“A new light, a new energy, a new era”, read Ann Demeulemeester’s press release for SS22. This year, the Belgian house started afresh – after Demeulemeester’s retirement eight years ago and creative director Sébastien Meunier’s departure last year, Claudio Antonioli, a co-founder of the New Guards Group acquired the label with a new vision in tow.

The collection was an ode to Demeulemeester’s design DNA, to the house codes that put Belgium on the fashion map. Aptly riffing on its ‘Corps Humain’ SS98 collection, the line-up lent on monochrome tailoring and layered essentials like tank tops and romantic, slinky dresses. Signature blazer wide-leg trouser, waistcoat and bowler hat combos were punctuated by tailored denim seperates, boxy overcoats and knitted pieces, all in a black and white palette. The looks were accessorised with matching bowler hats and fuss-free, layered leather and canvas bags.

This season – titled Lightning over Heaven – had its founder’s fingerprints all over it, from the asymmetric, deconstructionist seams, to the long decorative straps – which this time around adorned cuffs, waist and lapels – to the hand-written French phrases across garments and models’ faces penned by Ann Demeulemeester herself.