If you met Giles Deacon in a pub, you would imagine him to be a geeky young librarian in love with his study of medieval hunting techniques or, noticing his well-buffed torso, a personal trainer specialising in working with older women. It would be some time before you hit on the idea he is a dress designer. Not only that, but one of London’s hottest.

Many of us have a stereotypical image of the male fashion designer as a fey young thing given to sulky pouting and bendy-bus wrist movements. But there are no stereotypes for a man like Deacon — who is now often simply known as “Giles”, the name of his increasingly popular label. There is no family background in art or fashion: his father is in agricultural sales, his mother enjoys flower arranging, and his elder sister is a riding instructor. All intensely normal. And it goes on that way. Brought up in rural County Durham, Deacon was a dayboy at Barnard Castle School, and he remembers the pleasure it was to have history lessons in the castle museum, only four minutes’ walk down the road. Deacon, who is 40 this year, never gave a thought to fashion until a friend of his mother’s saw some of his drawings and suggested he go to art school. Until that point, his interest in the arts had been limited to popping into Darlington or Newcastle with his best mate, Glen, to buy records and get the latest issues of i-D and The Face.

Coming down to London to attend Central Saint Martins 20 years ago is still vivid in Deacon’s mind. “From the start,” he recalls, “I loved everything about it: the location bang in the middle of Soho; its incredibly scruffy studios; but, above all, the atmosphere of ‘everything goes’.” He had found his perfect fit. “We were all real grafters, and there was a huge amount of personal competition, but never in a bitchy, nasty way.” It was the time of Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan, with whom Deacon shared a working space. Katie Grand, now a superstylist and the editor of Love magazine, was another contemporary. Deacon, resolutely heterosexual, lost no time in having an affair with her. They split many years ago, but are still close collaborators — Grand styles his London Fashion Week shows, and together they champion a diverse, sometimes shocking idea of beauty. He has always favoured older models over catwalk newbies. His most recent show featured the muscular presence of Rachel Williams, the professional basketball player and 1990s Sports Illustrated model, alongside the heavily tattooed artist Alice Temple. His clothes are equally beautiful and challenging. A typical Deacon design might at first appear to be a conventional cocktail dress. Look closer and you’ll see that there’s a print of a beheaded Bambi.

After graduating, Deacon spent 18 months in Paris with the king of kitsch, Jean-Charles de Castelbajc — “That was a very happy time. I loved the playful, fun aspect of his work” — before moving to Bottega Veneta, in Milan. “The job was really to try to revive a dead horse,” he laughs. “And it was appropriate because Bottega had been all about saddlery and horseyness, and my final collection at Saint Martins was based on much the same thinking.” Egged on by Grand, Deacon lost no time in giving the fusty label a kick in the pants with his tongue-in-cheek irreverence. The fun stopped when Tom Ford bought the company for Gucci group, in a hostile takeover in 2001. The politics left Deacon exhausted, demoralised — and out of a job.

“It was my watershed, my epiphany,” he concedes. “Our last show was cancelled, and suddenly I was back in London with time to think.” He visited friends in California. “I had job offers, but nothing that appealed.”

Then, back in Britain, he almost died as a result of a viral infection that attacked his lymphatic system. But he came through, and while he was recuperating he made his decision: he would start his own company, in the capital. “London was my home. Where else would I want to go? I wanted to start from scratch and be totally contemporary. You have to be bold and learn your own personal vocabulary, or you’ll never be able to speak clearly and say things that mean something to you and the public.”

Along with the growing popularity of his own-name label, he has just re-signed with New Look, because “it’s a good moneyspinner and great for getting your name out there”, as well as consulting for the Italian shoe firm Tod’s.

Deacon has matured. He has learnt to accept criticism. But there are limits. “There are few commentators I take seriously,” he says. “Despite often ridiculously grand titles, most of the front row are ignorant: they can’t tell a print from a jacquard. What can anyone learn from what they have to say?” The geek bites back.

THE SUNDAY TIMES STYLE CONVERSATIONS WITH COLIN

In association with Selfridges

GILES DEACON

Giles Deacon, is one of London’s hottest designers. Founder of the eponymous label, Giles, he is a champion of the diverse and the extreme. His most recent show featured the muscular presence of professional basketball player and 1990s Sports Illustrated model Rachel Williams, alongside the heavily tattooed artist Alice Temple plus some extras he found in the street. As well as his popular own-name label, Giles designs for New Look and is a consultant to the Italian shoe firm, Tods.

Giles Deacon in conversation with Colin McDowell, Monday, April 6 2009 at 6pm in the Ultralounge, Lower Ground, Selfridges, 400 Oxford Street, London W1A 1AB. Tickets are £20 (plus £2.50 booking fee) on 0844 209 0371. Click here to by tickets.

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