That was the point at which a friend told Stokey-Daley that the stylist Harry Lambert had posted an Instagram call-out for emerging designers to submit their work to him for a project he was working on. Lambert soon called Stokey-Daley and asked him to send pieces from his grad collection for something else: Harry Styles’s video for his track “Golden,” shot in Portofino. “When it came out, he completely widened the spotlight for me,” the designer remembers. “There was a huge acceleration in my orders. And it just escalated from there.” Styles was seen—and obsessed-over by fans—running around in SS Daley’s breezy pleat-fronted cotton-linen shirt and a pair of floral printed Oxford bags.
“They were made from curtains my grandmother found in a charity shop in Liverpool. She was brilliant at doing all my sourcing of vintage materials at that time.” The “Harry” trousers and shirt are now stopping crowds of school children in their tracks at the “Rebel: 30 Years of London Fashion exhibition at the Design Museum.” (Editor’s note: The exhibition was curated by Mower.)
It seems silly to say “and the rest is history,”,because this was under four years ago, and Stokey-Daley has only just turned 27. His drama-led productions have since caused sensations, and Harry Styles has kept on popping up in the brand: his mallard cardigan, a suit, and other things. But with this announcement of financial investment, his support is now of another order. “It means I’ve been able to relaunch my direct-to-consumer website, and take on staff,” Stokey-Daley says. With the new polish of the made-in-Italy tailoring he showed today, along with his signature Oxford bags and cute bunny rabbit and gambolling lamb sweaters, it’s a boost that’s sure to enable him to get to the next stage of fulfilling his promise —and all of the orders that’ll flood in once the Harry Styles news gets out.