February 22, 2025 |
Talia Byre’s latest collection was unveiled in a salon-style setting inside the Incubator gallery on Chiltern street. The designer talked through each look as models sauntered through the intimate space, the paintings of Yuma Radne providing a gorgeous backdrop. The designer had been thinking about the characters that occupy her own life. Like the women in her family, who ran the Liverpool clothing boutique Lucinda Byre from the 1960s through to the late ‘80s, but also her studio team today, who each aligned a look from the collection to components mined from their own wardrobes.
For instance, she herself was drawn to a form-hugging blue knit worn under a striped bomber, while baggy slacks paired with a woollen polo, hooded long-sleeve combo reminded her team of wanting to dress like an off-duty, incognito Amy Winehouse back in the day.
There were plenty of great pieces here. Like a muddy brown shellsuit with toggles at the ankles, to swooshy plaid skirts and long-line shirts with puckering across the torso (Byre is fond of an “eternally head girl” mood, she said with a laugh). Elegant yet relaxed, many designs were inspired by the silver screen, too. Like the knitwear worn by Sandy McLeod’s character in Bette Gordon’s Variety, or Robert De Niro’s trimly suiting in Casino, channelled into clashing plaid shirts with matching ties.
Photography courtesy of Talia Byre.
