Reuters: Daniel del Valle’s Thevxlley Unveils The Narcissist at Ladbroke Hall
Daniel del Valle opened his Thevxlley Fall 2026 Ready-to-Wear debut, The Narcissist, in a west London presentation that fused fashion and sculpture in technically ambitious fashion;.
Ladbroke Hall setting and runway atmosphere
The show took place in an airy, light-filled room at Ladbroke Hall in west London. Models moved to strains of classical piano while fresh tulips and sweet peas were tied to their shoes, leaving trails of trodden petals and delicate stems across the floor.
insight: Daniel del Valle's Andalusian ceramics
Ceramics were a persistent motif throughout the collection, an element that echoed del Valle’s Andalusian heritage. Pieces ranged from a chest plate blooming with colorful ceramic flowers to a woven vest constructed of dozens of small pots that clinked as models passed. One look featured a midnight-blue vase — complete with spider gerberas — secured by a ribbon that made it appear squashed against the chest.
The Narcissist's sculptural pieces and the trio of urn tops
The Narcissist included a range of sculptural experiments: a top tufted with living greenery resembling a miniature living wall, a mosaic T-shirt composed as a still life of a flower pot, and what was described as the most striking run of pieces — a trio of urn-shaped tops. Those three tops comprised a blue-and-white ceramic urn, an urn encrusted with shells, and an urn that worked like a shelving unit fitted with miniature, flower-filled vases. Despite obvious weight and unusual proportions, designs were engineered to sit on the body without appearing uncomfortable.
Family homages: grandmother’s sewing and father’s bakery
The collection carried dozens of personal references. Floral embroideries dripping with ribbons paid homage to the grandmother who taught del Valle to sew, while a top featuring loaves of bread acknowledged his father’s work as a baker. Del Valle said he used to work with his father in the bakery and that the bread-themed piece was produced in collaboration with him.
Production timeline and del Valle’s creative practice
Del Valle crafted the collection over the course of three years, working on evenings and weekends. The process involved many iterations and extended trial and error before pieces were deemed finished. He described making as his meditation, saying that even when exhausted the physical act of creating sustained him. That rhythm — a day job in a leading London florist and nights devoted to construction — shaped both the collection’s intimacy and its technical finish.
Where the pieces belong and next steps
Del Valle framed the pieces as objects as much as garments, expressing a preference for gallery or museum display. He said he thinks of the designs as sculptures and considers how they function as objects, not merely as clothing. He remains uncertain about his next move but has an eye on making furniture and said he is unlikely to enter a standard seasonal production cycle. He added that everything has happened quickly and that he wants to remain open, not closing any doors to future possibilities.
What makes this notable is the degree to which a self-taught designer who hails from southern Spain and keeps a day job as a top London florist translated private pastimes and family histories into pieces that read as wearable sculpture while maintaining technical control and practicality.
