Mithridate SS27: Fade to Grey Brings New Romantic Excess Into the Present

Daniel Fletcher takes Mithridate back to 1980s London for Spring/Summer 2027, looking to the New Romantics and the creative freedom that defined their Blitz Club world. Fade to Grey takes that spirit of deliberate self-expression and pushes it into a contemporary wardrobe.

Military references from Victorian and Edwardian uniforms appear alongside theatrical dressing-up, with proportions doing much of the work. Relaxed denim arrives with oversized studs, micro shorts sit beneath billowing trench coats, while shrunken cable knits are paired with broad-shouldered jackets.

The menswear references are particularly sharp. Rugby jerseys, ribbed polo shirts, striped micro shorts and silk shirts bring a preppy vocabulary into the collection, while low-slung cummerbunds and glossy leather belts disrupt more conventional tailoring. Numerical Mithridate motifs appear in leather across shirts and accessories, alongside West End theatre graphics.

Colour is deliberately unconcerned with conventional combinations: hot pink with scarlet, cornflower blue with emerald, navy with black. Striped moiré school scarves are transformed into sculptural accessories, reinforcing Fletcher’s interest in taking familiar pieces somewhere less predictable.

There is also a clear tension between theatricality and ease. Shoes remain largely flat, jumpers are casually tied around the neck and the collection avoids looking overly constructed. Bicorn hats by Noel Stewart provide one of the more obvious nods to the era.

Rather than recreate the New Romantic wardrobe, Fletcher extracts its attitude: mix references, ignore the expected combinations and make the clothes your own. For SS27, Mithridate turns that philosophy into a collection where military tailoring, prep, club culture and theatrical dressing occupy the same wardrobe.