Nice to find a young designer with political leanings. Or, in this case, not just leanings but – shock horror – full-on political beliefs. Meet Daniel Fletcher, the designer behind eponymous label DANIEL w. FLETCHER (there’s a difference) who hated the idea Brexit so much that he used it as a driving for for his entire SS17 collection, aptly titled “Stay”, staging it as a protest-come-fashion show during Fashion Week. And now, in a post-referendum, post Article 50 world, Fletcher is bringing that collection to Liberty as part of a special pop-up – decorated by those same flags of protest that his models carried last year. It’ll be his first UK stockist, and, to celebrate he re-shot the collection in a project entitled “After Hours” – on Liberty’s shop floor after the throngs of shoppers have left and it’s all shut. Oh, and did we mention that Mr Fletcher also was nominated for the prestigious LVMH Prize earlier this year? Talk about about a whirlwind.
How did the whole “After Hours” project come about? What’s it mean to be stocked in Liberty?
I’ve been talking to Liberty for a while now but we have waited for the right moment to launch the collection properly with them; it’s my first London stockist so I didn’t want it just to go on a rail and get lost amongst all the other brands, I wanted to deliver the whole package. They have been really open to my ideas and given me complete freedom when it came to designing the space which feels like a huge honour in such an iconic store. I imagined the space as a continuation of my SS17 film where a group of young guys set up an anti-Brexit protest in the suburbs, I’ve used some of the the same flags and banners from this and have them suspended from the top floor of the store all the way to the basement where the pop-up is. I like the idea that they could have broken in after hours and set it up to continue making their voices heard (despite that disappointing referendum result)!
You were nommed for the LVMH prize – how was that? You met Karl – tell all…
Karl was great, he said he liked my tailoring, I offered him a suit but he said he only wears Dior, which is fair. The whole thing was amazing though, it felt like I was at Madame Tussauds meeting all of these people I’ve seen so many images of and then talking them through my collection was pretty surreal…!
You call the collection political and anti-Brexit – why’s it important for young designers stand up?
I just think that when you’ve got a platform to speak out you should use it to do something positive, for me it feels pretty natural to do that anyway. Design is my way of expressing myself and if there’s something I feel passionate about, which in this case was political, I use it as an outlet for my feelings.
What’s the Daniel Fletcher uniform?
My own personal uniform is a navy blue tee shirt and black jeans which I wear pretty much every day, spending so much time thinking about clothes has made me a bit lazy when it comes to dressing myself. But the DANIEL w. FLETCHER uniform (the W. makes all the difference!) is probably going to involve so sort of silky pyjama shirt, there’s likely to be some stripes somewhere, a piece of leather outerwear and a suede cap.
What’s your current obsession?
There’s a show that was just aired by the BBC called This Country. It’s a mockumentary sitcom set in the Cotswolds and focuses on the lives of two cousins Kerry and Kurtan (played by Charlie and Daisy May Cooper who actually wrote the show) and is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time.
Muse/mentors – who inspires you? If you could have anyone wear your clothes, who would it be?
I’d love to see Mick Jagger in something, I’m really into the 70s so there’s always photos of him on my mood boards. Plus it would give my Dad something to tell his mates down at the pub, he’s a big fan. In fact, the Stones were the first band I ever saw live when he took me along with him when I was a kid.
What’s next?
Who knows?! I’m tackling each hurdle as it comes and just trying to make the most of every opportunity (and enjoying it of course). Right now I’m working on SS18 to show in June and getting my production under way for AW17; it’s going to 14 stores next season so there’s a lot of work to do. I’m hoping to squeeze in a couple more store installations and there may be a couple of collaborations to look out for too…
