A restless multi-talent

Written by: Štěpánka Strouhalová
Photo by: Věroslav Sixt

	Gérard M. Wilson

“If you can cut precisely fitting dresses, you can sew anything, even circus tents. It’s all in the cutting,” opines Gérard M. Wilson (40), an Englishman with eastern European roots, a fashion creator, and an interior designer.

HE CAN DRESS a person in most anything, from perfectly fitted suits through paper cards to “well-cut” wooden dresses. And for a change he “dresses” furniture of all types with the nonchalance of a first-rate tailor.
When he was just seventeen, this restless Londoner opened a shop on Carnaby Street featuring crazy outfits (Boy George was one of his customers). It was in this shop that he gained practical experience, cutting and sewing tailor-made clothes. However, he was not very satisfied with his studies at the renowned St. Martin School of design, preferring to gain experience in various design fields. In France, he served an internship in the manufacture of equestrian saddles and tack, learning new upholstering techniques. Upon his return to England, wild latex items became the craze, so he glued colorful T-shirts and pants made of rubber latex together.
Seven years ago he moved to Prague and established Rogue Designs, a fashion and interior studio. He currently designs costumes for advertisements, films, and fashion shows, but he also tailors for private clients. Wilson’s witty and unconventional designs adorn interiors of well-known Prague clubs and restaurants like Radost FX. He speaks most highly of the interior of the Blind Eye club in Žižkov, which is to open at the end of February. “There will be a huge, articulated, wavy couch that can seat up to 50. This is probably my finest creation to date,” he says. Wilson’s creations are often a symbiosis of fashion and design. “I like furnishing my clients with everything from clothes to furniture. If they let me, I like to go wild, but I have no personal style of my own. True, I’m not very proud of this, but I can make near-perfect copies,” he confides. On the other hand, he is able to create original wares of which not even fashion designer John Galliano would be ashamed.
He enjoys designing haute couture style items, but simple, comfortable, fully functional fashion is his real challenge. An evening gown (materials included) sells for CZK 3,000 and up at Rogue Designs, suits go for around CZK 9,000, and you can have your favorite sofa reupholstered for as little as CZK 4,000-5,000.

Classic-cut suit, blend of wool and silk

Brocade evening dress with trousers

Silver sofa in Radost FX club’s new interior

Golden sofa in Radost FX club

how to turn the tables on st. valentine Take the four required steps and a great Valentine’s Day can be yours! Melt the ice with dangerously sweet espresso. Cup with saucer, CZK 365; sugar bowl with spoon, CZK 395; Guzzini, Obchod snů. Unlock the heart. Key ring with rhinestones, CZK 300; Accessorize. Take a bath and smell great. Soap in a metal box, CZK 190; Oilily. Adorn yourself in seductive undergarments. Satin panties and bra with pearly beads, CZK 375 and 850; Punčocha-cha. Obchod snů, Husova 1, Praha 1 Oilily, Pasáž Koruna, Václavské n. 1, Praha 1 Accessorize, Metropole Zličín, Řevnická 1, Praha 5 Punčocha-cha, Vinohradský pavilon, Vinohradská 50, Praha 2