At Denzil Patrick, designer Daniel Gayle’s spring collection, Come Home Darling!, was a proper melange of ideas edited into a pretty tight 34-look lineup. His references run deep: Samuel Selvon’s novel The Lonely Londoners, his own two grandfathers arriving in the Big Smoke from the Caribbean, British beach style, his youth in the ’90s, and the dovetailing of all of these influences. What resulted was something of a kaleidoscope that verged on being overwrought but ended up falling nicely into place.
Shirts, tied at the waist with more shirts, symbolized packing one’s suitcase to the gills if and when permanently relocating. Layers began to emerge, such as shorts over trousers or singlets pulled down around the leg—another hint at movement, of bringing as much as one can. Gayle included a number of vests, because his “grandfathers were always cold,” having moved to London from a tropical climate. Standouts here were two color-block parkas, which dipped into the ’90s-era pool that Gayle mentioned.
Even though the designer loaded up on the talking points, the many parts became unified, and the ultimate impression was one of celebration. The colors were bright, the textures were dynamic (parrot feather-esque accents on a Mac coat’s sleeves), and the vibe was optimistic. Made all the better, we should add, by the fact that all of Gayle’s textiles are responsibly developed.
