The directional black and white suit D’Arcy wore to take on London’s Leicester Square (no mean feat) comes from young Albanian-Italian brand Çanaku, which has only been presenting its androgynous, postmodern separates for a couple of years. Inspired by rock icons and founder Jurgen Çanaku’s father who fled Albania in 1991 to give his family a better future, the self-taught designer’s work is both sentimental yet sharp, cutting-edge and classic. Emma’s choice to wear grills – which were custom made by BITTER000000 a week before the event – and a silver arrow lancing their ear courtesy of Boucheron is an example of characterful dressing done well. You don’t need to pull a Zendaya to nod to your work.
This upscale grittiness follows the New York promo leg of House of the Dragon, which saw the pair bring an editorial quality to junkets in hot-off-the-press Celine suiting and double Egonlab denim inspired by a Kids-era Chloë Sevigny. “We’d done a couple of shoots recently that had a slightly sexier, dangerous spirit,” recalls Forde of feeling bolstered in their mission to “do the unexpected”. A marriage of emerging labels (Emma wore Kiko Kostadinov to an interview with Vogue’s Radhika Seth this week) and big-name brand exclusives pays dividends, but Forde’s underlying style directive “to let things be” allows D’Arcy the freedom to interpret looks their way. “Some people can be perfect all the time, but I want my clients to have fun,” explains Forde. One look at D’Arcy – shoulders back, golden grills peeping out – and it’s clear this intelligent, intuitive actor feels right at home.