True Colours

Mary Katrantzou likes to keep the fashion world guessing. The Greek-born, London-based designer is best known for colourful prints – very colourful prints – on textiles that explore the limits of digital printing, depicting anything from blown-up banknotes or stamps to Bauhaus posters, Fabergé eggs, World of Interiors layouts or even Greek vases, giving a nod to her Athenian roots. Or perhaps fabric that looks like a page from a giant paintingby- numbers book, half painted, half not, as seen on the dress worn by Cate Blanchett at the Cannes Film Festival this spring, which managed to be both playful and chic – a signature Katrantzou combination. But then suddenly, to keep everyone on their toes, Katrantzou might produce a collection from which print seems almost entirely absent and the palette monochrome. 

“I don’t like to be pigeon-holed,” is her response when questioned about this trait. Similarly, this queen of colour (pictured, right, with one of her signature “lampshade” creations) is generally to be seen in a black A-line dress by Azzedine Alaïa (“I own quite a few”), which she wittily dubs a “palette cleanser” – presumably quite handy if you’re working all day with colour. 

Critical success came early for Katrantzou, whose collection was picked to start the MA show at Central Saint Martins – a notable honour – and whose quirky, playful brilliance has inspired comparisons with fashion luminaries such as Schiaparelli or Moschino. Her first decade in fashion is the subject of an exhibition, Kaleidoscope Katrantzou, currently touring the US, and she now enjoys backing from Chinese entrepreneur Wendy Yu and an ongoing collaboration with adidas. Also this summer, and rather closer to home, Katrantzou is designing the racing silks for thecompetitors in this year’s Magnolia Cup. This hotly competed charity race is a highlight of Ladies’ Day at the Qatar Goodwood Festival, aka Glorious Goodwood – and the fashion stakes run as high as those of the equine variety. And although Katrantzou likes to surprise us, we think bold colours are a pretty safe bet.

The Magnolia Cup 2019 takes place on Thursday 1 August

This article was taken from the Summer 2019 edition of the Goodwood Magazine.