“To see perfect happiness… watch a Lakeland terrier on a bit of wild country.”

KIKO KOSTADINOV’s latest chapter, DANTE, unfolds as a tender homage to the quiet eccentricities of British country living, filtered through the perspective of the brand’s resident Lakeland terrier, Dante. Part mascot, part muse, and affectionately regarded as the studio’s furry CEO, four-year-old Dante Fanning accompanies the team most days, ensuring morale stays high, visitors are warmly greeted, and every bag is properly inspected. His favourite pastimes include long walks, sofa naps, tennis balls, and bananas.

As Donna Haraway reflects in The Companion Species Manifesto (2003), dogs and their humans shape one another continually through an “unending dance” of shared encounters. These exchanges spill into the rituals that structure everyday life, including the way we choose to dress. Whether it’s the nonnegotiable commitment to step outside regardless of the weather, reaching for whatever is closest, or embracing spontaneous, weather-dictated experimentation, dogs gently usher us into new worlds. They invite us to see differently, dress differently, and experience the familiar through their eyes.

For a design studio whose members come from various places around the world, Dante’s presence becomes a portal into a particular strain of Britishness. He grants permission to explore, reinterpret, and delight in an imagined countryside, picturesque but knowingly off-kilter, whimsical yet sincere. DANTE emerges from this spirit: a heartfelt, detail-rich collection shaped by proximity, companionship, and play.

Debuting within the brand’s own studios, where friends, family, and companion animals animate the everyday—the collection marks a significant milestone. It is the first time KIKO KOSTADINOV presents men’s and women’s together, coinciding with the launch of the brand’s London flagship store on the building’s ground floor. Intimate in scale and personal in nature, DANTE serves as a moment to gather, honour process, and celebrate community.

Menswear draws on classic country wardrobe staples, infusing them with a sense of relaxed formality. Rugby tops, sleeveless cardigans, and navy cashmere raglan overcoats are paired with reinterpretations of traditional outdoor tailoring: grey wide-wale corduroy blousons and made-in-Japan tweed suiting in mustard gingham and grey herringbone. A series of dog-friendly looks inspired by sporting goods highlights the pleasure in blending practicality with refinement. Heavyweight Japanese jersey defines the dog walker uniforms, while lightweight washed-cotton parkas and trousers incorporate packable hoods, adjustable internal gaiters, and leather dog-bone belt loops and toggles.

The menswear lineup is interwoven with denim and twill pieces from the new Levi’s® x KIKO KOSTADINOV capsule, offering a fresh lens on heritage craft.

Womenswear, designed by Laura and Deanna Fanning, reimagines British formalism through riding suits with leather patches, long apron-style shirting with button-adjusted panels, cashmere jacquard intarsia tops with pleated necklines, roll-neck jumpers, and cropped knit trousers embellished with boxy elbow and knee patches. These familiar archetypes are distorted with experiments in volume, structure, and proportion. Gradient tartan and grey printed cotton trousers twist and fold around the leg; cashmere sweaters bear oversized Aran knits that travel across the body; double wool slip dresses and asymmetrical tops blend heavy tweed with ultra-fine wool maille, creating pieces that feel both traditionally preppy and spiritedly DIY.

Grounded in imagination and companionship, DANTE reframes the countryside through a playful, poetic lens, Britishness lovingly distorted and deeply felt.

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