“For me, green is more about cycling than recycling.”
― Giles Deacon
“I really like doing good work and working with good people – that’s the thing that drives me.”
― Giles Deacon
“I sometimes sit and draw people on the bus, or some fantasy hybrid animal. You know, wherever the hand will lead.”
― Giles Deacon
“It can be refugees, it can be a pregnant mother, it can be a 15-year-old… homelessness can happen to everybody.”
― Giles Deacon
“That era of designers being away with the fairies is gone… You’ve got to live in the real world.”
― Giles Deacon
“I don’t believe in a recipe for success. You have to work hard; you may not always get it right – you have to bounce back from situations, and you have to be really focused and determined. It’s important to have fun as well. Work shouldn’t be a torture.”
― Giles Deacon
“Anyone looking for a black cashmere sweater isn’t going to come to me.”
― Giles Deacon
“I do like designing clothes that are – not exactly lofty but intellectual in their sexiness.”
― Giles Deacon
“I like to have a swim in the morning, a great way to start the day.”
― Giles Deacon
“A healthy body really does make for a healthy mind.”
― Giles Deacon
“I think a bit of jewellery that cheers you up for the day isn’t a bad thing.”
― Giles Deacon
“DAKS is a much more restrained silhouette, and there’s a real emphasis on daywear, outerwear, and tailoring. It’s more stripped-down.”
― Giles Deacon
“Due to the hectic, non-stop nature of my work, I’m always using my BlackBerry to stay in touch with my studio, wherever I am.”
― Giles Deacon
“My mother was a housewife. My father worked in the agriculture business, but they were very encouraging about everything. When I said I wanted to do art, they were very supportive.”
― Giles Deacon
“I can never really comment on rumours.”
― Giles Deacon
“The natural world is a source of inspiration.”
― Giles Deacon
“I like characters in life, generally; I don’t like to see a collection modelled on a homogeneous look. That terrifies me.”
― Giles Deacon
“I like women to have life, personalities. Women who would perhaps cause some trouble on a night out and have a lot to say for themselves.”
― Giles Deacon
“Rooney Mara is someone I’d like to dress; we’ve not worked with her before and she certainly has very interesting personal style.”
― Giles Deacon
“If you’ve invested money in buying a piece, you don’t want it to just disintegrate. We all have that first wash anxiety, when that great t-shirt you’ve just bought shrinks away to nothing.”
― Giles Deacon
“With couture, the great thing is that each piece has its own character, and you have space to explore and continue themes season after season.”
― Giles Deacon
“The name Holly Fulton has become synonymous with daring, bold graphic prints which you just know if you wear you’ll have a brilliant time in.”
― Giles Deacon
“I went to public and state schools – not at the same time. I did my art foundation course at Harrogate College of Arts. This brilliant tutor suggested I apply to Central Saint Martins. I adored it.”
― Giles Deacon
“I don’t really have a mentor.”
― Giles Deacon
“My longest collaborative working relationship is with Katie Grand, the editor-in-chief of ‘Love’ magazine. Katie’s an inspiration and a sounding block. She’s got such great taste.”
― Giles Deacon
“You take it very seriously when you start any project, but not everything in life ends up where you think it’s going to be.”
― Giles Deacon
“People often think that the world fashion is so full of a certain pretense that it can’t just be about going for something because it suits you and looks great, and it’s nicely cut and is made of beautiful fabric. You know, if it has a bit of lightness and playfulness to it, then I think people just respond to that really well.”
― Giles Deacon
“Everybody’s got a lot to their personalities. You’re not just one element. There are some days you want something that can be a bit stricter or a bit more disciplined or something a bit more floaty and a bit freer.”
― Giles Deacon
“Women I’ve known have always been quite strong and confident women. Sure, I’ve got some friends who aren’t so overtly confident, or at least don’t appear that way. But when you get to know them, they are very much so.”
― Giles Deacon
“Making your own clothes is great – but don’t make everything, or I’ll be out of a job!”
― Giles Deacon
“’Irony’ is such an over-used word.”
― Giles Deacon
“I liked the fact DAKS was an unknown quantity. It’s more like Gucci before Tom Ford got there. There’s a lot you can do.”
― Giles Deacon
“I don’t like acres of faceless girls walking.”
