Christopher Kane on Queen Elizabeth II s Style Colour Craft and Royal Fashion

My name is Christopher Kane, I'm a British based fashion designer. I've been working for almost 25 years in the business. The Queen's wardrobe, particularly her bright colours and her choice of bright colours have always inspired me. The privilege of being here and obviously amongst this huge collection of pieces dating back to her childhood to the present day, you can kind of see from the colours and the choices that she was a fun person to be around. She was cheeky, mischievous and she was the spotlight. She would wear acid greens or bright pinks to state visits simply because she wanted to stand out. And for me, neon is something that really goes back to my heritage of the brand. When I think back to my first show, I always try to imagine the people sitting in the front row and I sent out a neon orange dress made of bodycon elastic. People really sat up and you either loved it or hated it. And I think that's important about fashion. It's still an emotion and it evokes something. There's a gorgeous fuchsia, acid pink taffeta. The structure alone looks almost laser cut, as if it's a cardboard. For my SS23 collection, we looked at a lot of tones from landscape, very earthy colours and one specific colour was this gorgeous green, almost mint, moss colour, which we put into a twin set, which sort of echoed the uniform of the Queen. She loved a twin set and Annette, me as a brand, I love the idea of Annette with something lavish and we paired it with this gorgeous diamond crystal mesh skirt. Being Scottish-born, the kilt is something the Queen would always wear, especially living in Balmoral. Her choice of tartans and checks, I suppose, timeless pieces. I think the silhouettes were really strong, but really simple. They functioned. When you look close, the cut and the details are just impeccable. The quality, the craftsmanship and things look so modern still. And I think that's the timeless quality of the Queen, her elegance, her duty. I think the Queen's style will highlight the importance of the craft and the heritage of British maids, especially Hartnell and Amies. People really tend to forget that these people were working not only just for the Queen or the Royal Family, but they really did, I suppose, shine a light on the craftsmanship throughout the UK. There's so many great industries within the UK that we have to highlight more of. Hartnell and Amies, profound work in collaboration with the Queen and Princess Margaret. And everyone looked to them as style icons, so I think they really led the way when it comes to British craft and taste. People will come to this exhibition and be really overwhelmed and maybe a little bit emotional, because colour does evoke emotion, and I think that's why she wore certain colours to be seen, and people are really going to see more of her as a person and her tastes.