Emilia Wickstead’s modern take on old world elegance has met its match in the Duchess of Cambridge
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Emilia Wickstead is a name you’ll start hearing often. Operating on a more feminine frequency than many of her edgy London contemporaries, she sits poised for an international takeover, partly because of her association with another ultra-feminine name: Kate Middleton. Perhaps most directly though, she’s got the chops.
A native New Zealander, 29-year-old grew up with a made-to-measure designer for a mother and ample creativity in her veins. She moved to London to study fashion marketing and spent time in New York interning for Proenza Schouler, Narcisco Rodriguez and Vogue Magazine. After a few years of working made-to-measure, Wickstead launched a ready-to-wear collection in 2011 at London Fashion Week. Fast-forward to today, and she’s gotten Emilia Wickstead creations on the Duchess of Cambridge at least five times by our count, and those five have been amongst Kate’s best and often-repeated pieces. She has also dressed Samantha Cameron, the notoriously fashion-loving wife of British PM David Cameron, and made clients of online retailers Matches and Net-a-Porter.
When we met the designer last month in Toronto, those high-profile connections were especially clear. Dressed in an exquisite low cut A-line dress of her own creation, Wickstead explained why the new brand of sophisticated modernity is all about what isn’t revealed: “I design very much how I dress at 29,” she says. “If I am [wearing] something short, I like to be quite covered on top and if I am wearing something to the knee, I like an open back or a low neck. I think there is something very sexy in the way of dressing like that doesn’t have to be show all and tell all.”
Inspired by old world couturiers like Christian Dior and Cristobal Balenciaga, Wickstead’s bent on bringing strong silhouettes back to the forefront alongside the likes of Raf Simons. “You can see that ladylike kind of dressing with a twist coming back at Dior and I think that a lot of the fashion is following in those kinds of footsteps. It’s wearable. It sits in your wardrobe forever,” she says. “I like to think that [my pieces] are investment pieces that you will always have. Beautiful quality and beautiful fabrics and fashion forward at the same time.”
For Fall 2013, Wickstead took a page from the history books once again, with a Diana Vreeland-inspired collection of elegant pantsuits, elongated collars and manipulated plaids. “I think she was an exceptional woman and a great person to aspire to be like,” she says. “For this collection, part of the prints come from the interior of her home and the big show colours are very similar to what she would wear to the office everyday. You know, the power suit.”
As for her own power, the new mother (baby Mercedes was back in England with dad) is feeling pretty pleased: “I feel very fortunate because it feels like the time is right and it seems that London is having sort of its moment right now,” she said. I think I’m starting to be a little bit more appreciated or a little bit more noticed in the industry. So it’s great timing. I feel really lucky.”
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