Design

On my radar: Marie Marot



Marie Marot

Ok, she’s been on my radar since around 2014, but is Marie Marot on yours? She should be!

This shirt designer is her own best brand ambassador (wait, why isn’t she on Substack?!). Her personal taste is textbook gentlewoman style; in fact, I’m pretty sure she was on my Pinterest board for my book pitch. Think tailored crop pants, Jil Sander or Church’s lace-ups, Charvet socks and – of course – the most beautiful cotton shirts, worn buttoned or unbuttoned. (more…)



The culture of fashion: Alex Michon, shy punk (Part 2)



Alex Michon

Did you enjoy yesterday’s post on Alex Michon and her punk style evolution? If so, there’s more. I asked her to unearth some photos for me and as well as the photos (apologies for the bad quality – they’re not scans, but hey, it’s punk innit), she emailed more commentary that I couldn’t resist adding.

So here is Part 2.

I hope you’ll find it as fascinating as I do. Alex was adamant she wanted photos that showed her as she really was – a ‘shy punk’ and not a poser. However, a lot of her photos do show her posing in her designs as a way of documenting the work. So I couldn’t really not include them – sorry Alex! (more…)



The culture of fashion: Alex Michon, shy punk (part 1)



Alex Michon

In December 2020, I interviewed my friend, the artist, writer and a director of Transition Gallery, Alex Michon for an article for Bon Magazine called ‘Can what you wear change who you are?’ I could only feature a couple of her soundbites in the piece, but on recently rediscovering the transcript, I realised she had some incredible insights into a pivotal time for young women and their attitude to clothes and self-expression. I spoke to her about her years designing and making clothes (alongside her friend Krystyna Kolowska) for The Clash at the peak of their influence along with her own personal style metamorphosis as a reaction to living in 1970s Britain. (more…)



On my radar: Reluxe x Madewell



Reluxe x Madewell

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Reluxe founder Clare Richardson briefly at a Reluxe x Sana Jardin breakfast event in the Reluxe store. Clare is better known to me through her styling work for publications including Vogue, Holiday and Wall Street Journal magazine, very much in the ‘gentlewoman style’ vein of classic but sexy dressing.

During her talk, Clare made the point that women founders are natural multi-hyphenates, which suits her as a freelance stylist but also explains her segue into founding a luxury resale business. She has smartly chosen to use her top tier fashion industry contacts to foster collabs with relevant brands, the latest being Madewell. (more…)