Tolani Dress

When something is in the diary weeks ahead, the outfit can take up more space in your head than it deserves. This is the piece that settles it early.

Cotton brocade, cut in six panels that follow the shape of the body without gripping it. Buttons run the full length, so it goes on easily and comes off the same way at the end of a long evening. The neckline is deliberately exaggerated.

The two-colour crack print is hand-dyed in our own studio, and the beadwork begins at the neckline and travels down each panel seam. Both are done by hand, which is why no two of these are ever quite the same dress.

It carries itself, so the jewellery can stay simple. And because it buttons through, you can wear it open over trousers afterwards rather than leaving it in the wardrobe until the next big day.