How to stage a comeback

Report by Rebecca Lowthorpe

Imagine you’re a fashion designer known for sexy, sparkly dresses, a celebrity front row, a deep tan and a party lifestyle. But you want to change. You want to become a fashion leader. You want your clothes to be relevant. In short, you want to be taken seriously. Is it possible? Is there any way to turn back the clock and get the industry behind you once again?
This is the situation Julien Macdonald finds himself in. “I got stuck,” he confessed backstage at his show last night, once the camera crews had moved on and the air kissing had died down.
“Like all designers when you’re earning money, it just becomes too easy. I was following fashion. I knew what worked for my clients and I stuck to it.”
So not for him any more the ostrich gowns, bejewelled and sequined to within an inch of their lives? “I changed, I got older [he says he’s 37]. I’ve done the partying. And I wanted to do more with my life than just party dresses. It’s not just about what my clients want any more, it’s about what I want them to wear… But it’s not been easy.”
Take his collection last night, inspired, he said, by ‘underwater love’, brought on by a deep sea dive on his last holiday in Sharm el Sheikh. You can see how Macdonald is trying his utmost to move away from the banal spangly party frock and drill some real, serious fashion into his collection. Sporty scuba-influenced fabrics came laminated to the body, with the occasional chunky zip or fierce stud, and for evening – and perhaps he should have played this up more – a move towards romance with nude sequins and trailing, wispy skirts.
The first part of Macdonald’s turnaround came in 2007 with his new backer, Jamey Hargreaves, whose family owns the budget
retail chain Matalan and who managed to collar a deal with the crack Italian manufacturer, Ruccini (makers of Bottega). Second on board was Relative, the London PR company du jour (and didn’t Justine Fairgrieve and Sara Forage just look like a couple of hotties dressed up in their Macdonald sharp-shouldered dresses?). And third, there was the hiring of George Cortina, the indefatigable stylist and Fashion Director of Japanese Vogue, who said, “Basically, you have to work three times harder in a comeback. But look, it’s fashion now, it’s relevant and it’s beautifully made.” So what would Macdonald say to his critics who claim he’s derivative – a bit of Balmain here, a bit of Alaïa there?
“I’m dictating fashion in my own way. But, by God, I’m still learning. Look, even if I get it 60 per cent right, it’s still 60 per cent better than what I had before.”
Photography by Catwalking.com

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