Richard Quinn Bestows a Princess Diana-Inspired Collection
Graphic by Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez
London’s favorite gown specialist, Richard Quinn, served up 49 extremely wintry and very 1980s glamour looks on Friday evening during London Fashion Week.
The show was delivered in front of a facade of a Georgian house, complete with flickering lampposts and a cast-iron gate. But what set the winter party scene was the snow that started with a few flurries and, as the show ended, had become a perfect glittering blizzard.
Each of the dresses featured either a big bow, a camelia or some type of intricate beading. This attentiveness to regal details is what has catapulted Quinn into the league of fashion greats. After all, Queen Elizabeth’s first time attending a fashion show was at the then-28-year-old Quinn’s 2018 Fall show — an extremely regal flex for the Quinn house.
The velvet gowns, stolas and French twist hairdos all made for a deliciously Princess Diana-esque aesthetic. Look 16’s simple glamour, a black velvet gown with a white satin stole and long black gloves, could have been a candidate to be drafted into the late Princess of Wales’s wardrobe.
Homage seemed to be paid to another 1980s British icon—none other than Dynasty’s own Joan Collins. Look 36’s gold-embroidered cream drop-waist gown, complete with strong shoulders and a big flower-bow decal, would seem right at home on Collins’s famed character, Alexis Colby.
However, the 1980s weren’t the only decade informing the collection, classic 1960s silhouettes were also called on for inspiration. The series of mini-dress wedding dresses seemed as if made for a 1960s Carnaby Street girl.
The white collared, beaded, tuxedo dress of Look 45 seems a perfect nod to Barbra Streisand’s sheer and sparkly pantsuit worn for her 1969 Oscars win. And, 1960s it-girl, the 75-year Penelope Tree, in a black mini-dress covered in flower appliques, was the fourth model to grace the runway.
The detailing on the simple at-first-glance dresses added a look of luxury to the collection. Collars stuffed with pearls and jewels and shining beads adorning bodices and skirts characterized the show as a parade of dresses to bring for a winter getaway at Balmoral Castle or night at the Ritz Paris.
Though the collection primarily stayed in black and cream, Quinn introduced his signature floral silks in the latter half of the collection and even infused some beautiful pastel yellows, bright reds and chic mint notes before the final ten cream bridal looks.
Some general highlights of the collection included Look 23: a flowing floral kaftan with a beautiful pearly collar, Look 27: a light yellow Regency-style dress with delicate floral beading and Look 47: a tiered cream wedding dress with a black ribbon belt and careful silk piping on the frothy tulle layers.
Though it featured some sheer gowns, the collection seemed a turn to a more mature audience than some of Quinn’s former collections. Long gone are the black leather body suits worn under dresses and full-body floral suits that covered the model’s faces. Yet, Look 32’s stark see-throughness is a reminder of Quinn’s Central Saint Martins edge, that even if toned down, it is doubtful to disappear.
For the right winter gala, all of the looks are very wearable, yet Quinn’s attention to texture and nuance of detail elevates him from dressmaker to designer. The Bob Mackie of our time? Perhaps.