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For SS25, SS Daley uses the British artist Gluck as the prism through which to create his first full womenswear collection. Gluck was known for wearing tailored and utilitarian clothes, yet often painted lovers and friends whose style was femme. S.S.DALEY follows a similar path, grounded in menswear, exploring the possibilities and techniques of women's. As with all of Daley's work, it's about queering traditions, charm, individuality, detail and the pleasure of wearing clothes.

"Gluck used clothing to curate their identity, then observed the fashion of a lifetime of lovers.

This collection is about the universe around Gluck, allowing us to go deep into the techniques of womenswear. As with our men's collections, every piece matters, designed to create a full wardrobe," says Steven Stokey-Daley.

This is a collection that mixes hard with soft, tailoring and functionality with drape, ruching, beading, volume and flow. A trenchcoat of white broadcloth is worn over a white shirt ruched at its centre, with a feathered tie, the feathers inspired by one of Gluck's last paintings. It's tucked into an organza slip with sunray pleats edged in black organza, over which is a beaded skirt like pixilated flowers - the beads first handpainted, then threaded, in the studio.

Gluck's own tailored uniform is echoed in a black wool day coat, worn over a high collar shirt and Daley's signature roomy pants. A silk twill scarf print of a cross-stitched dalmatian appears on a shirt and matching pleat skirt, slit at the front. Meanwhile, florals on a ripstop trench appear blurred, due to the weaving process: it's trimmed in ecru leather.

Every piece counts, like the sunray pleat long skirt, printed with a sketch of an argyll from an SS Daley knitwear piece. Tweed collarless jackets button up to the neck, while a key-hole tied shoulder sweater is embroidered like a doily at its centre. Knee-length shorts are covered with a crochet that echoes Lyon's tea rooms, the Gluck family business from which they ostracised themselves. Volume is playful, like a cropped trench with a waistband that appears flat from the front, before transforming through cut into the shape of a bustle at the back.

Bias-cut slip dresses are printed with cross-stitch florals, with diagonals of pin-tucks crossing the body from waist to below hip. Indeed pleats become a reoccurring technique, a nod to the tuxedo shirts of Daley's BA graduate collection. A draped dress, originally constructed on the stand using Daley's oversized shirts, has large florals, and modernist pleats that come horizontal across the chest, before angling straight down the body. Then, a sheer oversized smock in silk organza has an off-centre criss-cross of pin-tucks, all fastened with Daley's keyhole tie.

Gluck (1895-1978) was a British artist who rejected their forename, openly queer throughout their life. Their lovers included the floral designer Constance Spry, playwright Nester Obermer and journalist Edith Shackleton Heald, Known for their portraits and floral paintings, Gluck was most prolific in the 1920s and 30s, before suffering a decades-long period of creative block.

Today, their works are held in collections such as Tate, National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum.