You once sent me a card in the mail
With an elegant deckled edge
That said
“I play music and swoon about and dream of utopia’s
Where it is always 11/4/2017
In the middle of autumn forever.”

––

Michael Stukan's graduate collection, six menswear looks worn by dancers of the Royal Ballet, mark a series of collaborations with select fabricators and practitioners chosen by the designer. A bespoke drawing by London-based illustrator Jessica Bird is presented as an 11 colour screenprint on silk organza that comprises the back of look 1. A fully-fashioned jockstrap knitted in a viscose rib is shrouded in Swiss guipuire lace. Five layers of swirling suiting make up a tailored ode to Robert Capucci. A contemporary take on goldwork embroidery done by Juliet Ferry spirals around a model's thigh in a nod to the potter's wheel. A triple layer viscose trompe l'oeil cardigan is paired with a screenprinted silk habotai ceramic-shaped skirt. Fuchsia pink patent lambskins comprise a dress that replicates the form of Ohr vases. The finale look, as worn by ballet superstar Edward Watson, is a bicolour silk moiré concertina wedding dress made with 38 metres of cloth that took five weeks to weave at one of the oldest silk mills in Como.

Photographed by Jack Johnstone
Modelled by Leo Dixon, Harper Dammann Smith, Aheem Sosa, Harris Bell, Téo Dubreuil & Edward Watson
Hair by Ben Grace & Carlo Avena
Makeup by Elaine Lynskey