Chloe: We often look back at archival AllSaints pieces for inspiration for the new season, and what is more iconic to us than the Parachute dress? We have such a treasure trove of inspiration, all the old patterns and sketches. I love looking at them and thinking, what can we do to update it for now? It’s an opportunity to celebrate our brand and honour its history.

Jennifer: It all started when we were asked if we could make it for our runway show, so we found the pattern in the archives and the guys cut it all out. It took about a week at first because they had to remember how everything went together. Then Chloe came down and said we want to do it, but we want to make it more modern. Alan Hassan, our Sample Cutter, cut out the key pieces and then I repinned it together to something really quite simple, actually, but still with squares and triangles, to keep that parachute feeling.

Chloe: We looked back at the original pattern and pulled out all the key elements that we really wanted to keep, like the really nice cowl neck with a bit of a twisted drape, but we have simplified it in a way that makes it more wearable.

Jennifer: It keeps the feeling of the original, which is super beautiful, it was originally draped from an actual parachute, so they put a parachute on the stand and that’s how that shape was created. The new version keeps the billowy effect, it feels really free, like you’re wearing a parachute, and that was really important when me and Chloe were working on it – keeping that feeling and not stripping it back too much. Keeping the complexity but then removing 5 huge squares that you might not need.

Chloe: The original used 10 metres of fabric, whereas now it’s around 5.4. I put the original on and it was trailing for metres behind me on the floor. If you had the original untied it would be completely unwearable, but you can completely untie this one now and you can walk and it has some nice volume and movement to it. Before, it had cotton grosgrain trims whereas now we’ve used satin grosgrain which has a bit more of a luxury feeling, and we’ve added little branded D-rings which adds an edge to it, toughens it up a bit.

Jennifer: It’s been amazing to work on it and re-drape it, to see it have a different life. The construction is really amazing. The way the shapes make up the dress is really interesting and very different, and I think that sums up AllSaints. You wouldn’t think that the pattern pieces would make up that shape, and I really like that. It’s a way of creating something new and that’s because it’s come from a parachute. I think that is what’s so special about it, you can tell that it’s not just a front and a back.