It's the fourth day of the autumn/winter '07 shows in London and Nick Vinson admires prints by ex-Gucci man Giles Deacon and that iconic Margaret Howell staple, the collarless shirt.
Giles
One of the most eagerly awaited shows of the week was Giles Deacon, a designer who cut his teeth at Gucci under Tom Ford and Bottega Veneta. For his collection Deacon told Wallpaper* that he was inspired by the recent Holbein exhibition at the Tate Britain and Google Earth (winner of the 2007 Wallpaper* Award for most life-enhancing item). The Holbein may explain the origins of the Tudoresque corsets, chain mail and padded hips and Google Earth the strong prints and use of feathers (coq, Chinese pheasant and ostrich stripped to look like porcupine quills).
The theatrics of the feathers aside it was the prints that were standouts, Deacon cut satin printed to look like otter and seal skin, as well as walnut veneer, into sculpted bias cut dresses, cut in a multitude of panels (one contained 552 separate pattern pieces). Next week Giles will present his first collection for Daks in Milan.
Margaret Howell
Some times no news is good news. In the case of Margaret Howell, who held her show in her Wigmore Street shop-cum-gallery (sadly minus the Ercol furniture), you don’t expect any radical departure from season to season. Howell knows what she does best and continually reworks and refines. Like the collarless shirt, somewhat of an iconic Margaret Howell staple, its collar reduced to the absolute minimum and perfectly mixed with a wide high-waisted pant, both pieces simple and unfussy.
She also showed one underneath a low u-necked cashmere knit, the scoop of the sweater tracing the curve of the shirts bib. Other standouts were her flat lace up shoes, the leather treated to look worn in, the laces cut in fine leather cord and the last elongated. Howell explained it’s the shoe she always wanted and each season she just gives it a little tweak.
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