In his spring collection, Edward Crutchley invoked the ancient Greek sea god Proteus as he was thinking through his spring collection.

“Even though it’s about ancient Greek mythology, there are no references. We’re not seeing a toga coming down the runway,” he began. “But it’s very much based around Proteus and how he cannot be caught, because his body is always in flux.”

The designer continued: “It's about movement—not only physical movement but emotional movement as well. There is this idea of transformation that comes with that journey of life."

Against the rising tide of conservatism, Crutchley wove protean sea tropes into his always non–gender specific collection. “Beauty. I always think that’s the best way to protest. Make something beautiful that expresses your sentiment. That’s the way to win people around to show them what you believe, in the most beautiful way possible.”

The collection was full of colour and texture. A blend of gauzy semitransparencies, ripples of shimmery holographic sequin embroideries, deep sea blue taffetas, and body-clinging knit dresses with bubble-form holes engineered into them.

Crutchley is probably one of the luxury fashion industry’s leading experts in fabric sourcing and development—he has worked with Kim Jones for many years, at Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and now Fendi couture. But the point for him with this collection was to channel what he believes in, on his own British turf: the glorifying of the openness of a tide of positive change that cannot be turned back.