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Ballgowns (V&A)
Gown by Victor Edelstein, 1986. Worn and given by Lady Heseltine. Museum no. T.264-2001. Image © David Hughes 2011 Fashion is often accused of being frivolous, ephemeral and unnecessary. It is not essential to our survival as human beings. Perhaps it is a sign that times are peaceful, that we are able to create and… →
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Yayoi Kusama (Tate Modern)
This week I visited the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at Tate Modern. As originally a fine artist, I have always been inspired by the works of female artists such as Frida Khalo and Louise Bourgeois. Kusama’s is a unique and seminal Japanese artist. Still working today in her late 80s, she has collaborated with artists such… →
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Beauty of Age: The Debate
In preparing for the Beauty of Age debate tonight, a number of themes have emerged that have really set me wondering as to where our contemporary emphasis on equating youth with beauty will lead. For example, growing interest in the ancient fairy tale, Snow White. Currently a number of films, ballets and television programmes are… →
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Diana Vreeland
Looking at a series of quotes by Diana Vreeland, one of my favourites is where she celebrates vulgarity- “ Vulgarity is a very important ingredient in life. I’m a great believer in vulgarity- if it’s got life…..no taste is what I’m against.” I sometimes wonder if all the choice and instant access to garments and… →
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SUBLIME: Beyond Duty
Duty: that which one is bound by any obligation to do I have become increasingly interested in how certain actions become first acceptable to society and then, ultimately, something that you have to do. Following on from that, why do society and culture come to see certain behaviour or beliefs as acceptable when they are… →
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Carmen Dell'Orefice
I first met Carmen about four years ago when she came to the opening of David Downtown’s exhibition in the Fashion Space Gallery here at the College. It was hard not to be awestruck- a reaction I now recognise when people are first introduced to her. I knew the facts of her life and had… →
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SUBLIME: A Model of a Woman
Today there are thousands of girls aspiring to be the next Kate Moss in an age when perhaps it has never been easier to get into modelling. Yet there was once a golden age, when only a handful of models made it into the history books. We meet one of them Flicking through a magazine,… →
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Opinion: Fashion Education in Prisons – Female Prisoners
Image: Sean Michael Fashion is often dismissed as trivial by those who see clothes as adornment, rather than an external display of internal thinking. However we dress we make statements about ourselves, willingly or unwillingly. At the London College of Fashion, while we encourage our students to think the unthinkable as they search for tomorrow’s… →
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Yohji Yamamoto
This is a video of me in conversation with Yohji Yamamoto, one of my favourite designers. →