This outfit was shown as part of the GILES spring 2014 collection at his show held at the Stationer's hall in London in September 2013. The dress uses a print taken from a polaroid photograph by Glen Luchford in the collection of the V&A. The polaroid was acquired by the museum as part of the V&A exhibition 'Imperfect Beauty' held in 2000. The exhibition explored the working processes behind fashion photography shoots.

This particular series of images recorded the process of photographer Glen Luchford's Prada advertising campaign in 1996. Luchford used a large format 4 X 5 camera and this image was one of the polaroids used to set up the shot and test the lighting. As this was a test shot, whilst the model Amber Valetta wore the Prada dress which would feature in the campaign, she retained her own footwear- a pair of Adidas trainers- as opposed to the velvet sandals she would later wear for the actual advertising photograph. Giles took the idea of the trainers and chose them as footwear for the models in his collection.


GILES is known for his irreverant points of reference such as cartoons and video games which seem to jar with the traditional silhouettes and highly crafted finish of his garments. This outfit highlights the question of reference and inspiration within fashion, as fashion cycles speed up and designers no longer confine themselves merely to reinterpreting historic styles of dress, but instead look at ever more recent sources of inspiration. This ensemble is a great example of how the V&A continues to be an important and much referenced resource for contemporary designers and an important representation of the Spring 2014 fashion season in which many designer's collections were inspired by the fashion and music scenes of the 1990s.