Coat
2017
| Artist/Maker |
Preen by Thornton Bregazzi was founded in 1996 by Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi. The pair first met aged 18 while studying on an art foundation course on the Isle of Man, where they both grew up. After their studies, Thornton worked for Helen Storey, designing for the 2nd Life Collection, and Bregazzi worked as a fashion stylist and produced fashion pieces for special commissions. The pair first designed together when Helen Storey asked for their input in her Autumn/Winter 1996 collection. In 1996 Thornton and Bregazzi established Preen in small premises on Portobello Green, Notting Hill, London. A year later the pair opened a stand-alone boutique on Portobello Road and began selling wholesale in 1998. The label first showed at London Fashion Week in February 2001, for the Spring/Summer season. Drawing on a broad range of inspirations including subcultures, social movements, folklore, historic dress and nature, the collections by Preen are often described by the fashion press as deconstructionist, romantic and representative of a particularly ‘London’ style. Between 2008 and 2013 the label moved their bi-annual runway show to New York, which significantly boosted their international orders. The label won the Established Designer award at the British Fashion Awards in 2015.
This coat is from the Autumn/Winter 2017 collection and shown at London Fashion Week on 19th February 2017. It later featured in a Fashion in Motion event at the V&A Museum in June 2019.
This coat is from the Autumn/Winter 2017 collection and shown at London Fashion Week on 19th February 2017. It later featured in a Fashion in Motion event at the V&A Museum in June 2019.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | Coat of printed silk in a colourful floral design, padded and quilted, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, London, Look 35 Autumn/Winter 2017 |
| Physical description | Large overcoat of printed silk. The colourful floral print was designed to give the impression of the colours running in certain palces, to evoke a feeling of a textile that has got wet. The coat is heavily padded and quilted. The main shell of the coat is cut in a trapezoid shape, with the armholes cut a little above the centre, giving the impression of a duvet wrapped around the body when worn. The coat is fastened with a long belt of black webbing, embroidered with a line from a poem by Carol Ann Duffy's poem Little Red Cap in red thread. |
| Credit line | Given by Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi |
| Object history | In an interview at the Preen studio in June 2019, Thornton and Bregazzi explained that this quilted coat was inspired by the women of Greenham Common, who assembled at the perimeter of the RAF base at Greenham Common in Berkshire, England, in 1982 to protest the placement of nuclear weapons at the base. Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp remained active until 2000. Thornton and Bregazzi described being inspired by the protestors’ methods of staying warm while remaining at the camp, sometimes wrapping duvets or eiderdowns around them for protection from the cold. The coat is constructed as a feather eiderdown with two padded sleeves projecting out from the sides. The floral fabric print was designed in-house with colours which look like they have run into each other from being exposed to rain and water. The belt features a line from Carol Ann Duffy’s poem Little Red Cap. The coat featured in the V&A Fahion in Motion event with Preen by Thornton Bregazzi in June 2019. |
| Summary | Preen by Thornton Bregazzi was founded in 1996 by Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi. The pair first met aged 18 while studying on an art foundation course on the Isle of Man, where they both grew up. After their studies, Thornton worked for Helen Storey, designing for the 2nd Life Collection, and Bregazzi worked as a fashion stylist and produced fashion pieces for special commissions. The pair first designed together when Helen Storey asked for their input in her Autumn/Winter 1996 collection. In 1996 Thornton and Bregazzi established Preen in small premises on Portobello Green, Notting Hill, London. A year later the pair opened a stand-alone boutique on Portobello Road and began selling wholesale in 1998. The label first showed at London Fashion Week in February 2001, for the Spring/Summer season. Drawing on a broad range of inspirations including subcultures, social movements, folklore, historic dress and nature, the collections by Preen are often described by the fashion press as deconstructionist, romantic and representative of a particularly ‘London’ style. Between 2008 and 2013 the label moved their bi-annual runway show to New York, which significantly boosted their international orders. The label won the Established Designer award at the British Fashion Awards in 2015. This coat is from the Autumn/Winter 2017 collection and shown at London Fashion Week on 19th February 2017. It later featured in a Fashion in Motion event at the V&A Museum in June 2019. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.180:1, 2-2019 |
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| Record created | July 11, 2019 |
| Record URL |
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