“I was looking through an old Rolling Stones coffee table book, back when they were playing these grand theatres that also put on plays.” It’s this theatrical meeting point between the musical and acting spheres that has always fascinated Dougie Poynter, and now informs his new menswear clothing line.

Named Polonius (after Ophelia’s father in Shakespeare’s Hamlet), the brand’s debut 20-piece collection exists in a world where Shakespearean protagonists rub shoulders with snake-hipped rockstars. Think Jim Morrison’s louche cool, Britpop colour blasts and Leonardo DiCaprio’s iconic Romeo + Juliet cuban-collared Hawaiian shirts, throw these cultural reference points in the mix and what sticks is a playful collection consisting of loose shirting, wide-leg trousers, oversized Kurt Cobain knits and the kind of killer tracksuits everyone should have in their locker.

Having launched the brand’s inaugural collection this week, below Poynter spotlights his influences and design codes.

Mark Felt: What made you want to start making your own clothes?
Dougie Poynter: It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and have done on a smaller scale when I was a lot younger. But this time round I found myself searching the net for hours looking for a shirt I’d seen Mick Jagger wear in the 70s, and then again after seeing someone in a 90s movie, I’d be like, “I want that!” So I decided to just make my own.

MF:At the heart of your collection is a confluence of acting and music – both passions of yours. What do you see as the connection between the two and how are they represented in the clothes?
DP: There’s a few connections. The first was when I was looking through old Rolling Stones coffee table books and they were playing these grand theatres that also put on plays. The second is the romance that used to exist on the Sunset Strip when the movie stars would all mingle with the rock stars. I love hearing stories of when Sunset was booming.

MF: Your debut collection is full of musical references – what drew you to particular bands or periods of music?
DP: I’m a huge fan of music as a whole. I don’t have a particular genre that I listen too, I’m more a fan of songwriting. What I do love though is when a band comes along and changes pop culture and the course of rock history, like Nirvana or The Beatles.

MF: Do you have any favourite musicians whose style you also really admired?
DP: Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Jagger, Hendrix. They all had something magical going on without even realising it.

MF: How do you translate musical and stage references into design ideas?
DP: It all comes from a few giant mood boards full of what may look like random stuff, but then we work out what we actually want to make and it all starts going from a pile of confusing crap to, “Ooooohhh I get it.”

MF: Do you have any plans to introduce womenswear?
DP: Right now most of the stuff is unisex but yes I think with the next collection we will be doing woman specific pieces.

Polonius’ debut collection is available now at iampolonius.com.