London Fashion Week: Giles Deacon

It is hard for me to write an objective review of a Giles Deacon collection because I love Giles Deacon, let me count the ways… I fell in love with his clothes at first sight because they are clothes that not only are beautiful in their own right; they make the woman wearing them beautiful. This was something that became a revelation when I saw the photo of the radiant Miss Beth Ditto chanelling Cleopatra, in an incredible gold lame Giles Deacon dress in British Vogue. This picture undoubtedly has become one of this year’s most iconic images. This was Giles Deacon’s eighth collection for his own label. His shows are hot ticket events that super-models attend en masse. He graduated from Central St Martins in 1992 and then worked for Jean Charles De Castelbajac in Paris for two years. From 1998 until 2000, he was a designer at Bottega Veneta and the Gucci Group. He also designs the women’s ready-to-wear collection for Daks and a range for New Look.

The S/S 2008 had something for every taste. He started the show with stunning, yet completely surprising tailored grey denim dresses that had a sense of sobriety yet were completely drenched in the romanticism that followed throughout the rest of the collection. The dresses had a frothy, girly, sometimes “Hairspray” sweet feel which was tempered by intermittently with a Sex Pistols album-inspired print, and some beautiful ombre prints which turned out to be out-of-focus photos of Kate Moss. One of the most striking pieces in the collection was a perfectly tailored white coat that had knitted rubber bands adorning the front in the guise of fur. The attention to detail and handwork is masterful and the construction standards impeccable.

Giles Deacon is a little bit like the Debussy or the Merce Cunningham of fashion. His collections are a free-flowing exercise in unabashed creativity but the end result is a symphony for the eye and a joy to behold.