The lockdown has proved a learning curve for James Long, Iceberg’s creative director, as it has for many other designers. Working remotely with his team in Italy from the British countryside helped him refocus his practice. “I couldn’t have made it without them,” he said during a showroom appointment. “It wasn’t about the office mentality anymore, but about coming together to make the collection actually happen.”
Long wanted to convey a feeling of optimism for the future, so he worked on a relaxed, off-duty wardrobe for the coed offering, inspired by a hopeful dream of coming back to happier times, La Dolce Vita style. “We couldn’t travel anywhere, so I fantasized about traveling,” he said. For lack of IRL options, he took a virtual trip into Iceberg’s archives, where he found a heritage pattern inspired by the Sistine Chapel’s famous Michelangelo fresco The Creation of Adam, giving it a bright Pop art vibe with what he called “an escapist palette.” “I wanted to reinforce the Italian-ness of what we’re doing,” Long said. The motif was printed on a loose-fitting, ankle-grazing summer dress, on a soft-tailored pantsuit with an easygoing feel, and on a plissé skirt worn with a roomy knitted sweater, with an intarsia split-in-half image of Iceberg’s mascot, Mickey Mouse.
Further referencing the label’s Italian Riviera roots, a laid-back attitude was similarly apparent in the men’s collection, only it was punctuated with more rugged, utilitarian, and military accents. Think safari vests built into T-shirts, anoraks emblazoned with oversized pockets, and high-end technical quirks nodding to the world of luxury sports.
Long spent his quarantine in his hometown of Althorp, in Northamptonshire—which also happens to be the home of Princess Diana’s family estate. “I got into thinking about her, and about her look when she started to be more free, going out on her own and letting everything go,” he mused. Waxing a bit nostalgic, he wanted to channel her off-duty uniform of sweater sets and two-piece easy suits, “her school pick-up and drop-off style,” as he described it. An egg-yolk yellow blazer worn with matching leggings and a bandeau top would’ve surely whipped the hordes of paparazzi chasing the Princess into a frenzy.
That said, in general both collections had a calmer, simpler attitude than usual. Long hopes to bring what he has learned in lockdown into his fashion practice in the future. He also reused and upcycled materials—nylons, cottons, knitwear yarns—for both collections. “I’d like to keep a more considerate and focused approach to how we work,” he said. “I feel very privileged to have a job that I love; I’m much more appreciative of how much human effort goes into what we do—and of how many people would be affected if we weren’t doing what we do.”
