“I don’t want to look like my grandmother,” says Amanda Wakeley, matter-of-factly, “but I also don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard.”

It’s something that perhaps many women in midlife have likely felt, but it cuts to the heart of a problem the fashion industry still struggles to resolve. What does stylish, ageless dressing actually look like?

For Wakeley – a designer once synonymous with her brand of “clean glam” and a favourite of Princess Diana – that question has become the starting point for her return to fashion.

After stepping away from running her namesake label in 2021, she is back with a tightly edited capsule collection for John Lewis, which launched on 21 April. But this time around, she isn’t simply revisiting the past. Instead, Wakeley is rethinking how she works – pivoting from the demands of running a full-scale business and focusing purely on design, while John Lewis handles production, sourcing and logistics.

“It’s incredibly complicated running a fashion business,” the 63-year-old designer says. “More and more every year, I look at designers still doing it [and I think] hats off to them.”

For the past few years, she has channelled her creativity elsewhere – into her podcast ‘StyleDNA’, writing and social media – stepping off what she describes as fashion’s “hamster wheel”. But the desire to design never left.

“The opportunity to come back to my DNA – designing – without having to build the entire business around it […] that’s a real privilege.”

“Lucky me, I just get to design it, and then talk about it.”

Finding the right partner was crucial, she notes, “it was about finding someone who could deliver the vision beautifully, at the right price point.

“That’s not easy.”

Wakeley has never been a designer interested in fame or chasing trends – something she is refreshingly candid about.

“I’m not going to set the world alight with my designs,” she says, “but what I will do is make a woman feel like the best version of herself.”

That philosophy runs through the collection: well cut, fluid tailoring, kimono-style wraps and skinny scarves that can be styled multiple ways. The emphasis is on pieces that work across all occasions and ages.

Summer dressing, she points out, tends to fall into three camps: occasion, holiday and everyday staples. This first drop, she says, leans into the first – weddings, races, garden parties – but with versatility.

“A dress you wear for an occasion shouldn’t just sit in your wardrobe afterwards,” she says. “You should be able to wear it again – maybe on holiday, with flats [and] extend its life.”

Who Wakeley is really designing for, though, is a woman who often feels overlooked by fashion: not young, not old, but navigating the space in between.

“It’s a really fine line, particularly with occasion dressing. It can age very quickly,” she observes.

Mother-of-the-bride style, she notes, is a prime example, often veering into something overly formal or unnecessarily conservative.

“I don’t know anyone who wants to look older than they are,” she laughs.

Her solution isn’t to chase youth or new trends, but to rethink proportion and styling. A bias-cut slip dress, for example, may initially make you want to run a mile, but styled with a kimono thrown over makes it more wearable.

“It’s kind on the arms, and you’ve still got that lovely, effortless, sexy dress underneath,” Wakeley says.

Much of the collection’s versatility comes down to styling details. Sashes and ties appear throughout – not just as decoration, but as tools.

Wakeley notes that feeling good it often not down to the piece but how it’s styled. For example, from her collection she says, “I’ll be taking the sash belt and I’ll be wrapping it around my neck, sort of Seventies style, which is also very flattering, because it covers the neck and it elongates the body so effortlessly.”

Designing pieces that can be worn at any age is at the core of what Wakeley strives for.

“I’ve always loved seeing mothers and daughters shop together. Buying from the same collection, but wearing it differently.”

Wakeley’s understanding of how women want to feel in clothes is, in part, shaped by her experience dressing some of the most scrutinised women in the world.

“[Princess] Diana used to come to my tiny studio when I was first starting out,” she recalls, “those were very special times.”

That kind of direct relationship is far rarer now, with most celebrity and royal dressing handled through a stylist, Wakeley notes. But the impact of royal endorsement remains unchanged.

“It’s a huge honour,” she says, “and an incredible endorsement. When a royal wears something, the images go around the world instantly.”

She sees today’s royal style – particularly that of Catherine, Princess of Wales – as more streamlined.

“She’s very diplomatic through what she wears,” Wakeley says. “Whether it’s colour, or mixing high and low – she communicates through her clothes and she always looks flawless.”

Wakeley has dressed Catherine in the past, particularly in the early years of her royal life, most notably for her first solo royal engagement as the Duchess of Cambridge for a charity dinner at Clarence House.

This helped cement Wakeley’s reputation for elegant and pared-back occasionwear.

Perhaps the most significant shift with this new collection, however, is accessibility. With prices ranging from £175 to £395, it brings Wakeley’s aesthetic to a broader audience – something she is clearly excited about.

“It’s the same design DNA, the same love of fabric just at a different price point.”

This shift doesn’t feel like dilution, but expansion, Wakeley says, an opportunity to reach women who may have admired the brand from afar.

“I’m really excited about that […] Being able to connect with more women.”

For all the forward momentum, however, Wakeley is also reflective about what she might have done differently.

Asked what advice she would give her younger self, “every now and then, stop and say, well done,” she says.

“Because in fashion, you’re always moving on to the next thing. You don’t always take the time to appreciate what you’ve done.”

Read More