Recently, to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee Celebration, I designed a Silk Foulard for DAKS London, a Royal Warrant Holder and long-term enthusiast of the Royal Household. This design was sold across the globe, advertised internationally and was gifted to Queen Elizabeth II to honour her celebration. Please note, this interview has been adjusted from the original to feature additional personal information. To learn more about the Foulard Design, my work at DAKS, please read below...
What is your role at DAKS?
At DAKS, my main role as Print Designer is to assist the brand with their Seasonal in-house Print Developments and Direction. This involves, creating mood boards which are inspired by our unique concept driven print stories, colour palettes and fabrications, as well as, the development of original artworks for both the Mainline Print and Check Collections. As part of a small team, I work very closely with the Design Manager, Creative Director and Product Developer to create strong concepts and unique, heritage driven storylines, keeping our Brands Heritage and Archive in mind in all of our designs. Alongside this, I develop the designs for our Foulards and Scarf Collections which gets produced by our Italian and Scottish Mills. Most recently, as part of our new brand strategy, we have begun developing Made in the UK Collections in which my role is to assist with the Design Development of the Womenswear Range. This involves extensive garment design and archive research, as well as, developing technical designs so we can develop each garment with finer detail. My role at DAKS is extremely diverse and creative and involves a lot of illustration, research and understanding of fabric and garment production. I really love seeing how the Prints we develop translate from flat designs and into a heritage driven garments or accessory collections.
What inspires you when you're working on the DAKS collections?
Due to the nature of the brand and our extensive history dating back to 1894, I find that I am constantly discovering new sources of inspiration whenever I delve into the DAKS Archive. Of course, every collection is different whether this is due to the concept, the season, or the collaborative projects we decide to develop. Although all of these factors are inspiring on their own, I find that our archive and the DAKS History itself is what inspires me the most. Being able to rediscover the past has been so interesting and seeing the roots that have created DAKS over the years, from our founder Simeon Simpson to each of the individual Designer who has worked here since, it has been an incredible thing to witness.
What is your favourite part of working with prints at DAKS?
My favourite part of working with the Print Collections at DAKS is probably how creative, yet nostalgic we can be. Being such a small, tight-knit team has really allowed us to work collaboratively together, all whilst utilising the brands history in a fresh, modern way. I love looking into our history, the past and nostalgic features and really enjoy finding new ways to incorporate these into our modern-day Print Collections.
What was the inspiration behind the DAKS jubilee scarf?
To celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and her incredible 70 years on the throne we decided to develop a regal scarf that reflected her classic style, the Jubilee’s iconic colours and DAKS’ long-lasting Heritage. Due to the Queen’s love for Horses we decided to follow an Equestrian theme which is why the Jubilee Scarf features a series of Horse-riding elements, such as Ropes, Reins, Tassels and Chains. The Jubilee scarf design was heavily inspired by our Archive and previous scarf designs that were developed over our extensive history. We wanted the design to honour the brands heritage and represent the support we have given to the Queen and her reign over the years. The Jubilee design features our Archive Interlock DD Crest and Archive DD Chain that surrounds the scarf as a trim, as well as an innovative interpretation of the Classic DAKS House Check which features what is thought to be the Queens favourite colours, Purple and Green.
What went in to creating the print for the scarf and what is so special about this piece?
The Platinum Jubilee Scarf is such a special piece due to the history it encapsulates. The scarf was developed not only to celebrate the Queen, but also the brands long-lasting relationship with her. DAKS and its British Heritage is on full display across every part of this design, whether due the features themselves, the way the design has been illustrated with all the etched details, the house check interpretation and even the way the design was placed. Every part of this scarf design reflects the Brand, our Heritage and the Queens classic British Style and love for the Horses. The Jubilee scarf was developed over a series of in-house discussions, to get this piece right we really looked into the finer details, firstly with the development of the DAKS Platinum Jubilee House Check innovation, and then with the illustrations, the placement and features the scarf showcases. The Archive played a huge part in the creation of this design and being able to look into past Archive DAKS scarves and reinterpret elements of these, really allowed us to develop something that will represent DAKS as a brand and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, all whilst being as authentic and quintessentially British as possible.
Has there been any International Press?
The Platinum Jubilee Foulard has been featured in an international Newspaper as an advertisement campaign. Please see the feature below...