― Giles Deacon
“I’m interested in women who have got character and experience and an opinion about things.”
― Giles Deacon
“I love London. Wherever I’ve lived, I’ve always had my flat here.”
― Giles Deacon
“I very much like Christopher Kane. He actually did a work placement with me, and you could spot his talent straight away.”
― Giles Deacon
“The women that wear my clothes would want a pink BlackBerry in their handbag.”
― Giles Deacon
“We want to be the go-to business for super-special daywear and eveningwear, to focus on what we are known for and what our customers want from us.”
― Giles Deacon
“With couture, it means I get to show fall in July with delivery in September. My clients will be getting their pieces in season.”
― Giles Deacon
“I did an art foundation course, and I knew I wanted to do something in a creative field. And fashion just seemed like the most fun.”
― Giles Deacon
“I didn’t set out wanting to be a fashion designer from the age of 3. It wasn’t that kind of dream.”
― Giles Deacon
“Some things can be quite stupid yet interesting. Life can be like that.”
― Giles Deacon
“I have an art-school background, not a fashion background where it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re going on holiday to Miami.’”
― Giles Deacon
“I go to contemporary galleries all around the world when I can. There’s always something historical and something contemporary; those are my rock references.”
― Giles Deacon
“I’d really love to dress Lauren Bacall. She’s incredibly interesting – a gorgeous, stylish woman with a strong personality.”
― Giles Deacon
“It’s important to offer well-thought-out pieces at lower prices.”
― Giles Deacon
“If a piece is individually made to measure, then it’s couture.”
― Giles Deacon
“I believe in the democracy of design.”
― Giles Deacon
“I don’t like po-faced fashion.”
― Giles Deacon
“My parents weren’t into fashion. I didn’t have an eccentric granny who mixed lace mantillas with tweed.”
― Giles Deacon
“I am more interested in people’s attitude than someone who is a perfect face. Every time I walk the streets of London, I see someone who interests me. It doesn’t matter how old they are.”
― Giles Deacon
“I can be very modern and experimental.”
― Giles Deacon
“I love historical references.”
― Giles Deacon
“When I was younger, I wanted to be a marine biologist, among other things.”
― Giles Deacon
“I had a great teacher who was really encouraging and said I should go to Central Saint Martins. So I worked my socks off, and I managed to get a place there. It was there that I developed a real love for design.”
― Giles Deacon
“The effort you put into anything when you’re a designer is 100% because it’s all about what you get back out from it.”
― Giles Deacon
“I’ve been a fella in the fashion industry for a very long time now, and the industry has been very good to me.”
― Giles Deacon
“Single-sex private schools, especially in the middle of nowhere on a bleak hill in County Durham – I don’t think they make sense.”
― Giles Deacon
“Animals. They’re nice, aren’t they? They’re good things, animals.”
― Giles Deacon
“Pretty much hated school. I never really found my footing. I just didn’t like lessons.”
― Giles Deacon
“Fashion was spontaneous and about getting things done, which I really liked.”
― Giles Deacon
“My designs are slightly subversive in their way; it can be in the cut or the colour, but they’re always obtainable: they’re not so difficult that a 40-year-old woman wanting to go to a cocktail party looking foxy and a little bit different in something well-made would be alienated by them.”
― Giles Deacon
“I think when wedding dresses are talked about, every woman has a different set of factors in her mind of what it could be because they’ve been thinking about it possibly for such a long time.”
― Giles Deacon
“I try to exercise three to four times a week.”
― Giles Deacon
“I was never one for just sitting in front of the telly.”
― Giles Deacon
“Cecil Beaton was Andy Warhol before Andy Warhol, really.”
― Giles Deacon
“The reason I wanted to work with New Look was that they wanted to stick with one designer and do lots of collections a year.”
― Giles Deacon
“Even if you have a lot of money, you may not want to spend a lot of it on clothes.”
― Giles Deacon
“People are often a bit more adventurous with swimming costume prints; they like the idea of something a bit more jolly.”
― Giles Deacon
“I go to L.A. three or four times a year. It’s great for research.”
― Giles Deacon
“Fashion designers seem the busiest people on the planet.”
― Giles Deacon
“I’ll spend a couple of days in Paris, a couple back in London, some time at the factory in Italy… I like travelling, but it can be a struggle to get home for weekends.”
