It’s been a busy few weeks for Dilara Findikoglu: since the country went into lockdown she’s launched an e-commerce site, donated to designers in crisis and entertained fans by casting friends in cheeky cam shows. Despite this, the designer has found time to curate a series of HERO lockdown recommendations – with one exception. “I never listen to podcasts,” she explains. “I feel like they limit my thinking process, which is a state I’m in 99 percent of the time.”

This cerebral nature is written across her work. Since launching her eponymous label back in 2016, Findikoglu has kept the industry guessing at every turn: from satanic orgies to Soho strip clubs, her shows are always the talk of the season. Sets become elaborate, real-life tableaux, and guests are usually treated to a wealth of research on trailblazing women, Turkish history and sartorial changes throughout the ages.

A quick glance at her recommendations offers more insight into the unique visual world she builds around her collections, which celebrate corsetry, vampish glamour and femme fatale looks – always with a subversive twist. From Turkish divas to shows about Parisian brothels, here’s everything keeping the designer entertained throughout lockdown.

“Ajda is a visionary Turkish diva. Listening to her makes me nostalgic about times I have never lived in.”

“Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie are 80s vampires in it. The opening scene is Peter Murphy performing Bela Lugosi’s Dead, it’s so amazing.”

“I’m not a series person at all. I very rarely watch Netflix as I’m scared of trendy things, but I LOVED watching Euphoria – it took me back to my naughty high school years. I also really love Maison Close, a French series about a Parisian brothel – really up my street.”

“I’ve been dreaming of moving to Istanbul since last year, but unfortunately the pandemic postponed it. I found this book in my flat whose title translates into Mysteries of Istanbul. I’ve read it before, but I’m reading it again now to feel closer to there.”