View the full collection in our Photo Gallery.
story by Landon Peoples
photos by Aeric Meredith-Goujon
Irish-born and London-raised designer Dean Quinn has the Midas touch when it comes to his Spring 2012 sportswear-inspired ready-to-wear collection. Quinn, fascinated by the novel The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald, sees his woman plainly strutting out of a swimming pool and putting on her evening wear. This take on nautical meets old Hollywood called for wet, slicked back hair, and earth-toned makeup accents (if only we could all look as good as Quinn’s girls when we came out of the pool, drenched and scrambling for the nearest towel).
“She is the woman who has literally gotten out of the pool, put her hair back and just gone out. I came up with the idea and said, ‘That’s it,’” Quinn explained.
The former Versace embroidery designer implemented what he knows best into his Spring 2012 collection, using stained glass, beads, and lace – all done by his own hands. Quinn says his embroidering techniques he picked up at Central St. Martins and his time at Versace come in handy with every collection. The models, ushered into a line by Quinn himself, stare doe-like at the snapping cameras. Cottons and silks of sea foam green, coral and white fill the room in pleats and cutouts on his futuristic, wearable gowns. Quinn avoided colorblocking, stating, “I sketch, and sketch, and sketch, and then I paint it one color. When I see it, I know what’s right.” Shoes, provided by Manolo Blahnik, compliment his theme by adding the perfect twinkle of nude and black patent leather, as they poke out from underneath his designs.
As for what lies ahead, the designer is planning to showcase even more refreshing looks to audiences but on a grandeur scale with a full runway. Quinn preferred to start small and grow from the hem up, in fear of selling out “too quickly”. Dean Quinn’s 2012 Spring collection clearly depicted what it means to be a smart, eco-savvy emerging designer with a fistful of dexterity, and intelligence to boot.
