Everything is coming up roses for Duckie Brown designers Steven Cox and Daniel Silver. Make that Monaco roses, because a trip to the South of France influenced the colors in this collection: a hot rose-pink turned up in corduroy trousers, a wool coat was a blast of bright yellow, and a jacket arrived in an equally hot orange (they called it Terry's Orange, after an English brand of chocolate—the show marked 14 years to the day since Cox's arrival from London).
Backstage, Silver sounded almost straight-faced when he voiced Duckie Brown's mission statement: "To dress men beautifully and elegantly in a royal fashion." More to the point was what came next: "There's always a wink—it has to make us laugh or feel a bit naughty." So the royalty the duo had in mind were Queens Elizabeth I and II. That orange jacket showed with a pair of black trousers printed in gold with the royal corgis, who were also beaded on a shirt. A sweater named Elizabeth was beaded on the back with huge, penetrating eyes (the Queen is watching you!). A spirit of exuberant camp also infused jackets in silver Lurex, gold damask, and a green-and-black houndstooth shot through with gold thread, or a beaded tartan suit, or even the cashmere-silk long johns. And if all the tailoring hinted at the seriousness of Duckie Brown's growing business, the trousers still came with dropped crotches or narrow and cropped over bovver-boy boots provided by sponsor Dr. Martens.
