I started work on this collection at the St Martin’s Library. Being back at the school I left in 2012 made me think about what I was trying to achieve when I started my brand. It was a time when working in fashion, to me, involved making clothes on my own and trying to get stockists. Now, working in fashion involves many things I wasn’t expecting—events, award ceremonies, promotion, social media—it was nice to think about the simplicity of when I started and the passion that spurred on the work at the beginning.

In a way, this collection is an ode to fashion. I worked with my stylist Alice Goddard, scouring through the library, thinking about how we’d actually wear the pieces we coveted in fashion magazines—this Charles James dress with that Ralph Lauren jumper; that Anna Molinari slip with this Cerutti coat.

We reminisced about pieces we’d owned as kids and teenagers—leopard print jeans we’d bought at Gap kids in Whiteleys, screen print sporty knitwear from portobello, an exposed popper belt we shared from Claire’s accessories—ideas you’ll see referenced or directly recreated in the collection.

We looked through the MG archive—pulling out pieces that had worked, and pieces that hadn’t-restyling, reshaping, changing the fabric, refining. The result is a collection that feels nostalgic, familiar, grown up, wearable, streamlined.

I chose to show this collection in my studio. Models will exit from our atelier, where the clothes are made each season, into the space we normally use as a showroom. The space is basic, stripped back to the bare minimum, the perfect setting for a collection that isn’t about drama or optics, but wearability and they joy of dressing.

Molly Goddard AW23
Styling: Alice Goddard
Casting: Rosie Vogel
Hair: Syd Hayes
Make-up: Thom Walker
Nails: Saffron Goddard
Music: Earthlings
Graphic design: Rory Gleeson
Production: Blonstein

Thank you: Alice Goddard, Tessa Griffith, Jude Tsang, Becky Stone, Lucy Charters, Hayley Dyer,
Fionn O’Sullivan, Paula Espinosa, Melissa Eis Dominguez, Ellie Stillingfleet, Renata Butiene,
Annie Mackinnon, Kevin Lanre, Daisy Hoppen, Kirsty Coleman, Heidi Hassan, Kristina Cakic, Ben
Brawley, Rory Gleeson, Theo Sion, Rose Parsons, Fin Forsyth, Minna Dubois, Kate Shally, Konthorn
Wutthiwongangkhana, Lily Bellini, Arthur Williams, Tegen Williams, Eli Richards, Ella Dallaglio, Georgia
Pellegrino, Gracie Miller, Rosie Vogel, Janay Bailey, Bronte Elsom, Sarah Edwards, Mark Goddard, Tom
Shickle, Olive, Patty and Frank.