S. S. Daley RTW Fall 2023
Theater-obsessed designer Steven Stokey-Daley is synonymous with show formats that get the audience emotionally engaged: He often does this by hiring young actors to create scenes as if they were in “Dead Poets Society.”
This season, however, it was a one-man show. Sir Ian McKellen opened with a reading of an Alfred Tennyson poem, dressed in a nautical uniform with a book in his hand.
More from WWD
London Designers Go Big on Accessories, Working Deadstock Into Designs, and Going Logo-crazy
Burberry Yellow, Dark Elegance and the Rise of New Talent: Buyers Declare London Alive Again
After the reading, models walked to Kate Bush’s “Waking the Witch.” Stokey-Daley’s preppy shirting and knitwear was matched with slouchy tailoring, wide-leg trousers and sequin boxer briefs.
So far on the London Fashion Week calendar, he’s been the only designer to present fashions for plus-size men that actually fit and compliment the male form.
The womenswear in the show felt more feminine, giving the impression that the designer’s women’s category must be growing behind the scenes. There were silk caftan dresses; skirt suits in ticking stripes; and a long shirt gown layered with a sheer midnight blue dress.
Backstage, the designer said this collection was more of a personal reflection of his emotional state and an homage to his great grandfather who was in the navy.
The family recently received his belongings and the designer found pictures of pinup models which he took away, but chose to depict male bodybuilders instead, printing them onto dresses and neckties.
“S.S. Daley has been in the world for a short period of time, but it has been very fast and accelerated,” said the designer, who won the LVMH Prize last year. “I really felt a huge pressure to sort of prove everything that I’ve done prior to that.”
His approach seemed sensible and timely, with deep sentimentality attached.
Launch Gallery: S.S. Daley RTW Fall 2023
Best of WWD
