Kenza | Designer Panel Relaxed Pocket Midi Dress

All the decoration runs down the centre front — the one line on a dress that stays put as the panels get wider.

Placed artwork is the hardest thing to get right across a size range. A motif set across the chest, or off to one side, has a fixed position that has to be recalculated and redrawn for every size — and it almost never is, so on the bigger sizes it ends up sitting too low, or pushed off to one side of the body, or split by a seam. Unstretchy cloth is the second problem. A crisp woven has no give at all: put it into a shape that's fitted anywhere and on a body the pattern wasn't drafted for it has nowhere to go but into hard creases radiating from the bust and the hip. And a mid-weight woven holds whatever line you cut into it, so a flat straight hem stays a flat straight line all the way round — a stiff rectangle at the bottom of the dress.

Kenza is designed round those facts. Every bit of the decoration — the mocha column, the narrow turquoise and cream borders, the paisley medallions at chest and hem — sits on the centre front, which is the only place on a garment that doesn't move when width is added at the sides. The back is left completely plain, so there is nothing behind you that has to land anywhere either. The cut is genuinely oversized with dropped shoulders and no waist seam, so the stiff woven is never asked to give: nothing is fitted, so nothing strains. And the hem is cut into sharp points at the sides, dipping between them, so the cloth hangs in diagonals instead of holding a flat line.

Why it works

• Decoration placed as a centre-front column: the one line that stays in place as the panels get wider, so it can't drift off to one side.
• Plain, unbroken back: no panel or border behind you that has to land at a particular height.
• Oversized cut with dropped shoulders: a woven with no stretch never has to give, because nothing is fitted for it to strain against.
• Pointed hem, dipping between the points: the corners hang in diagonals rather than holding a flat straight line.
• Wide open sleeves, made to turn back: you set the cuff height, and the pale contrast shows on the turn.
• Opaque mid-weight cloth with front pockets: nothing shows through, and there's somewhere for your hands that isn't a waistline.

Fit note

Properly oversized and cut square through the body — take your usual size; it's meant to hang away from you rather than follow the shape. This is one of the heavier, fully opaque fabrics here, so it needs nothing underneath. This cloth creases where you fold it and softens with wear — that's the fabric rather than a fault. There's no zip or button; it goes on over the head. The side points of the hem sit lower than the centre front and back. Sizes M to 4XL.