You need to be within particularly close range of looks 12 and 13 from Giles Deacon s Resort collection to realize that the faint jacquard features borzois lounging on daybeds. In the all-white variation—used for a girly frock coat and a trapeze dress—the chic canines basically retreat into the fabric. For such an extroverted designer, this feels like some sort of volte-face. But fear not, the lineup is largely ruled by a multicolored motif that gives the impression of Pop Art-stained glass. Sometimes it fills every inch of a tented shirtdress or flounced skirt, and other times it appears judiciously on a pinned-back hem or pant cuff. The diagonal stripes running vibrantly across another breezy silk crepe grouping have been edged like pinking shears; the statement is bold yet wearable.
You do, however, start to get the sense that Deacon is thinking more commercially, which might explain the T-shirt fronted with four "fashion fairies" dolled up like next-gen Sex and the City gals. The level of irony is unclear. At least we learn from another T-shirt that the borzois master is a dominatrix and decidedly Deacon-esque. Still, for all the crispness and focus, something doesn t sit right in a Stepford kind of way. Maybe the clothes feel too normal. Or maybe it s just a matter of removing some of the twee grosgrain bows.
