Emilia Wickstead’s Marcasite Dress catches light with hand applied florals

The Marcasite Dress from Emilia Wickstead’s Autumn Winter 2026 collection demonstrates the designer’s gift for transforming a single fabric into an object of considered luxury. Rendered in silver embroidered metallic cloqué, the dress carries an off the shoulder silhouette that exposes the collarbone and shoulders with elegant restraint, the fabric settling softly across the frame like something discovered rather than designed.

What elevates this piece beyond conventional evening wear is the labour within it. Each floral motif across the surface is hand applied, a process that demands both precision and time, the kind of craftsmanship that reveals itself only to those standing close enough to observe the dimensional quality of the embroidery. The effect is textural rather than literal: flowers rendered not as pictorial flourishes but as raised, tactile forms that catch and hold the light with a quiet, unmistakable presence. As the wearer moves, the silver catches differently, sending small glints across the room without ever becoming ostentatious.

The cloqué base itself, with its characteristic blistered surface, provides the perfect ground for this kind of dimensional embroidery. The fabric moves with substance and weight, draping with the kind of authority that speaks to quality in every fibre. Silver at evening, rendered in a technique that suggests both jewellery and textile craft, feels like a deliberate statement about what constitutes true luxury in this moment: not mere shine, but considered technique and the unmistakable mark of the hand.

The Marcasite Dress is available now through Emilia Wickstead online and in store.

Imagery courtesy of Emilia Wickstead (@emiliawickstead).