Localization of plastic deformation in polycrystals often occurs after a change of loading path. An experimental study using several techniques at different scales (scanning electron microscopy, microgrids, local orientation measurements, transmission electron microscopy) has been conducted on mild steel sheets (interstitial free titanium steel) prestrained by plane tension and then deformed by uniaxial tension along the first tensile axis or the transverse axis. In this way localization has been linked to microstructural anisotropy developed during the first loading path. A model based on crystalline plasticity has then been introduced in a finite element code (Abaqus) with a description of intragranular hardening linked to the evolution of the dislocation densities on each slip system. The simulations make use of a finite element representative pattern based on actual grain distribution in the aggregate. The computations predict a localization in good agreement with the experimental data and show a link between saturation of dislocation densities and concentration of plastic deformation.