British Fashion Desingers
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Alexander Mcqueen»
The Gothic sensibility of a Brothers Grimm fairytale is closer in courage to Alexander McQueen's clothing - than the fetish, spear and misogyny he's been accused of promoting. Though dark McQueen's design, it still achieves a femininity that has seduced everyone from Bjork to the Duchess of Westminster.
McQueen's increase to power is a fashion fairytale all of its own. The East End taxi driver's son, born in 1969, is apprenticed to the Prince of Wales' tailor Anderson & Sheppard on Savile Row where he disreputably scrawls obscenities into the linings of HRH's suits. He works with Romeo Gigli, theatrical costumers Angels & Bermans and Koji Tatsuno previous to Central Saint Martins MA course director Bobby Hilson suggests he enroll.
His 1992 'Jack the Ripper' graduation collection thrills members of the British fashion press, none more so than Isabella Blow who buys the complete collection and adopts McQueen as one of her proteges. McQueen's bloodline of angular, hostile tailoring is innate from MGM costume designer Adrian, Christian Dior and Thierry Mugler.
His 'Highland Rape' and 'The Birds' collections used Mr Pearl corsetry to illustrate in the waist and overstress square shoulders and sharp pencil skirts. Brutality tempered by means of a lyricism characterises the McQueen style. In 1996 he was named British Designer of the Year.
1996 also saw McQueen return John Galliano as head of Givenchy haute couture. But by 2001 the Gucci Group had acquired a scheming stake in McQueen's own label and the designer left both Givenchy and LVMH. Since then, McQueen's eponymous label has dazzled Paris with bittersweet dramatic presentations. 2003 saw the launch of his first perfume, Kingdom, and a tailored menswear collection produced by Savile Row tailor Huntsman; in 2004 his men's ready-to-wear was exposed in Milan for the first time.
«Paul Smith
A grave accident while riding his bike put paid to Paul Smith's dream of becoming a professional racing-cyclist. However, this accident propelled him to pursue a career involving his other passion: fashion. In 1970, Smith (born Nottingham, 1946) opened a store in his native city, advertising his own early designs that reflected the types of clothing he loved but was unable to buy wherever else. Studying fashion design at evening classes, and working intimately with his wife, Pauline Denyer, a graduate of the Royal College of Art, by 1976 lie was showing a full variety of menswear in Paris.
Carving out a characteristic look that combined the best of traditional English attire often with strange or witty prints, Smith blazed a trail throughout the late '70s. His progress continued into the '80s - when he put boxer shorts rear on the fashion map - and beyond, with stores opened in New York (1987), and Paris (1993). The designer now has a amazing 300 shops in Japan, and also offers a variety of womenswear (launched in 1994) and clothing for kids, in addition to accessories, books, jewellery, fragrances, pens, rugs and china.
In 2001 Smith was knighted, and in spite of the success and breadth of his company - wholesaling to thirty-five countries about the globe - his hands-on involvement remains essential to its success. Commercial activities aside, Smith's aesthetic has retained its idiosyncrasies. His autumn/winter 2005 womenswear collection, by its tartan tailoring and trilbies, was a sideways glance at the '60s; for his menswear, in the similar season, Smith gave a lesson in clash and contrast, putting python trousers with checked jackets and flower-patterned shirts.
John Richmond»
Born in 1961, Richmond graduated from Kingston Polytechnic in 1983 and worked as a temporary designer for Emporio Armani, Fiorucci and Joseph Tricot before forming his first label, Richmond-Cornejo, a collaboration with designer Maria Cornejo, in 1984.
During 1987 he struck out on his own. In his career Richmond has dressed pop icons such as Bryan Adams, David Bowie, Madonna and Mick Jagger; George Michael wore Richmond's Destroy jacket in the video for 'Faith'. John Richmond designs are identical with the spirit of rock and the smell of leather.
Nowadays, his label comprises three clothing lines: John Richmond, Richmond X, and Richmond Denim, with eye-wear and underwear collections also newly launched. A business partnership with Saverio Moschillo has provided Richmond with a universal network of showrooms, from Naples, Rome and Paris to Munich, Diisseldorf and New York. They residence his leather biker jackets, oil-printed T-shirts, acid-orange pleated skirts and long-line sweaters.
Richmond's latest flagship store in London's Conduit Street joins two Italian shops in Milan and Bari. Then there's the Designers At Debenhams collection, the John Richmond Smart Roadster car -needless to say, a John Richmond fragrance and a childrenswear collection are also equally in the pipeline
«Christopher Bailey
Christopher Bailey(born in Yorkshire) has become amazing- of a household name, we have to say thanks to his genuine work as creative director of Burberry, the British company he joined back in 2001. Yet Bailey (born 1971) is far from an overnight sensation, having before notched up impressive fashion credentials. On implementation a Master's degree at the Royal College of Art in London (1994), Bailey worked in New York for Donna Karan from 1994 to 1996. In 1996, he has been hired by Tom Ford as a elder designer of womenswear at Gucci in Milan and worked there till 2001. At Burberry, Bailey is responsible for the direction of all product lines, as well as the description of the company's overall image and seasonal advertising concepts.
is flagship compilation is the forward-thinking Prorsum lines for men and women that are accessible in Milan to consistently rave reviews and from which he has banished approximately all outline of the hallmark Burberry check. A certain eye for clear, bright colour and subtle innovations in tailoring have emerged as key to both menswear and womenswear collections. Bailey is concerned with long life, rather than resting on the corporate laurels while he is increasing his codes.
However, the designs he has produced deferentially recognize the Burberry heritage. For example, he has made no secret of his respect for their classic gabardine trenchcoat, which for autumn/winter 2004 he cut into capes, for both men and women. Renowned for his hands-on approach to design and an interest for the details, he continues to propel the brand into the 21st century with his customary passion, eagerness and cheerful demeanour. In acknowledgement of his a lot of successes, the Royal College of Art awarded Bailey an Honorary Fellowship in 2003.
Julien Macdonald»
Macdonald's love for fashion was enthused by the knitting circles his mother detained at
home in the Welsh village of Merthyr Tydfil. Studying fashion textiles at Brighton University, his complicated knitwear went on to win him a scholarship at London's Royal College of Art. In the time he graduated in 1996, with a spectacular collection styled by Isabella Blow, he had already designed for Koji Tatsuno, Alexander McQueen and Karl Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld spotted Macdonald's knits in the pages of i-D and selected him head knitwear designer for Chanel collections in 1997.
Absolutely devoted to the female form, Macdonald reinvigorated knitwear with his showy red-carpet creations. His barely-there crochet slips of cobwebs and crystals, appalling frocks and furs guarantee headlines for a loyal throng of starlets and celebrities. Macdonald's catwalk antics -with appearances from the Spice Girls and a Michael Jackson lookalike, plus an autumn/winter 2001 presentation detained at the Millennium Dome and directed by hip-hop video supremo Hype Williams - have earned him a reputation as a showmaster.
After being crowned the British Glamour Designer of the Year for the first time in 2001 (an award he picked up again in 2003) Macdonald went on to get his high-octane street-style to couture house Givenchy, where he succeeded Alexander McQueen as original director. Under his direction, sales for the luxury label augmented despite some mixed reviews from fashion critics, and with three years under his belt he produced a highly praised farewell show for autumn/winter 2004. For now, Macdonald continues to present his colorful collections in London, where he also oversees his homeware, fragrance and high street lines.