Internationally renowned fashion designer Betty Jackson has an impressive resume. When she was chief designer at the fashion collective Quorum, in the ’70s, she worked with legends like Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell. Second, her work in fashion earned her an MBE. And finally, she delivered a knockout runway collection this season, with the Telegraph’s Hilary Alexander gushing backstage that she’d ‘redefined feminism’.
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Now, she talks to LondonNet about how it all came together, and where fashion is going now.
What was the jump-off point for your latest collection?
We always start with colour and fabric, and we wanted to be quite optimistic. One of the main fabrics is mohair, which is the lightest fabric in the world. It looks bulky but really isn’t. And then we wanted to mix all the prints up.
Besides some bright prints – anemone-print, wood-grain – you have some darker influences. What was that about?
It was a bit more to do with Tim Burton and all his animations, and sort of more surreal. We wanted to pull all of these odd elements together.
How do you think the economy will impact the fashion community?
I think everybody’s spirit is different. I think we will get through it. It’s going to be a hard time, no question, because it’s probably going to be deeper than anything we’ve had before, but it just means you have to work harder. You have to concentrate and do what you do best. We’re fairly upbeat.
Who are some of your favourite up-and-coming designers?
I think there’s a lot of great talent. I love what Richard Nicoll is doing, I love what Danielle Scutt is doing. Christopher Kane is already established and does beautiful, beautiful things. What Giles has achieved in a very short amount of time, it’s fantastic.
People tend to be really uninhibited here, don’t they?
Well, yes. There’s also all the music and theatre, and wherever you want to go, it’s an inspirational place.
– Jill Hilbrenner
