English heritage brand Daks has undergone a stealth reinvention. Sheila McKain-Waid quietly took charge of the house s womenswear last season, and just as quietly made her debut with a Spring 12 collection that had an almost meditative cleanness. Today s Daks show had a similarly Zen quality to it, but it made for a high-volume announcement of its emergence as a brand to watch.
Despite Daks Englishness—the brand has three royal seals, and a history that goes back almost 130 years—the house is actually a rather international concern. Its biggest market is in the Far East, and not only is McKain-Waid American, but she arrived at Daks following stints at Halston, Donna Karan, and Oscar de la Renta. It s not altogether surprising, therefore, that this collection had as much an international feel as an English one: The designer s woven detailing and cocoonish outerwear silhouettes owed something to Japan, and her pared-back approach to the clothes owed something more to the look and attitude of classic American sportswear. (Claire McCardell is one of McKain-Waid s oft-cited references.)
All of that served a distinctly English sense of reserve, with the Daks checks artfully exploited. The most successful use of the check was in inventively constructed outerwear: McKain-Waid amassed an army of pattern-making techniques for the coats and jackets, including circular seaming, paneling, and bias-cutting, which provided the pieces with an unexpected sense of volume and movement. Elsewhere, her high-waist, wide-leg trousers were dramatically chic, and a group of check-referencing burnout velvet pieces gave the dévoré a graphic update. With today s show McKain-Waid nicely positioned Daks as a minimalist s answer to Burberry.
