Photographed by Daniel Goode

'Smooth and Agreeable’

The word ‘soft’ started its origins in the Proto-Indo-European root ‘sem-‘, the source of the words ‘seem’ and ‘same’ and in etymological terms it means ‘as one, together with’ (also ‘sym’ from words like ‘sympathy’) and so it swung around to imply ‘smooth and agreeable’. Eventually forming the West Germanic ‘semfte’ and also the Old Saxon ‘safti’ and onto Old English ’softe’. Italians associate it with death and illness, they have ‘morbido/a’ to explain something as soft, which comes from the Latin ‘morbidus’ which was roughly ‘weakened by sickness’ and transformed in medieval Italian to mean physically soft. Nice. Whereas the French associate it with sweetness, ‘doux/douce’, meaning soft and sweet variously. Much more agreeable.

Our March release is centred on softness. Transitional pieces that are softly textured and softly coloured. They stretch beyond merely being smooth and agreeable into sensual and luxurious, the effect of generous helpings of our friends cashmere, silk and merino.

The knitwear drives the collection - the pure cashmere Eloise cardigan has cabled rails that twist and overlap sparingly adding intrigue, the sleeve is just slightly belled to well up near the hand. The Eloise tank, also in pure cashmere, features the same patterning with beautiful, subtle shaping and fine knitted straps. The colours are an aged, muted, animalistic brindly brown, a deep and sober forest green and a layered, inky navy. Also in cashmere is Ange, a sweater with a louche long shoulder drop, a high neck, wide sleeve and detailed with a beautiful raised seam expression at the shoulder and hand. Ange comes in Navy and Oat.

In superfine Merino knits we have the favourite Cass quarter zip and roll neck back in black and espresso brown but what’s new is Daisy - a low round neck with a deliberate and eye-catching doubled ribbed edge set against a semi-fitted shape. Daisy comes in black and our house favourite moss.

There is the new Alana skirt in pure silk, a maxi, bias cut for some ‘slink’ and and cleverer exposed sheer silk georgette as if its inner working were exposed, beautifully constructed with fully bagged seams. As an idea Alana is connected to the new Faye top, a shifty, playful off-shoulder bodice top in a stretch silk, it features tidy French seams and a decorative exposed silk organza trim at the neck a-la-bias-tape (in olive and black).

Also in the dressy zone we have the Roberta halter top (which will sit perfectly with the skirts), and the Roberta mini dress. The woody brown silk was made in Italy by one of our favourite weaving partners with custom placed tufted paisley jacquards. Two exquisitely feminine pieces with fragility and strength at once.

Molto morbido.