Aquascutum: Spring 2009 Ready-to-Wear

[upbeat music playing]

[Interviewer] Do you feel a lot of pressure

in this position?

I feel a lot of pressure right now

because it s a few minutes before the show.

[chuckling]

Aquascutum is the latest grand old British brand

to jump into the 21st century,

with the help of some young blood.

Aquascutum s side state is actually based

on an urban pen picture.

So taking that picture and sort of

turning it around on it s head

because we re doing it actually not in a black,

we re doing it in a mad electric purple.

[Interviewer] Sounds a bit Veruschka-esque.

It s a kind of paired down Veruschka.

[loud music playing]

The collection has been stripped back in terms of color.

We wanted people to notice the story.

Nothing is drawn in the collection.

It starts with a piece of fabric,

or an archive garment,

and in the end we then start cutting a pattern,

and playing with the fabrics on the model,

and we come up with a final garment.

Now in that process,

there s lots of in between stages,

so you as an audience,

perhaps never see the middle of it.

This going on,

you can see the beginning and the end,

and by taking away all of the color,

I hope you ll see that.

[loud music playing]

I always think that heritage,

the trench coats,

and to see them realized here,

in such beautiful, lightweight fabrics,

I think it just takes it

into a whole different classification.

Sings from being sort of a dress

to a, an evening coat,

to you know,

something that just becomes part of very soft layering.

[Interviewer] And what does that kasapuram stand for?

I think it represents

everything that is good about British fashion.

It s very elegant.

It s very easy to wear.

You can scruff it up like I do it,

which is probably not how it s supposed to be worn,

but you know,

it s a sign of a good label,

where you can wear it with anything and it still works.

They re making clothes that are very focused

for the catwalk,

but also very wearable.

And very polished.

[Host] How do you feel in that pleated Georgette dress?

I really like it a lot.

I mean, I dress very simply.

I would wear many of these clothes.

[Armstrong] They re really showing that they re on track

in their journey to reinvent this brand,

which is no easy thing.

I think they did a very good job

to make it a bit more modern,

a bit more appealing to everyone.

It was about modernizing, it was about

giving it another hundred and fifty years.

[audience clapping]

This has always got to be about accuracy,

it s always got to be about the brand,

and it s got to be about something that I love.

If I don t love it, I didn t want to do it.

[audience clapping]

[upbeat music playing]