Wendy Dagworthy

Last updated

Wendy Dagworthy

OBE
Born
Wendy Ann Dagworthy [1]

(1950-03-04) 4 March 1950 (age 73)
Gravesend, Kent, England
Occupation(s)Fashion designer, university academic
Notable credit(s)Wendy Dagworthy label (1972–1988), Member of British Fashion Council (1996), Professor at RCA (1998–2014), OBE for services to fashion (2011)

Wendy Dagworthy OBE (born 4 March 1950) is an English former fashion designer and now design academic. During her career she has led fashion design teaching at both the Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins, mentoring notable fashion designers including Stella McCartney and Hussein Chalayan. [2] An influential designer in her own right in the 1970s and '80s with the Wendy Dagworthy label, and one of the founders of London Fashion Week, she was described by the Daily Telegraph as: "the high priestess of British fashion". [3]

Contents

Early life

Wendy Ann Dagworthy was born in 1950 in Gravesend, Kent, the daughter of Jean A. (Stubbs) and Arthur Sidney Dagworthy. [1] She was interested in fashion from an early age, noting that: "Sewing was something you did back then. You learnt needlework at school. There were no high-street shops where you could buy cheap clothes, so you would go to the market, buy some fabric and knock up your own". [4] She was a pupil at Northfleet School for Girls, later attending Medway College of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts). She studied fashion at Hornsey College of Art, where her degree show attracted attention. [5]

Design company

After leaving college, Dagworthy began working with the wholesale company Radley, which then owned the brand Ossie Clark. [4] She was also creating her own designs and, at 22, she had her first collection to sell to London stores. [5] These included the independent King's Road boutique Countdown [5] – the store's clients included Mick Jagger. [6] One of Dagworthy's early personal customers was musician Bryan Ferry, who she had met through a Gravesend connection. She designed some of Roxy Music's stage costumes and also made Ferry a pair of monogrammed black silk pyjamas to wear in hospital while he was having his tonsils out. [4]

With a bank loan of £800 and a further loan from her parents, the Wendy Dagworthy label was established in 1972. [5] [7] It operated initially from Dagworthy's flat and she would smuggle rolls of fabric up in the lift to avoid detection. She employed Betty Jackson as her fashion assistant as the business continued to grow, and she was also able to take on a studio in Berwick Street, Soho, a short walk from Carnaby Street. [4] [5] This was during the Three-Day Week and Dagworthy would have to go home at 4pm when the lights were switched off. [4]

Label hallmarks

The Wendy Dagworthy label's trademark style was loose and unstructured, with a focus on natural fibres and textures, such as wool, mohair and wool barathea, and details such as detachable hoods and double pockets. Clothes combined bright patterns and colours, including florals, stripes and batik prints in shades such as scarlet and orange. [8] The label was also known for its use of Liberty prints. [4] Signature garments included circular skirts, oversized wool coats and wide cropped jackets. [8] [9] According to Dagworthy, the inspirations for her designs included menswear, workwear, ethnic clothing and the detailing found on shirts. [10]

Company success and demise

Exports proved a particularly strong market for the label, and during the early 1980s almost half of Wendy Dagworthy output went to Italy. France and the US also proved to be good markets. [8]

As her business grew, Dagworthy became acknowledged as one of the key players in the London fashion scene, alongside her former assistant Betty Jackson, Jasper Conran and Paul Smith. [4] The label exhibited in Paris, Milan and New York and Dagworthy was among the guests at the Downing Street fashion industry reception in 1984 where Katharine Hamnett wore a Pershing protest T-shirt. [4] However, by 1988 and in the midst of a recession, Dagworthy's company went into voluntary liquidation. Recalling this period for an interview in the Daily Telegraph, she said: "And then it crashed. Suddenly the Italians stopped buying, the Americans stopped buying..." [4]

Advisory and academic roles

Wendy Dagworthy continued to work in the industry, acting as a design consultant for brands such as Laura Ashley, Betty Jackson and Liberty. [5] [7] She worked to promote the UK fashion industry, both as a judge of numerous fashion awards and as an organiser of the forerunner of London Fashion Week. [3] [7] She became a member of the British Fashion Council in 1996. [4]

In 1989 she joined the staff of Central Saint Martins as head of fashion. During her nine-year tenure, she helped to train designers such as Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan, Antonio Berardi, Sonja Nuttall and Suzanne Clements and Inacio Ribeiro (Clements Ribeiro). [5]

