Dauphinette FW23: an ode to the fragile and the preppy

Dauphinette FW23 fuses quirky design elements, such as croissant and baguette bags, which are perfectly paired with voluminous, waist-exposing mini-dresses with silhouettes reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. “Fragile” is a reflection of the designer’s state of mind at the time of its creation and development. Many of the objects she was drawn to are delicate and precious in nature.

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Set in an intimate church, opened by stunning stained glass windows, twenty-something founder Olivia Cheng looked to this simple element, as well as 19th century porcelain plates and vintage spoons, to imbue her latest creation with a sense of preciousness as well as strength. Placed like works of art on display in a museum, the collection incites reverence.

Cheng says: “I approached this collection as a moment to pause, reflect and explore what I have learned as a designer and a person during this period of time. In the fashion industry, there is a lot of pressure towards speed and high volume production. It has been incredibly special to really sit down with each of the looks and focus more on each of them as a sculpture. Each look has a plaque that explains its process.”

Dauphinette‘s SS23 collection exalts the mundane and subverts our notions and beliefs about everyday things, as she continues, “I was really drawn to the idea of bringing together all these everyday aspects, these aspects of our lives that have remained fairly constant, regardless of time and seasonality or our development as a society and industrialisation over the last century.”

“Although it was not originally my intention to work primarily with precious materials, “Fragile” is a reflection of my state of mind at the time of creating and developing it. Many of the objects I was drawn to are delicate and precious in nature. For example, we used a variety of chicken eggs, quail, emus and robins”. The designer intertwines the past and the present through her dynamic garments.