London-based fashion designers Levi Palmer and Matthew Harding are in town this week to accept FGI Dallas’ coveted Career Achievement in Fashion award. But those aren’t the only ties the cult fashion label have to the area. Flashback almost two decades.
“Levi was a Fashion Group International of Dallas scholarship winner in 2003 and it’s wonderful to be honoring him and Matthew for their achievements in fashion design this year at FGI’s Night of Stars gala,” says Ken Weber, event chair and owner of Martini Consignment.
During their stay, the duo will also visit El Centro College downtown, where Palmer, who grew up in Belton, Texas, first learned to cut patterns. It was during his final year that he won the school’s aforementioned top honor—a trip to study fashion in Paris and London.
On Friday, the designers will stop by Elements for a lunchtime personal appearance. The Lovers Lane boutique is hosting a two-day trunk show featuring a curated assortment of looks including the brand’s iconic modern shirting. A bit of fashion history: palmer//harding launched in 2011 with just 17 white shirts. Fashion aficionados will also recall that former first lady Michelle Obama chose the label’s blue-and-white pinstripe for her first public speech after leaving the White House.
For next season’s resort collection, the pair wanted to celebrate and explore their entire roster of signatures from seasons past, according to Vogue.com. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, our work has become introspective—like a sort of rebirth, in a way—which is incredibly therapeutic,” Harding told the magazine. “There’s also an element of dissection that we’ve applied to our practice, which has enabled us to experiment like never before,” Palmer added.