by EMERSON SLOANE
It's almost unbelievable, but British designer Ted Baker built his brand largely on word of mouth marketing and unique, out of the box giveaways to garner attention. Boxes of stuffing at Christmas? Special World Cup football cards? Chocolate at Easter? Yes to all of these marketing stunts, if you will.
The marketing can only take you so far, though. You've got to have a superior quality brand in order to pull off marketing humor. And Baker's reputation for quality and detail steadily grew from the moment he stepped up to put his name on his own line of clothing. That attention to quality and detail extended to his first efforts in designing and marketing men's shirts. Baker offered free on site laundry service for every shirt purchased in his first stores.
Years later, with still no significant advertising campaign, Ted Baker has established himself as a serious artist and designer in the world of fashion. He is one of the fastest-growing lifestyle brands in the United Kingdom, coming a long way from his beginnings in 1987 in Glasgow. He now has collections and accessories for men and women in the UK, the United States, Hong Kong, Dubai, as well as Taiwan and Bangkok.
Which brings us to this fantastic maxi dress from his current collection--a sublimely Asian inspired China Red maxi dress from his Langley collection. The "New Bohemian" trend this spring and summer heavily features the maxi dress from across the design landscape from the top couturiers and fashion houses down to finer department stores and even Main Street department stores like Target.
The maxi dress is a fashion world staple, making its beautiful debut to great acclaim in the late 1960s by way of Oscar de la Renta and soon followed by Dior, Cardin, Halston, and Yves St. Laurent. So, Baker's latching on to the legacy is a welcome and stunning new iteration of a familiar piece of fashion iconography.
This dress is definitely a "statement gown." The print is in vibrant China red and the gown is silk in pink nude. It has cap sleeves, a rounded neck, and a cut out on the back with exquisite detailing. The stark contrast between the vivid red and pale pink is so exceptionally beautiful in this definitive feminine gown. $595 tedbaker.com
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