You need to be within particularly close range of looks 12 and 13 from Giles Deacon's Resort collection to realize that the faint jacquard features borzois lounging on daybeds. In the all-white variation—used for a girly frock coat and a trapeze dress—the chic canines basically retreat into the fabric. For such an extroverted designer, this feels like some sort of volte-face. But fear not, the lineup is largely ruled by a multicolored motif that gives the impression of Pop Art-stained glass. Sometimes it fills every inch of a tented shirtdress or flounced skirt, and other times it appears judiciously on a pinned-back hem or pant cuff. The diagonal stripes running vibrantly across another breezy silk crepe grouping have been edged like pinking shears; the statement is bold yet wearable.
You do, however, start to get the sense that Deacon is thinking more commercially, which might explain the T-shirt fronted with four "fashion fairies" dolled up like next-gen Sex and the City gals. The level of irony is unclear. At least we learn from another T-shirt that the borzois' master is a dominatrix and decidedly Deacon-esque. Still, for all the crispness and focus, something doesn't sit right in a Stepford kind of way. Maybe the clothes feel too normal. Or maybe it's just a matter of removing some of the twee grosgrain bows.
