Piers Atkinson

One might be forgiven for thinking that with a milliner for a mother, Piers Atkinson’s future was preordained.
Yet since moving to London in 1995 this thirtysomething polymath has worked in numerous guises at the sharp end of the fashion industry before returning to his first love.
From co-creator of The Daily (London Fashion Week’s news bulletin) to performance artiste, he is as familiar with the vagaries of the business as the most jaded hack, and yet despite such a potentially jaundiced world view, his personal take on pop culture is wry rather than cynical.

As a result, familiar objects are given a worldly spin: Mickey Mouse ears bear scant resemblance to Disneyland souvenirs when lit by neon, or laser cut in Perspex to resemble a psychiatric Rorschach test. Clowns masks are of the creepshow variety, more likely to abduct than hand out a balloon, while Oriental headdresses owe more to the decorations in your local Chinese
takeaway than those worn by Ming dynasty courtesans.

“We’re living in the era of the sound bite and the quick message – and my hats reflect that sense of instant familiarity, but hopefully with an unnerving edge,” he explains. Fortunately, for those of a more nervous disposition, S/S10 ventures into happier territory: the immortal airbrushed Athena poster, that decorated every teenage boy’s bedroom during the mid 1980s, and no doubt quite a few of his fantasies to boot. Admitting to loving the ‘glossy fleshiness’ of these too-perfect images, Atkinson has combined motifs incorporating cherries, lips and bananas with flesh coloured leather and studs to create a range that is aptly titled ‘Sex on the Brain’. And, for those customers wanting a cheaper, but no less exciting thrill, a more affordable range is in the pipeline for Topshop.