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Art Deco

Titled The Art Deco Collection, DAKS did some smart work with vivid patterns and flashbacks into the past this week. The DAKS woman might be found wandering around art galleries thinking about how the micro-patterns on her evening gown might become a muse for new decorative art form styles. She lived in the Thirties – booming economy and post-depression gave her a new confidence, a new shape. There was a need for abstraction and distortion, and geometric shapes highlighted by intense colours were beginning to be considered as the style for elegant sophistication. Manipulation of lines and experimentation with chiffon and georgette, window-check print and marble print, flowers and leaves in gentle monochrome-like tones – it made us feel like we were not in the digital era but the era of extreme newness in design.

Chic in the workplace

We can expect the usual from DAKS. Known worldwide for its tendency to show OTT love for British luxury, tailoring, and ready-to-wear professional attire it came as no surprise that the LFW event was held in a quiet, elegant town in London, far away from anything that might spoil the general sophistication of the show. Since the launch of the womenswear collections in 1937, DAKS has engaged with the dichotomy between masculinity and femininity in fashion. The new collection played with prim and chic, tailored suites accessorised with cinched belts, playsuits, blazers, and some classy strap heels that can easily be considered as fashionable work-wear. The masculine aesthetic the brand is known for prevailed but did in no way undermine the elegant, soft tones of the lightweight fabrics and the flowing silhouettes this season.

DAKS house check revamped

A big thing in this collection was the use of the DAKS House Check colours – camel and vicuna. The pieces that were layered with dark caramel colours were the ones that really stood out from the very monotone, dark, plain colours. A suede belt together with some camel calfskin heels gave a grey tailored suit a fun and intriguing twist. Rust-coloured jackets enhanced the skirt and shirt combination and the bomber jacket never looked so good. Camels might have indeed inspired the collection, as well as art deco, and we expected nothing less from the luxurious brand that harbours some love for those rich and warm House Check colours.

Photographer: Thurstan Redding

Words: Marianna Mukhametzyanova

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Fabric swatches, original Daks sketches and treasured postcards of 1950s sirens, fixed together by coloured drawing pins -the Daks S/S 13 moodboard could be the scrapbook of a fashion student obsessed with heritage glamour. But while the moodboard might be a romantic tribute to Daks’ past, the collection was all about propelling the brand into the present.

The women in the snapshots are an advertisement for British summertime, wearing clothes designed for sipping lemonade at the country club. So no surprise that Sheila McKain-Ward’s modern Daks woman is just as refined, wearing butter cream and chalky white in weightless fabrics like chiffon, silk and nylon. Witness the first look: a simple white dress and buttermilk single-breasted coat with sloping shoulders, clearly inspired by the images of women in white leaning on tennis rackets.

And inned to the middle of the moodboard? The Daks house check, given a modern twist with a diamond pattern. McKain-Ward was inspired by the abstract expressionist movement – in particular, a Jasper Johns painting of white paint on top of a raw canvas. In her cool, crisp collection, that translated to layered textures and brushstroke prints.

Split in two halves, the show opened with transparent neutrals and closed with black leather – with the Daks signature check featured in the middle of the show, transitioning between the two palettes. The order perhaps signaled that McKain-Ward will continue to push the brand in new directions, but will stay loyal to the traditions that lie at the heart of the iconic brand.

Clever, simple, fluid and effortless – McKain-Ward mastered craftsmanship when working at Halston, Donna Karen and Oscar de la Renta. No wonder she produced a collection that recognised the house’s heritage – but one that lifted it to luxury status and beyond.

Words: Emma Spedding

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