Viva Brighton Issue #73 March 2019
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(left to right) Mannequin reclining on the stairs wearing Giles Deacon AW 2012, Stephen Jones in the Banqueting Room of the Royal Pavilion holding<br />
‘Sandcastle’ and ‘Mermaid’ from his Chinoiserie on Sea collection inspired by <strong>Brighton</strong> and the Royal Pavilion, S/S 2012,<br />
Headdress worn by Kylie Minogue for Sydney Mardi Gras 2012, designed by Stephen Jones.<br />
hat he made for her so much<br />
it was the only thing she chose<br />
to wear when she appeared on<br />
the cover of Vogue in 2012. “Of<br />
course, I didn’t know she was<br />
going to wear it naked but I<br />
suppose she had just worn the<br />
dress made of meat…”<br />
Jones’ relationship with<br />
<strong>Brighton</strong> began many years<br />
previously, in his imagination.<br />
“I’m from the Wirral Peninsular,<br />
which is basically a sand<br />
dune in the middle of the Irish<br />
Sea and even on an August day<br />
it’s a force 10 gale and freezing.<br />
To me, <strong>Brighton</strong> was like the<br />
Riveria or Mustique or somewhere<br />
like that. In my imagination<br />
it was in the deep south,<br />
warm and welcoming, artistic<br />
and creative – all those things<br />
the Wirral Peninsula was not.”<br />
In 2012 he spent an extended<br />
period in the city researching<br />
Chinoiserie-on-Sea, a collection<br />
of hat designs inspired, in part,<br />
by the Pavilion.<br />
Pieces from that collection<br />
are among upwards of 160<br />
hats now on display in rooms<br />
throughout the seaside pleasure<br />
palace. “I’ve always loved<br />
the Pavilion,” he says. “Apart<br />
from all the crazy Chinoiserie<br />
– which has absolutely<br />
nothing to do with the real<br />
China – what I love is that it’s<br />
such a celebration of shape<br />
and colour. Everything it represents,<br />
all that extravagance<br />
and exuberance, I’m absolutely<br />
attracted to.”<br />
Exhibiting in such opulent<br />
surroundings was a new<br />
experience for Jones, who is<br />
more used to showing his work<br />
on catwalks or in white-wall<br />
galleries including the V&A<br />
and New York’s Metropolitan<br />
Museum of Art. “If you’re<br />
showing hats in a gallery you<br />
have to create themes or chronology.<br />
If you’re showing hats<br />
in the Pavilion, well, you have<br />
to just go with it,” he laughs.<br />
Nione Meakin<br />
Royal Pavilion, until June 9<br />
Hat worn by Victoria Beckham designed by Stephen Jones 2008<br />
....55....
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