Report by Heath Brown
Photography by Shaniqwa Jarvis
It’s all work, work, work for Richard Nicoll. And the fashion pack was privy to his busy world at his A/W 12 presentation at the Mall Galleries yesterday. Was it a shoot? Was it a showroom? Was it a catwalk show? It was all of these, as Nicoll showcased his Modern Times collection on models who were simultaneously being photographed for his look book, being styled in full view and striding around the studio’s perimeter on a raised runway.
“It’s access all areas, for all,” said the show’s producer, Sara Blonstein, at what would have been backstage, if it wasn’t for everyone milling around. It was like being part of a performance, rather than watching it.
“It makes you feel really involved,” observed Caren Downie, Womenswear Buying Director at Asos, grabbing a drink from the running buffet in the dressing space.
The designer himself appeared and explained. “It’s a metaphor for the pace of working life today.” But Nicoll is relaxed in this frantic presentation. “Plus, it’s a lot more intimate and modest than the razzmatazz of a catwalk show.” He pauses to jump over the catwalk to fix the hemline of a dress being shot in the backdrop. He glances at the digital monitor and returns. “The collection is about workwear, in the office or somewhere more industrial, and this is my work environment.”
What about the collection itself? He points to the clothes hung strategically around the walls, labelled with model cards and styled into outfits. “I used urban colours – safety yellow and hazard orange.” These were mixed with soft grey, electric blue and white to create clean-lined clothes inspired by the colour and form of Constructivism and Bauhaus: no-frills, utilitarian pieces for a modern working girl who can multitask like Nicoll.
