Royal Ascot has always been a little bit fashion, a little bit monarchy, and a lot of pageantry. It’s where people dress like they’re going to a Met Gala held at a garden centre curated by the Queen’s hat stylist. And in case your spring calendar didn’t already include five outfit changes and a last-minute hat rental, the 2025 Lookbook is here to gently remind you it’s time to get serious about occasion dressing. Yes, Daniel Fletcher—the Central Saint Martins graduate who’s dressed everyone from Robert Pattinson to Dua Lipa—is back for his second year as Royal Ascot’s Creative Director. And no, he’s not here to tell you to wear beige. This year’s Lookbook is bolder, cheekier, and more inclusive, with edits that span from vintage romance to high-street polish (plus a heavy dose of high-gloss international flair). Ascot’s Fashion Rebrand (Because Style Guides Are So 2022) Once upon a time, Royal Ascot had something called a Style Guide—essentially a polite memo telling you how not to embarrass yourself in the Royal Enclosure. But then came the Lookbook: an aspirational, editorial-style spread that’s more Net-a-Porter than Notting Hill charity shop. The dress code still exists (no midriffs, no spaghetti straps, God forbid a wedge), but the Lookbook is where the fun lives. And if you were wondering what fashion mood you should be channeling this summer, Fletcher’s four edits for 2025 have a few ideas. The Archive Edit: Vintage, but Make It Royal The Archive Edit leans into secondhand, borrowed, and (finally) sustainable dressing—but without sacrificing drama. It’s giving Great Gatsby in a recession. Think rental Chanel, inherited fascinators, and Oxfam finds styled like they came off a Paris runway. “This felt like a natural evolution of last year’s sustainability focus,” Fletcher said, which is British fashion-speak for “let’s not all panic-buy new outfits again.” Best of British: Strawberries, Tailoring, and a Touch of Chaos Fletcher first debuted this edit last year, and now it’s back with even more strawberries, daisies, and politely eccentric tailoring. Imagine an English picnic but the sandwiches are Gucci and your aunt’s handbag is from Self Portrait. British brands—both heritage and high-street—get a glow-up, proving that “Made in the UK” still slaps. The International Edit: Where Ascot Goes Global This one’s for the guest who flies in on a Thursday from Tokyo and attends Ascot on Friday. The International Edit celebrates designers from around the world and even makes room for traditional dress—like kilts, which apparently pair well with Moët. It’s cosmopolitan, elegant, and more than a little aspirational (read: budget for DHL shipping and last-minute tailoring). Prints & Patterns: Because Plain Is Not in This Season Florals? Yes. Polka dots? Obviously. Appliqué fruit motifs? Surprisingly, also yes. Fletcher taps into Spring/Summer 2025’s wildest print trends and spins them into high-octane race-day looks. If you’re not clashing three patterns and a hat shaped like a chrysanthemum, are you even trying? So, Who Is Daniel Fletcher? If you don’t know the name Daniel Fletcher, you probably haven’t been paying attention—or you’ve been too distracted by the outrageous hats at Royal Ascot to notice who’s quietly redefining occasionwear behind the scenes. Fletcher is a Central Saint Martins graduate (naturally—because where else do all the great British fashion disruptors come from?) who launched his namesake menswear label in 2015. He cut his teeth at Louis Vuitton and JW Anderson before landing at Fiorucci as Artistic Director, where he helped revive the brand’s playful, disco-era DNA with a new-gen energy. His work is known for being quietly political, often gender-fluid, and always cut with the kind of precision tailoring that makes you wish you hadn’t given up on ironed trousers. Today, Fletcher splits his creative energy between his own label and a role as Creative Director at MITHRIDATE , a London Fashion Week regular known for marrying British design codes with Chinese craftsmanship. In both roles, Fletcher has become a master of modern tailoring and expressive silhouettes—designing pieces that look just as good on Ncuti Gatwa or Dua Lipa as they do on your most stylish cousin at a country wedding. At Ascot, Fletcher’s magic lies in balancing tradition with risk. His vision of occasion dressing doesn’t beg for approval—it makes a statement. Whether he's collaborating with Oxfam or styling a £3,000 Gucci coat next to a vintage find, he’s proving that race-day fashion can be both elevated and democratic. And this, really, is his whole thing: reinventing British style by taking it apart and stitching it back together—with a little more relevance and a lot more fun.