Pippa Middleton and Mr. James Matthews at their wedding held at St Mark's Church in Englefield, Berkshire, UK.
KGC-107/STAR MAX/IPx
The name behind Pippa Middleton’s wedding dress might sound familiar: designer Giles Deacon also created Solange Knowles’ (very different) look for the Met Gala a couple years ago.
While Middleton’s custom, hand-appliqued lace wedding gown had a classic, romantic silhouette, Solange wore a dramatic, accordion pleated mini dress from Giles’ A/W 15 collection to the 2015 Met Gala — an ensemble she calls one of her personal favorites. “I really, really enjoyed my Met Ball look from two years ago,” the singer told Refinery29 recently. “It gave the illusion of a fan — the theme was ‘China: Through the Looking Glass,’ and I wanted to be as respectful as possible to the theme … That was a moment that I felt 100% myself — as ‘myself’ as you can feel with a fan as a dress.”
The versatile British designer has also dressed Hollywood stars like Sarah Jessica Parker (at the 2013 Met Gala) and Cate Blanchett (at Cannes in 2015).
Designing the dress for an almost-royal wedding, however, is what has really put his name in headlines. Middleton — the sister of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge — “has a great eye” and “knew what she wanted,” Deacon told BoF.
“I wanted that ‘how-was-that-done?’ factor,” Deacon said. “It’s all hand-pieced which is why you don’t actually see a seam.”
“There’s incredible movement,” Deacon added.
Of the inspiration behind its shape, the designer said, “I always loved the dancing scenes in The Leopard. I know they were all hoop crinolines in the film, but there’s something gorgeous about having that great movement, with the skirt spinning round, keeping its shape.”