'When looking to the ballet for inspiration we wanted to celebrate the innate femininity and strength of the formidable ballerina's who are at once; soft and strong, powerful and gentle, vulnerable and self-assured.'

Lifting the curtain on the creative process behind Aje's latest collection, her key silhouettes from Révérence Summer 20 and the art of crafting her own personal style, we sit down with Creative Director, Edwina Forest, who spills the beans in between appointments in Paris. Captured by Daphne Nguyen, your exclusive inside scoop starts now.

Designed in two acts, Révérence pays homage to the ballet, to form, texture, movement and womanhood. Inspired at once by the classical and the modern Révérence joins dancer details in a pas de deux with oversized tailoring and sculptural silhouettes. When in the concepting phase for Summer 20, Adrian and I were drawn to the duality of the ballet, the juxtaposition of the innate femininity yet powerful strength of its formidable ballerinas. At once soft and strong, powerful and gentle, vulnerable and self-assured, the duality of the ballerina represents the contrasts that co-exist within the modern woman. Révérence is our play on this duality, through the creation of pieces that empower the Aje woman to embrace her own contradictions. Exaggerated volume meets relaxed tailoring, oversized lacing sits next to ornate pleating, the Révérence attitude is at once sanguine and nonchalant.

There is something innately beautiful in perfecting the art of the staple. From Révérence, I will be gravitating towards our man-style shirting, oversized tailoring, and updated denim signatures as my wardrobe heroes. There is a real sense of effortlessness that comes from these classic styles, and the reason they live as perennial muses in my daily rotation. More specifically, I will be adopting our candied colour suiting and ornately pleated trenching.

Personally I have seen myself embracing more colour and print the past few seasons. In particular I have been gravitating towards bold tones block styled. For Summer 20 suiting appears oversized and in bold tones of ciel and fuchsia, inspired by the magnetic contrast of the ballerina, being masculine and feminine all at once. Print has been explored in new ways, drawing reference from the swift dynamism of pointe shoes on stage, and the fluent movements of the ballerina. Though not for the faint of heart, when taking on these bold tones it is important to pair back every other aspect of your look and allow it to be the hero. For those a little more hesitant a print is always a great place to start. There is something so innately feminine about a print - soft or bold - that I just love.