Since Chet Lo’s departure from the Fashion East incubator, the brand has fostered an instantly recognisable design language built around spiky knitwear in ravey kaleidoscope tones. Where last season saw the Asian-American designer elevated their signatures via a sophisticated tale of sexual desire, this season Lo turned to heritage for inspiration. Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Army stood at the centre of Lo’s collection, recalling a childhood spent admiring the preserved statues representing an afterlife-protecting force made up of over 8,000 soldiers under the rule of the first emperor of unified China in 221-220 BCE.

Centuries later, these statues are reincarnated in Lo’s signature: spiked and louche. Playing with the balance and scale of the brand’s famed spikes saw new silhouettes introduced as prickly details ran down the sleeves of hoodies, the seams of trousers and the back’s centre (à la T-Rex). All-over spikes sat atop dresses and co-ords which clung tightly to the body while thigh-skimming jersey minis were subtly ribbed and complete with spiky hoods. Fractured snakeskin prints, asymmetrical leather and plush velvet punctuated an otherwise predominantly thorny offering, arriving in a colour palette of burnt oranges and chocolate browns inspired by the work of German visual artist Gerhard Ritcher.

Silver hardware chimed on hooded jumpers or floor-sweeping dresses in an ode to soldiers’ armour and headdresses reinterpreted the stone helmets of the Qin dynasty. Meanwhile, shimmering, spidery knitwear arrived in delicate transparency, creating a direct opponent to the austerity of armour. On foot, Lo’s Charles & Keith collaboration made its debut as ballet flats and sling-back heels were given a spiky subversion over socks provided by Pantherella – ensuring the designer’s army was prepared for battle.