QUINN & COUNTRY

How Richard Quinn became the go-to celebrity dresser. By Frankie Graddon

How do you go about dressing one of the world’s most enduring style icons?

‘It had to be as dramatic and bold as she is,’ says Richard Quinn, the designer behind Joan Collins’s cover look for this issue: a floor-sweeping evening coat with Quinn’s signature blue roses.

‘When you think of Joan, you think power shoulders and big jewels, so we wanted something that had that 80s look,’ explains Quinn, who has had the 90-year-old on his wish list for a while. ‘She has that enduring star quality.’

Launching his label, Richard Quinn, seven years ago, he has become the go-to name for megawatt women. The bodice and train for Amal Clooney at the 2018 Met Gala established his name. His dresses have since been worn by Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Linda Evangelista and Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan.

Quinn, 33, grew up in South London with a love of noughties TV, citing as early influences Elizabeth Hurley and mega-publicist Kelly Cutrone. (‘I liked seeing talented women who were in control.’) Graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2016, he carved a reputation for theatrical pieces with a couture sensibility and striking prints, created in his Peckham studio. In 2018, he received the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design from the late monarch herself (above), whose fashion legacy he calls iconic. ‘You saw her silhouette – the hat, the jacket with the dress underneath – and knew exactly who it was. That’s a very powerful thing.’

The stage queen who’s left him most starstruck is Beyoncé, for whose world tour this year he created a bespoke bodysuit and matching headpiece. Now he’d love to take on real royalty: ‘The Princess of Wales could carry off a polka dot,’ he says. We look forward to it.