Jenny Packham often draws on the glamour of the past to dress her glamorous woman in the present day. Yet her journeys across cultural and cinematic history typically locate themselves somewhere in the 20th century—and not in the annals of ancient Egypt. “I’ve been waiting for ages for the Grand Egyptian Museum to open in Cairo, and it’s now in the soft opening stage,” said Packham, who, despite her brand’s association with upper-crust Englishness, is also something of an adventurer.
“I went there years ago and got very inspired, so it felt like the right time to return to that inspiration.” Unsurprisingly, perhaps, one of Packham’s starting points was Cleopatra—whether representations of the great Egyptian queen from her own time, or her famous interpretation by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 blockbuster opposite Richard Burton. But given Packham’s magpie’s eye for glitz, she was also drawn to the ancient Egyptians’ dazzling use of color and metallics.
“They were the first to create a blue pigment from lapis lazuli, so we incorporated that into the collection,” she said, smiling. “And plenty of gold and silver of course.” (As Packham also noted, some historians say ancient Egypt was the first civilization to introduce the concept of luxury goods.
) Packham’s party season dresses were all present and ready for their big nights out come summer 2025, whether a dress dripping in royal blue sequins and beading with fierce power shoulders, or a mor.
