Dilara Findikoglu loves to pierce a hole in reality and tear open worlds within worlds. “They say that women are from Venus, and so, in an at of spiritual rapture, to Venus we return,” read the show notes – the portal for Dilara’s Venus was in the underground club space of Electrowerkz, a burning red hue lighting the way. Backstage, a mantra was pinned on the wall: “MEDIEVAL ROCKSTAR, MOODY BUT ETHEREAL, DON’T GIVE A FUCK BUT HYPNOTIZE”

Fighting back by celebrating within, this season saw Dilara “disengage and define our own” – sometimes you have to take a step back from fighting the good fight, and take a moment to recharge. And so the designer looked towards Venus, the goddess of beauty, love and feminine desire who is said to have been born in the sea, emerging from an oyster. Mirroring this oceanic birth, models stepped onto the runway in alluring looks crafted with seashells, pearls and intricately embellished safety pins that rippled and glistened like waves beneath the sun. Lara Stone wore a black leather snakeskin look braided and tied from all sides (did anybody else think of The Substance?), while others wore garments crafted from sheer chiffon, corsetry and braided hair. Chainmail tassels hung from gloves, cinched business tailoring was deconstructed – physically and metaphorically – and the tightest of leather trousers peeled open at the waist with vampish rockstar allure. Through embellished headphones Dilara’s women listened to the ethereal sounds of their home – blaring, thumping techno – carrying beat-up Chuck Taylors that looked like they’d been washed up at sea, heavily distressed – as they should be – and customised with safety pins, coloured laces and seaweed-like fabrics.

Here comes Dilara’s Birth of Venus – a model whose long red hair cascaded across her body – shortly followed by the incredible closing look: a leather moulded “naked dress” shaped around the body constructed in collaboration with leather artisans Whitaker Malem and meticulously illustrated with blood-red graphics hand-etched by tattoo artist Jonah Slater.