Dagworthy joined the RCA in 1998 as course director and professor, teaching MA students. [11] Two years later, she became head of its School of Fashion and Textiles and in 2011 was made head of the newly created School of Material, incorporating both fashion and textile disciplines. [2] Students trained under Dagworthy include Erdem and Holly Fulton. [2]

Daworthy was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours "for services to the fashion industry." [2] [12] Among her more recent advisory roles are contributing to the 2009 Design Museum exhibition Super Contemporary – for which she contributed a personal 'map' charting the 1970s London fashion scene – and acting as expert advisor to the V&A's 1980s exhibition From Club to Catwalk (2013–14). [4] [13]

In January 2014, Dagworthy announced that she would be retiring from the RCA at the end of the academic year. [2] [14] [15] In May 2014, the RCA held a celebratory exhibition, in tandem with its annual graduate fashion show, to mark her 16 years in the role of head of fashion. [16]

She was featured on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs programme on Sunday 2 November 2014; her chosen favourite tracks were "No Woman, No Cry" by Bob Marley and the Wailers and "La Vie En Rose" by Grace Jones, her favourite book being The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott, and her luxury item "a case of red lipstick and a fridge to keep it cool." [17]

Personal life

Wendy Dagworthy is married to the photographer Jonathan W. Prew. [10] The couple's sons are Somerset Prew and Kick-Ass 2 actor Augustus Prew. [18] [19] She is the mother-in-law of Prew's husband, actor Jeffery Self. [20]

Related Research Articles

Philip Anthony Treacy is an Irish haute couture milliner, or hat designer, who has been mostly based in London for his career, and who was described by Vogue magazine as "perhaps the greatest living milliner". In 2000, Treacy became the first milliner in eighty years to be invited to exhibit at the Paris haute couture fashion shows. He has won British Accessory Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards five times, and has received public honours in both Britain and Ireland. His designs have been displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stella McCartney</span> British fashion designer, daughter of Paul and Linda McCartney

Stella Nina McCartney is an English fashion designer. She is a daughter of British singer-songwriter Paul McCartney and the late American photographer and animals rights activist Linda McCartney. Like her parents, McCartney is a firm supporter of animal rights, environmentalism, and is particularly known for her use of vegetarian and animal-free alternatives in her work. Since 2005, she has designed an activewear collection for Adidas.

The Kent Institute of Art & Design was an art school based across three campuses in the county of Kent, in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the amalgamation of three independent colleges: Canterbury College of Art, Maidstone College of Art and Rochester (Medway) College of Art. In turn KIAD merged with the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College on 1 August 2005 to form the University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester. In 2008, this gained full university status and became the University for the Creative Arts.

Hornsey College of Art was a college in Crouch End in the London Borough of Haringey, England. The HCA was "an iconic British art institution, renowned for its experimental and progressive approach to art and design education".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hussein Chalayan</span> Cypriot fashion designer

Hussein Chalayan, is a British-Cypriot fashion designer. He has won the British Designer of the Year twice and was awarded the MBE in 2006.

Julien Macdonald OBE is a Welsh fashion designer who has appeared as judge on the television programme, Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model. In 2001, he was named "British Fashion Designer of the Year", and on 15 March 2001, was appointed as chief designer at Givenchy. His atelier is at Old Burlington Street, London.

Shirin Guild is an Iranian-born British fashion designer. Her fashion label was established in London, in 1991. Her clothing design is minimalist and she has reworked Iranian clothing traditions through a "reductionist aesthetic". Her design work has been described as "trans-cultural".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suzy Menkes</span>

Suzy Peta Menkes is a British journalist and fashion critic. Formerly the fashion editor for the International Herald Tribune, Menkes also served as editor, Vogue International, for 25 international editions of Vogue online until October 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilary Alexander</span> Fashion journalist (1946–2023)

Hilary Alexander was a New Zealand-born British journalist and past fashion director of the Daily Telegraph. She was twice named Journalist of the Year in the British Fashion Awards. She was editor-at-large for HelloFashion Monthly and freelanced as a stylist and broadcaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoebe Philo</span> British fashion designer

Phoebe Philo OBE is a British fashion designer. She was the creative director of fashion brands Céline from 2008 to 2018 and Chloé from 2001 to 2006.

