London Fashion week 2011 presented an array of talented designers from the well-established elite to the up and coming, and amongst the established was top British designer Julien MacDonald.
Born in Wales on the 19th March 1971, Julien was introduced to fashion at early age, being taught knitting from his mother. It was this that developed Julien’s interest in design. By age 13 Julien was even creating cardigans for his family members using the skills he’d acquired from his parents.
Despite his ability with knitting, Julien’s initial dream was not designing but to be a dancer. He had trained as a tap dancer however; a brief venture into a one year foundation course in textiles unveiled his talent for fabric designing, resulting in him enrolling on a textiles degree at The Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Brighton.
At the age of 25 soon after graduating and presenting his graduate collection in 1996at London's Royal College of Art, where he had chosen to do his MA in knitwear, his strong ability and artistic flair in design was spotted by the fashion elite and it was Karl Lagerfeld who snapped him up and recruited Julien to work for him at Chanel.
A mere year later, Julien ventured out on his own setting up his own company with which he debuted his collection at the prestigious London Fashion Week. The press loved it and the collection received high praise. Julien is known for having a great ability to publicize his shows, and his runway models have included supermodels like Naomi Campbell and celebrities like Mel B from the Spice Girls.
In 2000, Julien was successor to fellow British Designer Alexander McQueen as chief designer at French Haute couture house, Givenchy. In the same year, he was selected by British Airways to redesign their flight attendants' uniforms. However the designs were controversial with woman groups accusing Julien of turning the air stewardesses into sex objects.
In July 2001 Julien revealed his debut couture collection for Givenchy. It received rave reviews and saw Julien break away from his vintage signature designs and highlighted his technical mastery. Within the same year Julien was then named British Fashion Designer of the Year.
The welsh designer in 2004 then went on to make a more affordable range to appeal to the masses when he joined high street chain Debenhams whilst maintaining his couture designer status. Two years on his mastery in design was truly highlighted when in June 2006, he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to fashion.
His knowledge of the fashion industry had led to ventures into television, where he was judge on the Sky One series Project Catwalk (the British version of Project Runway) critiquing designers to 2010 where he is now a judge on Britain’s next top model critiquing models joining supermodel host Elle MacPherson, model Charley Speed and Top Stylist Grace Woodward.
Julien MacDonald’s pieces have been seen on an array of famous faces including Cheryl Cole, Kylie and Danni Minogue, Carmen Electra and Paris Hilton to name but a few. This has added to publicising the designers’ exceptional talent for design, and his constant ability to move forward with modern flair whilst maintaining a sexy femininity in every piece.
Julien’s London Fashion Week collection 2010 for Spring/Summer 2011 revealed a softer feminine feel, with exquisite flowing dresses to baby doll dresses. The designer is known for his well fitted feminine ensembles; however his new free flowing collection is a breath of fresh air showing another dimension to the designers’ talents. The cool crisp seasons are embodied in the neutral tones the collection began with.
As the beautiful collection was drawing to a close, the deep blue hues and vibrant orange pieces seemed to draw inspiration from warm summer evenings to sunny beaches. The softness of the material had a feminine charm and gave the pieces a natural beauty.
Julien MacDonald’s collections have always been inspiring and just when you think you know the designers signature styles, Julien always manages to shock and surprise his audience, unveiling different inspirations and technical ability the designer utilises.
By Mandy
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