In the seven short years since he graduated from Central Saint Martins, Lewisham-born fashion designer Richard Quinn’s ascent has been of the meteoric variety most can but dream of.
He has dressed Amal Clooney, Lily Aldridge and Nicola Coughlan for Met Galas, collaborated with everyone from Jo Malone to Barbie and Moncler — to name but a few — and his name has, for some time now, been one of the hottest tickets on the London Fashion Week schedule.
On Saturday evening the 33-year-old designer unveiled his autumn/winter 2023 collection with a runway show in Marylebone that went big on the dramatic sets, orchestras and floral and latex-clad supermodels that he’s become known for. Quinn’s is a distinctive aesthetic of punk-meets-couture that experiments with bold colour and prints and extreme silhouettes, with which the fashion pack have fallen firmly in love.
However, it was his first LFW show in February 2018, at which the late Queen made her front row debut, that really put Quinn on the map.
“It was an incredible thing to happen,” says Quinn, on a video call from his studio in Peckham. “You can’t dream of a perfect storm like that. Even after I was like, why did they do that for me? That’s crazy!” And certainly the column inches and headlines amassed by the royal appearance were a PR guru’s dream.
The Queen was once again the focus at Quinn’s most recent show in the fortnight after her death last September. While some designers cancelled, Quinn asked the British Fashion Council to push back his slot on the schedule to allow him maximum time to make an entirely new, and breathtakingly beautiful, 22-piece royal tribute in black, which he and his team of six (plus 20 show-time helpers) put together from scratch in just five days — along with the 27 other looks in the collection.
“Oh, we’re always quite last-minute like that,” says Quinn, whose sister Grace works with him as head of sales and whose older brother James produces his shows. The youngest of five, he spent his teenage years working in Topshop Bluewater (“I loved handing out the student discount to anyone I thought might be having a bad day”) and helping his dad, who runs a scaffolding and construction company, on building sites at the weekend. “Just hearing him on the phone to people was really insightful into how a successful business works. Just how to manoeuvre and be strategic in how to interact with people,” says Quinn. “Even though it was a scaffolding company, he made himself the face of it and all of these hotels would be banging his door down because they liked him and he delivered such a good service.”
Quinn believes, quite rightly, that creativity needn’t come at the expense of commerce. “I think it makes you happier when you make money,” he says, matter of factly. “You want to be part of something that’s successful, not something that’s just a bit s**t. It would be so depressing.” A perfect example of his no-nonsense, business-minded approach is the open access printing studio he created within his Peckham space from the outset. “I always thought, if you can understand a technique yourself you’ll never be ripped off, and you’ll always be able to monetise it,” says Quinn, who had spotted a gap in the market while interning with other designers, who would have to wait weeks to get strike-off rolls from Italy, which would often arrive just days before a show, sometimes in the wrong colour.
His spin-off print shop caters for big brands like Netflix and PlayStation and for other fashion houses, including Burberry and JW Anderson. “Our collection will be coming out and there’ll be Disney stuff coming out at the same time,” he laughs. It also helps young designers by having an open-door policy, offering digital and screen-print services as well as print and textile workshops.
“Our whole company is formed on the idea of community, in terms of actually buying local, printing local, being truly open to everyone rather than a closed-off service,” he says. “People will walk past the studio and be like I’ve got a wedding next week and I need drapes for it. And we’re like, yeah, sure.” It was for this reason that he was given the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design in 2018 — an annual prize recognising exceptional talent and originality while demonstrating value to the community and sustainable policies.
His strategic savvy has also inspired many a collaboration. He’s daubed his graphic florals on Moncler puffers, whisky bottles and Jo Malone scents. He’s done high street collaborations with H&M and Debenhams and even created a one-off Richard Quinn Barbie. His coolest link up to date, though, was a collection with Tommy Hilfiger that debuted at New York Fashion Week in September. “It was exciting to see Richard twist our prep classics with his bold patterns and exaggerated silhouettes,” said Hilfiger of the 40-piece capsule that blended Quinn’s signature exaggerated silhouettes and striking patterns with Tommy’s all-American classics. “He has a strong eye for detail; you can feel his passion and energy through his designs.” On Saturday Quinn will debut a limited-edition collection with MAC, which he has long partnered with on the backstage beauty for his shows. “The brand is so colourful and so inclusive,” enthuses Quinn.
Quinn’s ready-to-wear line sells on Matches, Net-a-Porter and Farfetch (his own e-commerce site launches later this year), but it’s the private client business that’s booming, with celebrities, Qatari princesses and everyday Londoners all clamoring to get their hands on one-off Quinn creations. Clients who wish to place orders for bespoke ball gowns or bridal looks do so by calling a phone that sits in the middle of the studio (“the number has spread like wildfire”), then everyone, regardless of fame and fortune, must physically attend an appointment in Peckham — Lady Gaga included. “We’re not elitist,” says Quinn with a smile.
While some are looking for red carpet floral fantasy or stand-out bespoke wedding dresses, Quinn has also been inundated for requests for the black latex gimp suits he styles under his floral dresses. “You’d be really surprised. Everyone really buys into that look.”
Studying in the Charing Cross building of Central St Martins Quinn found inspiration for his BDSM-inspired designs from the neon lights of Soho (“that underworld that’s there but you don’t know it’s there”) plus comic characters from Batman and the Marvel Universe. Some might find the latex risqué, but Quinn enjoys the tension between feminine florals and fetish wear. “I just really love how extreme it can be,” he says. “It can really transform your arm. It can be so tight, it almost becomes like liquid. I love that.”
One private client even ordered the full black latex catsuit, complete with cat mask and harnesses to wear under a floral mini at her ex-lover’s wedding. “She wanted to wear something that was going to really f*** up her ex,” says Quinn. “We were like fair enough, we can make that.”
Building a brand that bridges floral fantasy with latex gimp suits, all while printing for the local community? If anyone can, Quinn can.
