Innovation is quite hard to find in today’s fashion industry. Thankfully for Giles Deacon we can smell something new, burnt paper. Showing his Autumn/Winter collection for London’s Fashion at The Stationers’ Hall, an old building whose history stretches back to medieval times, gave an extra element to his gothic dark style of design work. He beautifully collaborated imperfect edged burnt marks on glamorous evening gowns and white suit jackets, something unordinary for the fashion observers.
The old musky wooden building brings exclusivity to the guest’s mood, and foreshadows a dark but romantic collection ahead. The rows are few but the guests are valuable. The show starts off with a Stephen Jones headpiece with black feathers, covering the model’s entire face, mimicking a bird like figure. The slim long black tuxedo along with trousers and a Victorian collared button are shown first, dominating a menswear inspired theme for women. An evening gown wrapped with uneven harsh edges almost mimics a burning cigarette that hasn’t been ashed. Here come the ashes.
A common design featured for fall 2012, the hoop dresses and skirts are also used by Giles, featuring a burnt hole fabric pattern. The holes have a black gradient and lined with gold. The beautifully designed fabric creates a realistic illusion of burnt fabric. Pastel colors are added to compliment the beige and black illusion. He even went as far as featuring the burns on white satin tuxedo jackets, chiffon shirts, and formal gowns of which took on a laser cut-out detail to give the impression of wear-and-tear. Dresses with fringed edges almost look razor cut as well as a straight front edged fish tail dress brings new innovative idea to the table.
On the more romantic side there were water colored renaissance patterns on white-hooped dresses. Hemlines and bodices finished by ostrich feathers and Swarovski crystals. Beautiful baroque lace covering the figure from head to toe incorporating puffy sleeves, bold buttons and empire waists. The necklines varied while keeping the Victorian state of mind. There were turtlenecks, high and low round collars, mostly layered underneath sleeveless square line dresses.
His thorn lace was also a beautiful play on the eye while layered by fabrics of slightly different color values. The thorn theme was executed quite beautifully, covering entire dresses and shirts. The scale was varied, letting the audience be either overwhelmed by the pattern or looking closely at its small detail. A silver dress covered in the tiny thorn dress created a work never done before. Giles' innovative ideas of burn edges, birdlike headpieces, and thorn lace in fashion design have now been exposed. One might think this could open doors to forthcoming trends in the future; we can only wait and see.
