Emilia Wickstead A/W 2018

Scene setting: The Australia-born London-based designer got toes tapping on the front row of her A/W 2018 runway show. As guests entered her minimalist brightly lit show space on Great Portland Street in Central London, they were handed whisky cocktails in chic orange glassware, before settling down a seventies soundtrack by Roxy Music and T-Rex.

Mood board: Seventies style was also in the air on the catwalk, as Wickstead took cues from the 1970 film romantic film Love Story, directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal. MacGraw’s collegiate style was reflected in thick check tailored coats and oversized plaid blazers, cute Pilgrim collar dresses, high-waisted wide-legged corduroy trousers and sparkly lurex shirt dresses. Chic campus-inspired dressing for the Wickstead woman.

Best in show: Wickstead has become synonymous with the creation of wonderful evening wear — her pretty florals and exaggerated silhouettes have offered a distinct and intellectual interpretation of party shapes. The designer’s exploration of tailoring worked wonders for A/W 2018. Those high-waisted jeans, cords and oversized suit jackets will will be wardrobe essentials before the Wickstead woman when she takes to the town, before changing into something with more billowing sleeves, and a more shimmering and fluttering finish for dinner.