Mr Dries Van Noten is one of the most important fashion designers operating under their own name today. With a knack for the more exuberant side of style and a penchant for pushing boundaries, the Belgian designer knows intuitively how to make beautiful clothing that, above all, is a joy to wear.

It brings us great pleasure, then, to present this exclusive Dries Van Noten capsule collection for MR PORTER. Perfectly timed for summer, it’s packed full of palm trees and West Coast paraphernalia, candy-coloured psychedelic patterns and botanical prints, all designed to bring the sunshine back into getting dressed.

“I created the collection while we were in full lockdown, extremely restricted, and I wanted to say a lot with only a few garments,” Van Noten explains. “I wanted to make a scrapbook of summer dreams, playing with cliches. I asked my team: ‘What do we want from our summer?’ It was clear that surf, palm trees, tropical beaches were on people’s minds and I thought about the idea of the postcard slogan, ‘Wish You Were Here’ – it seems so symbolic now. I like the holiday scrapbook effect. It’s a simple idea, but it puts you in a good mood.”

This focus on the American West Coast was perhaps natural, considering that Dries Van Noten recently opened a store in Los Angeles, the brand’s first retail space in the US. “I thought about that laid-back lifestyle, the beach houses, the palm trees, the sea, sky and pink sunsets,” the designer tells us.

More than that, though, the concept of a summertime escape speaks to what we’re all looking for in our clothes right now. “I believe people want optimism,” Van Noten says. “Clothes to wear for life in the future, beyond this. What I’m most proud of is that it’s a collection that points to when we can enjoy the world and travel again. It’s designed with good times in mind.” We’ll certainly drink to that.