Aphid FW18 Is A Strictly Female Exploration Of Confidence And Power

Aphids may be pests to the gardener, but so too would be the average vegan if you shrunk her to six millimeters and sent her in search of dinner on Mr McGregor's vegetable patch. When you discard all prejudice, however, the little green critters are actually kind of beautiful. Even more so when you learn that their strictly female insect colonies reproduce perfect replicas of themselves without the need for males. Feminist vegans of the microcosm – iconic.

British brand Aphid was inspired by this very sense of female empowerment, designing clothes that represent natural strength, power and confidence via beautifully sculpted, strong silhouettes. Its Fall/Winter 2018 “Rituals” collection explores formal dressing, heavily influenced by Asian ceremonial dress codes, in particular the hakama trousers of traditional Japanese cultural events.

The result is a bold, yet wearable, collage of form, color and texture. It's both formal and festive, contrasting relaxed printed suits with attention-grabbing foil-metallic gowns.

View the lookbook in the gallery above and head to Aphid to shop the current collection.

Next up, HBX shoots buzz-worthy NYC brand Danielle Guizio's SS18 key pieces.