― Giles Deacon
“Just because something is less expensive shouldn’t mean it is less well designed.”
― Giles Deacon
“I don’t design for wallflowers.”
― Giles Deacon
“I always find the idea of Britishness a bit of a boring old concept, to be honest. That world of Britishness always comes off a bit twee and only about cream teas and that sort of things.”
― Giles Deacon
“My designs at Ungaro are a lot more sexual, in more of an obvious way: my personal designers are a little bit more sideways.”
― Giles Deacon
“Let’s be honest: not everybody can afford to buy ã5,000 dresses, so the jewellery is a nice of way of getting the Giles product out into the world and introduce it to people not familiar with the label. QVC is a really good partner to help us do that.”
― Giles Deacon
“I’ve always liked historic jewellery that’s got a kind of quirkiness or playfulness to it; I like that it’s not too serious.”
― Giles Deacon
“With all my clients I work with, they all have their absolute specialness about them.”
― Giles Deacon
“I’ve always been a big supporter of homeless charities across the board, ever since I first moved to London.”
― Giles Deacon
“A lot of people’s circumstances can change very, very quickly, and people can move jobs, relationships can break down, something else could happen, and the next thing you know, you can’t pay your rent, you can’t get the support you require, and you’re out on the street.”
― Giles Deacon
“With couture, you’re going right to the consumer, and that’s something we learned from doing trunk shows. You’re meeting the client; you’re finding out what they like and what they don’t like. You’ve really got your customer there in front of you, so you know what works and what doesn’t.”
― Giles Deacon
“At a certain period in time, the fashion industry was portraying this image of a totally unrealistic woman, women who are not allowed to be themselves.”
― Giles Deacon
“There are some great skinny girls, but it’s about characters, isn’t it? That’s what I find attractive. People who’ve had interesting lives and tell you something that you don’t know or are really good fun.”
― Giles Deacon
“People should just get over themselves.”
― Giles Deacon
“Students are up to their eyeballs in loans, and it’s going to get even worse. It’s going to be hideous, actually. Students are going to be saddled for life. It’s going to put a lot of people off going to college, which is a shame.”
― Giles Deacon
“I liked natural history. I liked the outdoors. And I found the sea quite interesting.”
― Giles Deacon
“My friends and I used to take two-hour trips to the record store in Newcastle, and we started buying copies of The Face and i-D. And then I went to art school, and as time progressed, I ended up where I am now.”
― Giles Deacon
“I’ve always drawn a lot. I like the idea of turning a 2-D sketch into a 3-D thing very quickly. And clothing is really good for that.”
― Giles Deacon
“I don’t really see the point in planning to show off-schedule. I think it’s things like showing on-schedule that helps London be organised as it is.”
― Giles Deacon
“We design for a whole range of ages and body types, and we always have done. What’s great about us is that the common thing that they all like is an accessible eccentricity of an accessible flamboyance, and I think the super thing about that, it isn’t age-specific: you’re not only dressing 25-year-olds; we’re dressing women from 25 to 65+.”
― Giles Deacon
“There’s one thing I would like to do on the high street, and that’s something different to what’s been done before. So, who knows what that could be.”
― Giles Deacon
“I’m lucky that I’ve worked with the biggest divas in the world. We’ve had Miss Piggy and Minnie Mouse, so I’ve got to be careful who I say now, but obviously, I’d love to dress them again.”
― Giles Deacon
“Why shouldn’t we want everybody to have a piece of Giles in their wardrobe?”
― Giles Deacon
“I am really looking forward to walking past people on the street wearing my clothes and know I am designing for an everyday woman.”
― Giles Deacon
“People don’t necessarily realise that there can be just as much work on a quiet jacket as an overblown gown.”
― Giles Deacon
“People are always saying, ‘You use irony,’ and it’s like, actually, we don’t use irony: we use wit and playfulness and irreverence.”
― Giles Deacon
“The customer who likes to be noticed is important to us.”
― Giles Deacon
“One day I’ll do a Dorian Gray, and there will be a picture in the attic. I’ll look like Helen Daniels from ‘Neighbours’ after her stroke.”
― Giles Deacon
“Clothes that a wallflower would like, that’s not my thing. I like people who look interesting.”
― Giles Deacon
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