DEACON, GILES

GILES DEACON IS A DESIGNER, FOUNDER, AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF THE GILES DEACON GROUP

Giles Deacon was born in Darlington, County Durham. He’s the son of a farm seller and a housewife but has always had a passion for fashion and aesthetics.

He attended the Bernard Castle School. As a boy he dreamt of becoming a marine biologist but, after failing a chemistry exam, he enrolled at Harrogate College of Arts. There he completed a basic art course. Henceforth, continued his studies at Central St Martins in London. Notably, where he was in the same class as Alexander McQueen and Luella Bartley. Consequently, after graduating in 1992, he immediately began collaborating with the Doran Deacon brand, with his friend Fi Doran. Contributing to illustrating the pages of Dazed & Confused.

After he moved to Paris and was hired by the designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. Two years later he returned to London to work with High Street. It was by chance, that he met the owner of the Italian Maison Bottega Veneta. Significantly, he was struck by the craftsmanship of the designer and hired him as Chief Designer and launched his first collection for the Venetian company in 2000.

Bottega Veneta Fall 2001

In 2001 he was fired when the Gucci group bought the company and was replaced by the German designer Tomas Maier. However, Tom Ford, creative director of the Florentine brand Gucci, hired him as his assistant for the women’s line. The British designer left Tom Ford’s side after falling ill.

GILES

In 2003, after recovering his strength, he created his first label “Giles”. In 2004 he participated in London Fashion Week and the collection received international awards right away, including the nomination for “Best New Designer” at the British Fashion Awards. On the catwalk, among the models present, there were Karen Elson, Lily Cole, Eva Herzigova, and Linda Evangelista. The Giles collection was purchased by over thirty retail stores including Barneys, Harvey Nichols, and Selfridges.

Today he is the founder and creative director of Giles Deacon Group and the Couture Fashion House. In 2016 the first Haute Couture collection of his label came out.

Giles Deacon Couture 2016

The designer is known for challenging traditional ideas of women’s clothing and he often uses wild prints and references to pop culture. His style is humorous, dark, and sexy, for women who want to be noticed. Irresistible glamor with some bizarre notes, a perfect mix that can be worn by any woman, of any age.

THE COLLABORATIONS

In 2006 he won the Fashion Designer of the Year award and in 2009 he received the French Grand Prix ANDAM Fashion Award. Among his loyal clients, there are Thandie Newton, Princess Beatrice, and Scarlett Johansson. Many actresses like Cate Blanchett, Gwendoline Christie, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kerry Washington wore his clothes for events on the red carpet.

In 2010 he became the creative director of the French fashion house Ungaro, in place of Estrella Archs. Since June 2011, Deacon has taken part in the Channel 4 program “New Look Style the Nation”, after having participated as a judge at Britain’s Next Top Model. Since 2012 he has been collaborating with the Birmingham Katie Grand’s designer, stylist, and editors. In 2013 he presented the first fashion exhibition at the William Morris Gallery in London.

In 2017 he made Pippa Middleton’s wedding dress, the sister of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. He collaborated with companies such as Converse and Evoke, with which he created his first jewelry collection.  For two seasons he worked with Mulberry, introducing a Mulberry for Giles accessory capsule collection.

He was nominated for the design of the classic British tailoring label Daks. Actress Drew Barrymore was the protagonist of his advertising campaigns. He collaborated for his fourth collection with the English model Agyness Deyn.  In 2015 he designed the women’s collection for Debenhams. While his collection entitled Giles Deacon for Edition was designed by Daisy Lowe.

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