the work of Lucien Gauthier, a French photographer that loved Tahiti and the Tahitian traditional women’s dress. The 90s minimalism, and Peter Lindbergh’s photos from the era also influenced the clothes. But what catapulted this collection was the 1921 nonfiction book Faery Lands of the South Seas by James Norman Hall and Charles Bernard Nordhoff, which references the designer’s homeland of New Zealand.