All Photos Credited To T Label
A design label at the forefront of the dynamic, edgy and romantic clothing movement, meet T LABEL. A sustainable, conscious brand that makes to-order pieces from deadstock fabrics and upcycled embellishments, T LABEL’s first collection; The Lunar Waltz is as ahead of the curve as its ethics.
The home of the glamorous whimsical silhouette gloves, T LABEL’s first luxury apparel collection The Lunar Waltz revisits their niche design, this time with jacquard fabrics, disco tiles, and embellished mesh, all of which reframes the brands glamorous, romantic aesthetic into a more futuristic swinging ‘60s vibe.
The iconic items from T LABEL’s range being the Florence bralette and Ray gloves means that it’s only natural that the pieces from The Lunar Waltz Collection are so intricately handmade and detailed.
From mesh structured corset peplum tops with black detailing to disco tile covered dramatic peplum tops with perfectly placed slits, The Lunar Waltz is the perfect blend of a nostalgic ‘60s feeling and an outer space aesthetic.
Appropriately named, The Lunar Waltz is nostalgic in its celestial dream-like qualities, with reflective surfaces and artfully sculpted skirts adorned with abstract paintings. Founder of T Label Taylor-Bea ‘daydreamed of escapism, toes in the sand of California beaches and the glamour of Hollywood in a winter’, the idea of which is tangible in the latest collection which carries a sense of ‘hiraeth’ with it.
The collection experiments with warm, romantic nude tones blended with the primary colours displayed in the likes of Piet Mondrian’s works. These palettes work well with the spring/summer aura which the collection carries in its hints of swimwear.
‘the juxtaposition of the two worlds is noticeable throughout the collection. From fluidity, classic silhouettes with a futuristic interpretation, to structured corsets and 60’s style space-age gloves’
The sense of ‘hiraeth’ (Welsh word for the yearning of a place that never was – a deep, irrational bond felt with a time, era, place, or person) found in The Lunar Waltz perfectly encapsulates the looks we crave to see after over a year of restrictions. The collection offers a sense of escapism, a much-shared desire amongst us all. This was exactly the focus for T LABEL, as they disclosed; “T LABEL has always been about fantasising. These elements combined form The Lunar Waltz, from lyrics by Arctic Monkeys, focusing on the future, admiration of space-age design and the desire of trips to California. These were all my escapisms throughout the beginning of 2021”.
T LABEL describes The Lunar Waltz as a part of a sequel of collections, which is a part of designer Taylor’s desire to push for slow fashion, reminding audiences and the industry that smaller designers have a lot to tackle.
The Lunar Waltz experiments with the idea of slow fashion through the eye of a film director, hence the Hollywood, nostalgic glamorous feel to the designing and styling of T LABEL’s first collection. Portraying the collection in this manner allows audiences time to absorb the details of the collection fully, such as the satin detailing on the structured organza dress, or the matching exaggerated disco tiled gloves and metallic open back swimsuit pieces.
This collection bridges the gap between the longing for a post-pandemic world and the comfort of dreaming for one whilst still indoors, and for T LABEL, it’s filled with the aesthetics of ‘60s-meets-outer-space Hollywood glamour.
Designer Taylor wishes to gradually expand on this collection, stating; “There were things I wanted to do within this collection that I couldn’t do due to time, budget, and running a global business from home. I wasn’t willing to let go of my ideas and miss out on developing the collection further”. All this is great news for us, as it means the excitement of The Lunar Waltz will only be expanded upon in time.
Words By Megan Selway
