THROW a question towards Reynold Pearce and Andrew Fionda and the duo glance at one another before intuitively deciding who is going to answer. As the conversation progresses, they jump in spontaneously, agreeing and endorsing one another. Talking to them is a bit like, well, talking to one person.
And if Pearce and Fionda - take away the 'and' for their tradename - work together in the same bantering, zealous style, it is hardly surprising they are the brightest new stars in British fashion today .
After their first rousing collection during last London Fashion Week, retailers from all over the world pitched up at their Highbury studio and started making offers. For a debut show, this young design duo had done astoundingly well, and scouts from Bergdorf Goodman in New York, Neiman Marcus in Los Angeles, and Liberty and Harvey Nichols in London all wanted a part of the action.
In Hong Kong, Pearce Fionda's debut spring has been marketed through Joyce. The duo had heard enough about Joyce Ma to have been suitably impressed when they were approached by a representative.
'We've been completely overwhelmed,' said Fionda of the enthusiastic response he and his partner received for their first show.
'It was better than anything we imagined.' Fashion critics said the same thing about the duo after their first collection, which was featured extensively in the press. That they got any coverage at all was a challenge: during the London Fashion Week show, Pearce Fionda were one of several designers participating in the New Generation collection. With the competition as heavy as it was, it was more likely they would slip into obscurity.