British designer Daniel Fletcher showcased his debut collection for Chinese luxury brand Mithridate at London Fashion Week, centred around the merging of British heritage with Chinese craftsmanship as the label looks to realise its ambitions to become a “global luxury brand”.
Fletcher, who has previously held design roles at JW Anderson and Louis Vuitton before becoming artistic director of Fiorucci, was only announced last month as the new creative director but has been working on the brand’s rebrand and debut collection since November.
Last season, Mithridate, under the creative direction of Demon Zhang, offered a demi-couture offering heavy on embellishments and dramatic silhouettes. Fletcher’s new vision for the brand is more contemporary, reconfiguring beloved staples and timeless silhouettes with a “fresh, unconstrained approach to usher in a new era for Mithridate,” explains the brand in a statement.
Commenting on the repositioning of Mithridate, Fletcher told FashionUnited backstage after the show: “I only signed my contract at the end of November, so it hasn’t been long. But I was given free creativity to set a new direction to develop Mithridate into a global brand in the luxury market.
“I wanted to show my Britishness with the heritage of a Chinese founded brand, and that not all Chinese fashion is cheap. There’s amazing craftsmanship in China and the team at Mithridate have made it easy to put together a high-quality collection, from the clothes to the shoes and even jewellery.”
Mithridate starts a new era under the creative direction of Daniel Fletcher
The debut collection showcases Fletcher’s talent for playing with the concept of British eccentricity, lady-like casual elegance, sports uniforms, as well as excellence in tailoring, to offer Mithridate a contemporary and very wearable proposition, which will appeal to a much wider consumer base than the label’s previous collections.
“This collection is about establishing what Mithridates’ core codes are,” added Fletcher. “Taking pieces that feel quintessentially British and reimaging them in a fresh new way.”
On the walls backstage, the mood board for the collection showed images of a young Mick Jagger, actor Rupert Everett in an oversized shirt and tie, Nicole Kidman wearing a pencil suit, Princess Diana, and lots of spots, stripes and summer ball vibes from Cambridge.
This was translated into an elegant preppy collection with a British eccentricity feel, with sequinned dresses styled over oxford shirting, lady-like embellished pencil skirts, which Fletcher said were inspired by Princess Diana, seen paired with sleek bomber jackets and woollen zip hoodies, and full skirts with strong-shouldered tailoring.
It was a lesson in juxtaposition and the art of layering. For women, there were feminine silhouettes under oversized blazers or coats or paired with monogrammed fluffy knits. For men, wide-leg trousers tailored with untucked Oxford shirts, styled with cable knits in pastel hues and leather jackets.
The new Mithridate monogram was seen throughout, adorning double-knit jumpers and vests and shirting, while sporting references, such as rugby stripes, cricket knits and sailor-like jackets added a touch of charm, and Fletcher’s favourite numbers and those of significance to the Chinese culture added a playful element to the collection.
The collection also addresses the idea of bad taste in placing the Eighties and the Noughties at the centre of the mood board. This is best seen in the colour palette that places awkward, sickly pastels alongside preppy hues.
“This collection presents a new vision which is nostalgic in influence, yet contemporary in execution,” added Mithridate.
