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Kim Davis London

KIM DAVIS is a woman of many, many talents, the least of which being an incredible capable and talented self-taught designer. A graduate of George­town’s School of Foreign Service and its law school, she practised financial law and investment banking at Willkie, Farr & Gallagher in New York City before taking time off to be with her growing family. When her husband was trans­ferred to London in 1977, she used the opportunity to study art history and antiquities at Christie’s, ultimately using that experience to start—with a New York partner— a business selling pashminas in 2000. Wanting to try her hands at design, she customized a few shawls by adding faux fur and other embellish­ments, along with easy pieces like wrap skirts and elegant pants, selling them all at special events and from her home.
    To her surprise, this proved to be a great success,

Using herself as a prime example—lawyer, investment banker, mother, entrepreneur, modern woman—she sees her design motivation as ‘functional elegance with an alluring twist’

giving her the encourage­ment she needed to go all the way to designing and launching a full collection. In May 2003, she started selling at the wholesale–retail level, receiving orders from Saks Fifth Avenue, Henri Bendel and other independent boutiques.
   From Ms Davis’s learned viewpoint, ‘clothes should be easy as well as chic.’ Using herself as a prime example—lawyer, investment banker, mother, entrepreneur, modern woman—she sees her design motivation as ‘functional elegance with an alluring twist. I am my own muse, in the sense that I design things I would like to wear. Clothes need to be well made as well as comfort­able. I want my designs to be sexy and sensual. You have to let the person wearing the clothes get the attention, not the clothes themselves.’ Her colour and fabric choices are heavily influenced by her previous art studies; and she lists Madeleine Vionnet, Hubert de Givenchy and Carolina Herrera (among others) as her favourite designers because they ‘all share a common thread of elegance, femininity and beauty.’
   Her spring 2004 collection was inspired by nineteenth-century oriental paintings from the school of French–British painters who were, in turn, inspired by their exposure to Middle Eastern concubines. She used what she called ‘very hot weather colours’ (claret red, pale lemon, olive green, gold, pistachio and navy) to create separates that came alive on the models. The collection comprises of beautifully designed gowns, dresses, skirts, jackets, coats and tops in rich, textured colours, luxurious silk satin fabrics, with embellishments such as crystals, tassels and appliqués.
   Right away, I was immediately impressed with her coats, especially her Nehru-esque ivory embellished duchesse satin long tuxedo coat, the gold dragonfly embroidered silk dupion coat with tassel belt and pink satin lining and her ivory silk embroidered silk dupion swing evening coat with gold and claret red silk satin lining. I also quite liked her blue dip-dyed chiffon top with mother-of-pearl ring detail and her pale lemon silk satin hooded mini-dress with long beaded tassel. Other touches of particular interest include the sexy cut of her pants, often with bordered side slits. For evening, she combined the Middle Eastern sensibilities with the sensuality of the Grecian column dress to create a hybrid of unusual beauty. I also quite taken with her navy and pistachio silk chiffon dress with gold sequin and pearl midriff inset and embellished collar detailing.
   Although Ms Davis held her showing at an off-site venue in what had to be one of the most crowded fashion week schedules ever, she managed to attract a lot of the right attention from the right people. Women's Wear Daily praised the collection and Ms Davis’s efforts, describing it as ‘terrific, imaginative, a little bit exotic, fun, fresh-looking.’ And I couldn’t agree more. With her flagship store (Kim Davis Ltd., 2/3 Filmer Mews, 75 Filmer Road, London SW6 7JF) in Chelsea operating at full speed, Ms Davis is ready to spread her wings even more and conquer the New York market. She will because she has what it takes to succeed at a higher level. The complete collection can also be viewed by making an appointment to see it at her Manhattan showroom at 80 West 40th Street (call Linda Lipetz at 1 212 719-9555).

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