Aspinal of London names Giles Deacon design chief

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 29, 2018

The current accessories collaboration between Giles Deacon and Aspinal of London clearly made a big impact with the luxury luggage and bags brand having now named him its new design director.

Deacon said in an Instagram post at the weekend: “I am very pleased to announce that in addition to being creative director of #gilesdeaconcouture I will be design director for @aspinaloflondon." And he added: "After a really exciting time working on the capsule collection launched during #londonfashionweek in September I would like to thank @iainburton.aspinal and [creative director] @mariyadykalo for this wonderful opportunity and look forward to the collections ahead.”

Deacon is best known for his couture business that makes extravagant wedding and eveningwear and now takes on the role with immediate effect. He will work at the company’s Sussex headquarters under ex-Loewe CEO Lisa Montague who’s been CEO of Aspinal since September last year.

And what will happen to his own brand? He said that Giles Deacon Couture will continue, which will probably come as a relief to his affluent customers who include Pippa Middleton, sister of the Duchess of Cambridge. He designed her wedding dress last year, only a year after he had switched his business from a ready-to-wear focus to one specialising in one-of-a-kind pieces.

This year, Deacon also continued his tradition of designing costumes for the New York City Ballet.

The collection that Deacon created for Aspinal seems to have made a big impact in terms of publicity and, we have to assume, sales too. The capsule launched in-store just a week ago featuring quirky illustrations representing the kind of women who carry Aspinal bags. Pieces transformed in this way include the Trunk clutch, the Hat box, the Regent tote, the Micro Lottie, the Soho clutch and the Hepburn bag.