Kent & Curwen, Standing Ground, and Richard Quinn

London is turning into something of an Irish design mecca, notably this Saturday with shows from Kent & Curwen, by Dublin’s Daniel Kearns, to Standing Ground from Michael Stewart of County Clare, to Richard Quinn, whose mother comes from Donegal. All three of whom presented very clearly defined fashion statements this weekend.
 

Kent & Curwen: Growing into its own skin

It was instructive in a week when some 35,000 pupils in British academy school were banned from bringing mobile phones to class that one attended the latest Kent & Curwen collection, whose whole raison d’être was the coming of age in college uniforms.

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Staged inside another college –  the Royal Academy – the multinational cast marched by scores of statues of ancient gods and myths recreated by students of London’s oldest art school.
 
 A spring/summer  2025 show that opened with school kids blazers, pleated skirts, short pants, knee socks and literary novels held in leather pouches.  Everything very proper yet subverted by the arty attitude and excellent detailing. Kent & Curwen has always been about playing with British symbols – the red rose of Yorkshire or the three lions – and did so on these clothes. 

In case you didn’t get the message, they left lunchboxes on each seat containing water, a sketch book, red apple and, of course, milk chocolate – delicious Montezuma’s. Along with a white Kent & Curwen cricket cap, several worn by Asian rockers and movie stars like the decorous Hu Liangxin, a young Chinese movie star who wore the brand’s logoed blazer and tartan skirt.
 
Kent & Curwen’s creative director Daniel Kearns is no slouch when it comes to tailoring – he cut great blazers finished with matching fabric roses on the breast-pocket. It being English tailoring, there were multiple trench-coats draped with highwayman flaps and cut with swagger. 
 
He also riffed on castles, culled from ties found in the brand’s archives. Using them in silk cocktails, scarves and silver pendants. “Becoming the king of your own castle,” explained Daniel. 
 
There was a tad too many shorts, and rather a lot of magenta, which would have raised a wry smile from Sabato De Sarno at Gucci. While all the fur-lined sandals might have provoked a giggle from Alessandro Michele. But, overall, this was a fine collection which reached a climax at the finale with some superbly cut top-coats with clever tie fabric lapels.
 
“Our core identity is the school uniform. We dress schools all around the UK, and sporting clubs as well. So, this was about throwing off the school uniform and growing into yourself. Focusing on that moment between and college,” explained Kearns, whose son Bailey is presently doing exactly that in his first week at university in Bristol. As a result, the soundtrack featured Bristol bands like Massive Attack and Maximum Joy’s dub.
 
“Manipulating a uniform is a particularly British idea,” concluded Kearns, a Jesuit-educated lad from Dublin.
 
And how did he feel about banned iPhones? “Well my son is talking about leaving aside the iPhone, so let’s see what the young generation does next.”

Standing Ground: Michael Stewart breaks into new terrain

An excellent turn-out audience wise for Standing Ground by Michael Stewart, the recent winner of the LVMH Prize for Savoir Faire.

From Dover Street Market CEO Adrian Joffe and the world’s most important mentor, LVMH’s Sophie Brocart, to every important critic in London this weekend; the collection was very well worth the effort.
 
Hyper elegant, ethereal and draped with extreme assurance this was a telling stylistic expression by Stewart, in his first major independent show.
 
Staged inside 180 Strand, a fashion show space and old office building which boasts incubator spaces for young designers, like Stewart himself.  
 
“I wanted to show that I could elevate the work and that it’s moving forward,” said Stewart, so hoarse from working late he could barely talk.
 
Stewart clearly craves the shapes of ancient stones, and people’s interactions with them, resulting in sculptural, towering looks. As his brand name suggests. Though his latest work had a more refined elan – his sculptural shapes finished with breaded strands and soft tentacles. One could have done with a few more cocktail dresses, but other than that quibble this was a great statement by a designer with a very singular vision.
 

Richard Quinn: Dressing for the right occasion

Got to hand it to Richard Quinn. He is a brave designer. Or make that couturier, because that’s what this very elegant collection was.

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In a very real sense, this was probably the most technically audacious show made by a British couturier who shows in London. From the bold flourish of his duchess satin gowns with the deepest of pleats to the remarkable beaded tulle cocktails, with crystal lattice bodices.
 
Quinn is also the most pertinent fabric printer in London, whose ability to use Photoshop, giant printers and colorful flourishes lead to some beautiful floral prints. One ecru satin rose print. crinoline – unexpectedly finished with pockets – was sensational.
 
An admirably generous figure, Richard staged a jolly pre-show cocktail in the lobby of the Dorchester, the grand dame of London hotels finely restored recently with charm. This was not your usual London Fashion Week crowd, composed in large part by Quinn’s international clientele. After negronis and dry champagne, one entered a ballroom lit by chandeliers, and finished with a wall of white flowers by florist Philip Hammond. The music from a choir and the London Chamber Orchestra playing brilliant versions of tracks like ‘Numb/Encore’ from Linkin Park and Jay-Z, was phenomenal.
 
Throughout these was a sense of a grand event – especially the all-white final 14 looks, from cinched satin ball gowns with pearl bodices to a bride in a silvery jumpsuit leaving a trail of beads on the black carpet runway.
 
The collection, Quinn explained in his program note, was dedicated to a woman who “cherishes the act of dressing for the occasion.” The biggest of which was this show, styled by Carine Roitfeld with sublime chignon hair styles by Sam McKnight. The most polished of couture stunning on Park Lane.