Who couldn’t use a magic wand right now? Thea Bregazzi and Justin Thornton’s impulse to bring a little brightness to the world is symbolically held aloft by one of the models who stands on an English beach in their pre-fall lookbook. “We thought that everyone is dreaming of a bit of escapism,” says Bregazzi. “So we went from there to thinking we’d do something around the idea of magic realism.”
Their research into the history of the circus took them to the work of Diane Arbus, whose photographs of women knife-swallowers in a traveling show—dressed in Victoriana costume—chimed with them. Well, keeping the show on the road, and spirits up, is a universally relatable sentiment for a myriad of independent designers like Thornton and Bregazzi.
Even before the pandemic, the couple had begun shouldering the responsibility for making better choices with their sourcing, chivvied by their two young daughters’ awareness of the climate emergency. So this collection, with its patchworks and frills, is mainly composed from some of Preen’s large collection of vintage fabrics and recycled and GOTS-certified cotton. (GOTS is the acronym for Global Organic Textile Standard). The hard road of 2020 has taught everyone in fashion many lessons, but one positive is that doing less with less really doesn’t mean having to compromise on character or aesthetics. Preen by Thornton Bregazzi’s stopover at the seaside looks just like everything they have always done. Steady as they go, juggling business into 2021.