Dawn O’Porter X Joanie is back! The fourth instalment of this collection takes inspiration from mid-century Americana and Dawn’s LA home, featuring showstopping dresses alongside laid-back styles with a distinctly West Coast feel.

When coming up with the latest collection, we were keen to create bold, relaxed pieces inspired by the Californian home Dawn shared with her family.

Whiskey Geometric Print Jumper, Margarita Geometric Print Knitted Lounge Trousers

Having just moved back to the UK from America after fifteen years, I wanted to create a collection that reminded me of the amazing home we built there. California has a huge Mexican influence, and when we were decorating, we incorporated as much character into our 1930s Spanish home as we could. Beautiful Mexican tiles are featured throughout the house, inside and out. When working on these designs, we started there. The gorgeous tile design on the dresses is lifted directly from the floor of our patio. It makes me so happy to wear a piece of our home and to share it with you all.

Dawn O’Porter
Hemingway Embroidered Black Midaxi Dress, Kir Vintage Tile Print Cardigan, Bellini Black Twill Shift Dress

In keeping with each of the previous DOP X Joanie releases, the styles in the fourth collection feature names inspired by some of Dawn’s favourite cocktails - as well as a ‘POTATOES’ slogan tee called Spud!

Spud Potatoes Slogan Tee, Mimosa Kitchen Utensils Print Skirt

Lucy, our Brand Director, flew out to LA to conceptualise the fourth collection with Dawn in her home. Here’s what she had to say about how they came up with some of the new designs and prints together:

"Working with Dawn to design and develop a new collection is always a scream, but this one was the most fun yet. This time around, we were at her place in L.A., diligently assisted by her newly-arrived pups, Meatloaf and Puffin, and I think this range has a distinctly laid-back West Coast feel because of that. Our Californian surroundings heavily influenced the direction of this collection, and inspiration came from all sources: cooking lunch in her kitchen inspired the utensil print and non-sloshing sleeve design on Hemmingway, and the tile motifs from her patio inspired the patterns on Kir and Sunrise.

An old tablecloth at a vintage fair sparked the idea for the knit design on Whiskey, and the mid-century buildings on the walk home inspired The Big Lebowski-style bungalow print on Geentee and Bellini. All the while writing a list of fun slogans for tees - so many of which were vetoed due to Dawn's wicked sense of humour.

We started by raking through Dawn’s extensive archive of vintage clothes, delving into the memories that go hand in hand with the dresses. Sometimes the nostalgic tales that accompany a piece (not all of which can be repeated) are why we keep an item that perhaps doesn’t fit anymore or isn’t 'us' right now, but the moment of the dress lingers on.

While it was an absolute treat to see the stunning red carpet numbers, what we really got into was the idea of home comforts. When we open our wardrobe doors, what are the pieces we reach for every time? Which items do we really lean on? Which items have the lowest cost per wear? What are the things we really should own that do that ‘job’ but that Dawn didn’t have? Her desire for comfortable but glamorous loungewear, be that kaftans or tracksuits, really knows no bounds! 

Seeing Dawn in her natural habitat running around grabbing things that jump-started an idea - stripping off, trying on clothes, jumping up onto couches to look in the mirror (and the associated bloopers that accompany doing so) is exactly as fun as you’d expect it to be. Dawn’s genuine passion for retro clothing and her commitment to her look is unabashed, and I think her spirit and enthusiasm for design both come across in this fabulous new collection.”

Sangria Poppy Print Ruffle Midaxi Dress

Shop the entire Dawn O’Porter X Joanie collection online now!