by Ellie Baker
Royal Salute and acclaimed British Designer Richard Quinn return this season with a limited edition high-fashion style scotch and a one-off NFT with BlockBar.
London-born Quinn established his eponymous label in 2016 upon graduating the Fashion MA at Central Saint Martins. Specialising in womenswear and textiles, his collections are bold and emotive, creating a forward-thinking unafraid vision. Quinn creates garments with attention to innovative fabrications, focusing on his ability to combine unique handcrafted skill with a refined high fashion sensibility.
Royal Salute is an exceptionally crafted and aged Scotch whisky, starting where others end at 21-years-old. Created to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the 21 gun salute that honoured her, the brand is steeped in tradition and proud of its royal lineage whilst firmly engaged in the modern world by constantly pushing the art of blending into new, creative and ambitious forms.
Why Royal Salute? What does the brand mean to you?
It’s something that I drink in cocktails at Christmas time. It's my go-to celebration drink! The heritage behind the whisky, the process, the flagons are amazing. It’s been a great project.
This is a second iteration. We did the printed version and then this. This version pushes the materials into a new context, it elevates the first into a limited-edition beautiful artefact.
Tell us about your creative process behind the designs.
We looked at all the materials available and how we could push it into our own dark, romantic world. How we could make this floral from electric blue, deep purples, golds, and how that could be etched onto the bottle… We wanted to communicate the real-life balance of something that’s eye-catching but has a dark edge.From the dark black box on the outside to the hand painted flagon on the inside, there’s a juxtaposition.
I’m always fascinated by how things are made. You get to see amazing craftspeople hand painting, firing glass, and the colour changes once they fire it.
#1 from the collection is available to purchase as an NFT - what’s your opinion on NFTs?
NFTs are such a talking point right now, it’s so new, it’s a great opportunity to be one of the leaders.
Would you consider a digital collection? The pandemic meant that the fashion industry had to quickly adapt to digital previews for their designs.
I think people are opening their eyes to this digital space. The world became digital during Covid. Everyone uses their phone multiple times a day to connect, it’s interesting to see how you can reach so many people. I think the challenge now is to make something that is really engaging. It’s a great opportunity for so many different brands and a platform to utilise.
Only 199 decanters of the Royal Salute House of Quinn by Richard Quinn will be released from February 2022 at select luxury retailers worldwide, at an RRP of $12,000 USD.
For more information, visit www.royalsalute.com and follow @royalsalute and #RoyalSaluteXRichardQuinn online.