Prints! Glamour! Brides! Richard Quinn Discusses the Making of His Spring 2020 Collection
In the southeast district of London, the sun is beaming into a photo studio where Richard Quinn and his team are preparing for the brand’s Spring 2020 collection. The Pixies are playing on the stereo while Quinn calmly presides over model castings, fittings, and the styling of looks with his longtime stylist, Katie Grand. (Grand’s dog, Red Mackey, takes turns lounging in the sun and keeping the models company as they wait for their fittings.) All of this work is set off by a kaleidoscope of frocks hanging on racks throughout the space and tables upon tables of tights, gloves, and brightly hued accessories.
In between lacing models into corsets and assessing their latex tights, Quinn talked about his Spring collection. “This season I was thinking more about the prints and how we could elevate them into a different realm in terms of the stroke and the texture. Usually we do outlined prints, but now they’re quite painting-like,” he began, explaining that every print is custom designed in his studio nearby. Glamour is, of course, key to a Quinn outing, and here he had cinched in waists and built out sleeves and hips to accentuate his models’ forms.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Quinn’s new bridal collection, a best-hits version of his ready-to-wear in shades of ivory, silver, and taupe. At the end of his runway show, Jacquetta Wheeler was escorted to the end of the runway by a parade of girls in marabou feather hoods and floral dresses as the Philharmonia Orchestra and Bach Choir played, and then—voilà!—the curtain fell to reveal a tableau of brides. In slinky chain mail, pouf sleeves, and cascading trains, these were Quinn women reimagined for a walk down the aisle totally on their own terms. The designer had a little sinister streak about the idea of wedding dressing. “This season is sort of about heartbreak, so we’re doing a whole bridal section at the end,” he said, smirking. “Let’s see how it works out.” We’d say Quinn, his femme fatales, and his brides got high marks.
Directed by Amanda Brooks
Produced by Steff Yotka
Originally Appeared on Vogue
