Handicapping the Designers
Add another darkhorse to the royal wedding gown sweepstakes: Jenny Packham
- Packham is know for embellished gowns with slim silhouettes
- Designer Jenny Packham at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Sept. 2010Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz
Add another name to the short list of designers rumored to be the front-runner to create Kate Middleton's wedding gown: British designer Jenny Packham.
The 46-year-old designer (and sister of British naturalist Chris Packham) meets most of the critieria:
1. She's British, a graduate of the prestigious Central St. Martins College of Art, and has a shop on Elizabeth Street in London.
2. Her designs are glamorous yet tasteful. I've seen several of her collections at New York fashion week and, while they are very Hollywood (her celebrity clients include Keira Knightley, Beyoncé and Jennifer Aniston) with slim silhouette and lots of embellishment, they are fit for a future queen.
3. She has a bridal line and has been named the British Bridal Designer of the Year in 2008 and International Couture Bridal Designer of the Year in 2007.
4. She hasn't denied it. Unlike other designers who have flat out said they aren't in the running (the latest to unequivocally remove his name from consideration: Bruce Oldfield), a Packham spokesman told Women's Wear Daily the company was “not commenting at all on the wedding.”