Those familiar with Phoebe English’s work will know that she likes to divulge aspects of her creative process in the lead up to her shows. Usually, the designer tends to post her research pictures on Instagram – from choice emotive words to archival photographs of Victorian women in mourning. 

For SS19, she deliberately posted a sequence of images in pairs: a dinosaur skeleton and a tightrope walker; a man playing the Xylophone and a landscape shot of a bridge. “We are merging,” read each caption underneath. This was to be the first time that English’s womenswear and menswear lines would be presented together.

The result was indeed a fusion of the two disparate aesthetics. Male models stepped out in monochrome looks made up of utilitarian separates – wide-leg trousers were paired with structured blazers featuring additional flaps and pockets. Comparatively, her womenswear offering was as romantic and narrative-lead as to be expected: models looked like Grecian statues in delicate tulle and taffeta dresses that folded and draped around their bodies. Nonetheless, as English’s show notes read, the decision to combine the two lines most certainly “marks a moment of change” for her brand.