Pauline Dujancourt’s spring collection emerged as if from a haze from behind a semi-sheer screen—a procession of nymphs and sprites who stepped down onto a runway covered in a lattice of white lace and tiny 3D waterlily flowers. Dresses dripping garlands of tiny handmade flowers and chiffon streamers, skirts gently bunched into asymmetric pouffes, it was a collection that underlined again Dujancourt’s exceptional ability to spin an entire world of poetry from her approach to knitwear.

“Emotional textiles through handmade processes” is one way she described it backstage. Some of what she does rivals the skills of Parisian haute couture ateliers—she held out samples of the 700 tiny woven flowers that made up her finale look: “These are created individually using a small loom, with each one taking 10 to 15 minutes to produce.”

She started, she said, from her reading the play The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. It’s a reference, with its woman fashion designer as a central character that has inspired many for years; yet Dujancourt took it in her own way. Drawing on her experience of synesthesia, the visual suggestion of the title triggered her to create a “tears library”—strings of lace and crochet, representing “despair, grief, pain, and relief.”

The melancholia behind the show didn’t read on the runway. Rather, the impression was of a creative talent who’s steadily building her commercial potential as well. After a residency and mentoring with the Paul Smith Foundation (he was cheering her on from the front row), Dujancourt has grown her team in response to growing sales. Now she’s offering trousers, tanks, and little jackets that can easily be imagined slipping into a daily wardrobe. That, on top of the fantasy wedding dresses she also makes to order has made her one of the new generation of London’s great women designer-entrepreneurs