Betty Jackson, is an English fashion designer based in London, England. She was born in Lancashire. In 2007, her success in British fashion was recognised with first an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1987 and later with a CBE for "services to the fashion industry." She is also known for designing many of the costumes worn by Edina and Patsy on the 1990s hit television comedy Absolutely Fabulous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustus Prew</span> British actor

Augustus Prew is an English film and television actor. He is known for his roles in About a Boy (2002), The Secret of Moonacre (2008), Charlie St. Cloud (2010), The Borgias (2011), Kick-Ass 2 (2013), and Klondike (2014). He played Drew Jessup on the TV series 24Seven (2001–2002), James Bell on the CBS medical drama Pure Genius (2016–2017), and David "Whip" Martin on the Fox crime drama Prison Break (2017).

Antonio Berardi is a British fashion designer of Sicilian descent, known especially for his dresses. He currently shows his collection at London fashion week, but has shown at Milan and Paris in the past.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suzanne Lee</span> American fashion designer

Suzanne Lee is a Brooklyn, New York based fashion designer working on fashion and future technologies.

Cutler and Gross is a British luxury eyewear brand, founded by Graham Cutler and Tony Gross in 1969. It is based in the Knightsbridge area of London.

Holly Fulton is a Scottish designer who set up her eponymous fashion label in 2009. Known for bold graphic and 3D motifs, innovative use of textiles and distinctive accessories, she has been described as the "queen of prints". She is a regular at London Fashion Week and has also appeared at Hong Kong Fashion Week.

Ioana Ciolacu Miron is a Romanian fashion designer. She received a Designer for Tomorrow Award from Stella McCartney, and has founded her own sustainable fashion Ioana Ciolacu label.

Sheilagh Brown is a British fashion designer who began her career in the 1960s, as part of the Swinging London scene. She was among the designers for Stirling Cooper, working subsequently at Coopers and Quorum, before establishing the label Barnett and Brown with Sheridan Barnett.

Lou Dalton is an English menswear fashion designer based in London. She has launched her own brand and collaborated with other fashion lines.

Ib Kamara, also known as I.B., IB, or Ibrahim Kamara is a Sierra Leone-born, London-based fashion journalist, stylist and creative director who, in January 2021, was named editor of Dazed magazine.

References

  1. 1 2 Sleeman, Elizabeth (2004). The International Who's Who. London: Europa Publications. p. 384. ISBN   1857432177 . Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 WWD staff (22 January 2014). "Wendy Dagworthy to retire at London's Royal College of Art". Womenswear Daily. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 Staff (February 2010). "The GQ Fashion 100:21–30". GQ. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Williamson, Charlotte (7 July 2013). "From Club to Catwalk: Back to the Eighties". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Treneman, Ann (14 March 1998). "Profile: Wendy Dagworthy – Mentor a la mode". The Independent. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  6. ↑ V&A transcript. "Interview with James Wedge". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Entry. "Wendy DAGWORTHY biography". Debretts. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 Designers. "Designers: Wendy Dagworthy". FMD. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Collections. "Wendy Dagworthy". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  10. 1 2 Moro, Alice (9 January 2013). "Wendy Dagworthy OBE: Dean of the School of Material and Head of Fashion at the Royal College of Art". My Life Style. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  11. ↑ Craik, Laura (9 June 2000). "The Royal Family". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  12. ↑ United Kingdom: "No. 59647". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 31 December 2010. p. 10.
  13. ↑ "Design Museum and Beefeater 24 present Super Contemporary". yatzer.com. Yatzer. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  14. ↑ Alexander, Ella (16 January 2014). "Erdem And Stella's Mentor Says Farewell". Vogue. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  15. ↑ news (15 January 2014). "Professor Wendy Dagworthy to retire at the end of the academic year". Royal College of Art. Retrieved 6 April 2014.{{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  16. ↑ "Show RCA Fashion 2014 and Celebratory Exhibition for Wendy Dagworthy". news release. Royal College of Art. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  17. ↑ "Desert Island Discs: Wendy Dagworthy". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  18. ↑ Scott, Danny (4 August 2013). "Relative Values: My mum's the true queen of the catwalk". Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  19. ↑ Hoggard, Liz (2 December 2010). "Why Emerald Fennell is the hidden gem in hit drama Any Human Heart". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  20. ↑ Lopez, David (15 January 2018). "Actors Jeffery Self and Augustus Prew Tied the Knot!". Instinct. Archived from the original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.