Everything is coming up roses for Duckie Brown designers Steven Cox and Daniel Silver. Make that Monaco roses, because a trip to the South of France influenced the colors in this collection: a hot rose-pink turned up in corduroy trousers, a wool coat was a blast of bright yellow, and a jacket arrived in an equally hot orange (they called it Terry s Orange, after an English brand of chocolate—the show marked 14 years to the day since Cox s arrival from London).
Backstage, Silver sounded almost straight-faced when he voiced Duckie Brown s mission statement: "To dress men beautifully and elegantly in a royal fashion." More to the point was what came next: "There s always a wink—it has to make us laugh or feel a bit naughty." So the royalty the duo had in mind were Queens Elizabeth I and II. That orange jacket showed with a pair of black trousers printed in gold with the royal corgis, who were also beaded on a shirt. A sweater named Elizabeth was beaded on the back with huge, penetrating eyes (the Queen is watching you!). A spirit of exuberant camp also infused jackets in silver Lurex, gold damask, and a green-and-black houndstooth shot through with gold thread, or a beaded tartan suit, or even the cashmere-silk long johns. And if all the tailoring hinted at the seriousness of Duckie Brown s growing business, the trousers still came with dropped crotches or narrow and cropped over bovver-boy boots provided by sponsor Dr. Martens.
