For Spring/Summer 2026, Emilia Wickstead turns her lens to the world of Robert Mapplethorpe — a photographer whose radical sensuality, explorations of
identity, and masterful command of light, form, and composition have left an indelible mark on visual culture. Mapplethorpe’s work has always been defined
by contrast: beauty and brutality, softness and severity, art and desire.

Rather than literal homage, Wickstead absorbs the emotional and visual language that ran through his practice. The collection is a study in opposition: refined yet provocative, structured yet vulnerable. It draws on the quiet power and provocative grace of the women Mapplethorpe photographed, each one a commanding presence — from the intimate still life’s of flowers to portraits of figures such as Patti Smith, to his body-focused studies. Here, the complexity of feminine identity is not simplified or tamed, but elevated
and honoured.