GILES DEACON is shuttering the ready-to-wear line of his business temporarily to concentrate on his couture offering. The move will see the designer depart the official London Fashion Week schedule and join the Paris couture schedule in July.
"We want to focus on what we do well, and maximise the success of the red carpet and private client work we've been doing over the past four years. 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," Deacon told WWD of his plan, which he hopes will give him closer contact with his customer base and shorten the length of time between showing on the catwalk and in-store drops.
"With couture, it means I get to show fall in July, with delivery in September. My clients will be getting their pieces in season," continued the designer, who revealed that his pieces will retail for between £3,000 and £5,000 for a bespoke dress and £50,000 to £70,000 for red-carpet creations.
Deacon is one of many designers who has made moves to shift his business model of late, with many more looking to follow suit. Fellow London Fashion Week designer Matthew Williamson came off the official schedule last year to focus on a see-now-buy-now online model citing similar consumer-focused reasons as Deacon. Over in New York, Thakoon and Rebecca Minkoff are also in the midst of reorganising their structures to make their collections available immediately after they are shown on the catwalk.
"This business gives you a lot more control, because it means everything that's ordered is sold, and each customer gets an individual piece," explained Deacon of his new plan, which will see him grow his teams in Paris and London (where he plans to open a new showroom in Mayfair) and explore the potential behind offering virtual fashion shows - all moves that will be supported by external investors that are yet to be revealed.