Talia Byre

British designer Talia Byre is too sensitive to a woman’s life and too tuned-in to the geography of a woman’s mind to be so obvious with her stitchings up and dressings down of femininity. Byre’s clothes are not garments about your body. They are for your body, crafted with the utmost attention to the wrinkles of womanhood.

In concept, her fall 2022 collection, titled Duet, pulls from two dance performances with that title: Yvonne Rainier and Trisha Brown’s from 1963 and Merce Cunningham’s from 1980. The friction between the classicism of ballet and abstraction of modern dance is Byre’s driving force; she equates it to her practice: “My silhouettes are super classical but chopped up inside,” she says. Acid greens and lilacs are pulled from the costumes of Cunningham’s dancers, painstakingly dyed to be the exact hue. Other pieces have layered nylon pouf skirts, as if Ungaro designed a tutu. A lavender warm-up suit is outrageously alluring for both its volume and its ease.

In addition, she’s expanded her repertoire to include tight-fitting blazers fastened with hooks and eyes, narrow in the shoulder, arm, and bust, and flaring out over the hips. They are paired with coordinating skirts that look like minis with midi skirts peeking out underneath. Styled with blouson nylon pants, pouf skirts, and even leotard bottoms, the blazers’ versatility proves the breadth and efficacy of Byre’s ideas. Every garment has a purpose, but it only has a life when you make it your own. From a woman’s mind, a woman’s wardrobe is born.

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