Matthew Williamson
Here you will learn about Matthew Williamson in 9 points.
Matthew Williamson was born in Chorlton, Manchester on 23rd October 1971. He studied in Manchester until he was 17, when he moved to London to start college at one of the most prestigious school in England, Central Saint Martins. Looking back, he admits that the world-famous college was "not the place for me". "St Martins is all about innovation,” he said, “about being the most edgy, about breaking ground in design and turning things on their heads. It's all very highly conceptualized - which is all fine and well and far be it from me to criticize. It just wasn't my way of working." Despite feeling this way, Williamson completed his course and graduated in 1994 with a BA 2:1 in Fashion Design and Printed Textiles, showing a "carnival dress" made from fabric swatches he picked up from Zandra Rhodes' studio floor as his senior design. "I just worked my way through college, always thinking in the back of my mind that St. Martins would be on my CV and that that was all I needed."
His first job after graduation was a freelance design project with Marni. He was then employed by the British fashion company Monsoon & Accessorize in London. Whilst working here he also worked on developing fabric swatches of his own designs containing detailed beading and embroidery. He also worked for Georgina Von Etzdorf for a while. This took a span of approximately two years.
In the summer of 1997, a cold call to British Vogue led to a meeting with the then fashion assistant, Plum Sykes. Encouraged by her reaction to his fabric swatches and ideas, Matthew created a small women’s wear collection which resulted in a September fashion show comprising a mere 11 outfits - unheard of for a fashion show. His beaded bags and scarves also caught the attention of Kate Moss, Helena Christianson, and Jade Jigger, around the time that Williamson was ready to launch his own clothes label with his business partner, Joseph Velosa, Which is why the three superstars in their own right agreed to model in his debut London Fashion Week debut show in 1997, “Electric Angels”, and Williamson was powered onto the international scene.
Since this first show, Williamson’s collections have continued to grow and strengthen, cementing his reputation as one of the UK’s leading designer talents.
By the autumn of 1997, Williamson was one of the in-crowd and invitations to dinners and parties started flooding in from the likes of Karl Lagerfeld. But, at barely 5'9", Williamson insists that he is still a private person, who prefers a quiet night in to a star-studded party. "I'm not doing this to be a star," he said in 1998. "It is great fun, but I am in it for the long-term. You have to have you're head screwed on otherwise you get screwed over."
His achievements within the fashion industry have been recognized consistently: Matthew won Elle Designer of the Year 2004; has been nominated three times for British Designer of the Year and in 2005 was awarded the prestigious Moet and Chandon Fashion Award.
His collections are now shown twice a year during New York Fashion Week since 2002, and they often have an Indian influence, perhaps related to the time Williamson spent working in India for the clothing store Monsoon back in 1996.
Since launching in London in 1996, the Matthew Williamson label has become synonymous with bright, kaleidoscopic hues and equally vibrant patterns and prints. The designer never met a color he didn’t like and subsequently works it into his often-trippy but usually flirty, pretty dresses. His collections are also known for his evocative sense of color and print. He loves the juxtaposition of contrasting elements and is known for consistently creating modern, feminine and uplifting fashion. His most recent collection for the Autumn Winter 2006 season was extremely well received and cited by Vogue.com as ‘A stylish, grown-up collection of immaculate cuts’ and ‘every piece was coveted – a love story that should be on every girl.”
Delicate as his designs are, there's nothing lightweight about Matthew Williamson. As one of the more grounded graduates from Central St Martins, this designer's business has always turned a profit.
Along the way, Williamson has dabbled outside of womenswear, including men’s and children’s clothing, perfume, garden furniture, and limited-edition luggage for Samsonite.
He counts celebrities such as Sienna Miller, Jade Jagger who lent him her jewlery designs to his early runway shows, Plum Sykes, and Kelis whom he considers his muse and a walking advert for the designer whose clothes are now in every A-list wardrobe. He counts them all amongst his friends, but has often been criticized by others in the fashion industry for using them to promote his designs.
Whilst continuing at the design helm of his namesake company, in 2005 Williamson also took over as the Creative director at the LVMH owned company, Emilio Pucci. It was a dream come true for Matthew as he has always loved Emilio Pucci’s work from the 60s and 70s and his debut collection in Milan in February 2006 ‘bought a new, youthful freshness to the label’. ‘It fused the wonderful Pucci archives with his own sensibility of modern, feminine fashion.
And possibly as an attempt to differentiate his own, namesake collection from the surely print-heavy one to come (Pucci), Williamson's fall show was decidedly toned down. "I'm moving away from hippie in favor of a polished elegance," he said backstage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Williamson
http://www.style.com/fashionshows/collections/F2006RTW/review/MWILLIAM
http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/matthewwilliamson/
http://www.vogue.co.uk/whos_who/Matthew_Williamson/default.html
http://www.mymanchester.org/manchester/celebs&gossip-matthew-williamson.htm
http://www.matthewwilliamson.com/aboutus.htm