Showing in the last gasp of Milan fashion week—to many empty front-row seats—Giles Deacon sent out his second collection for the English heritage brand Daks. He said he was inspired by watching a manga film, They Kill Elves, and listening to Philip Glass: What emerged was a sort of twisted romantic take on an English garden party. If that sounds sinister, not to worry. This was a typical Deacon lineup of dresses treated to a lot of creative prints and textures that managed to pick up on two of the trends of the week: fifties dance dresses and the seventies (check his orange-spotted puff-sleeved opener). In an odd way, though, it was the nonconformers that were most memorable—say the silk shirtdress, or a Peter Pan-collared coat in a pink/silver cloque, charmingly fastened with black tulle buttons. In all, this was yet another iteration of Deacon's idiosyncratic talent for one-offs, the sort that make a nice surprise to run across while browsing aimlessly in a store. Would it make a destination area, with a distinctive brand identity, though? Can one spontaneously finish the sentence, "Daks is about…"? In all fairness, not yet. This one is a work in progress.
