He had a very, very close relationship with Audrey Hepburn
and he did all of the clothes for Breakfast at Tiffany's,
which is iconic and the most fabulous movie.
Not a lot of people know there's a secret location in the middle
of France where all the archives are stored.
Not even I know the location because all GPS was like shut
off. The industry is obviously in a
really complicated place right now.
I just would love to understand what your thoughts are about
where it goes from here. It's getting faster and faster,
and it's also getting more extreme.
It's fascinating to me because watching all of these big houses
have the creative director shuffle around and most of them
are men. Why do you think that is?
There's many layers to that that we can really unpack.
Here, let's talk about your role at Uniqlo for a moment.
You are the inaugural Global Creative Director for Women's
and men's wear, overseeing a $23 billion business.
So I, I graduated with a really specific skill, which I would
actually say that's a really interesting way to approach your
career is to find a niche and find a specific skill that you
can offer. Today I'm going on a style
journey with the brilliant British designer and creative
director, the supremely talented Claire Waite Keller.
Hello and welcome, Claire. Thank you for having me, Amanda.
I'm so thrilled to be here. Oh my God, I am not as thrilled
as I am, trust me. I mean, your career to date has
spanned Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Gucci with Tom Ford and
the defining era of the brand, onto Pringle as the Creative
Director for five years, revitalising the heritage
knitwearhouse with a modern identity.
Then on to be the creative Director of Chloe in 2011.
And then you were recruited to be the first female artistic
director at the House of Givenchy, where you relaunched
the Oak Couture shows and elevated the Mazel's global
stature in both couture and ready to wear.
And after leaving Givenchy, you partnered with Uniqlo 2023, the
acclaimed Uniqlo C collection was launched.
And in 2024, you were named Uniqlo's inaugural Global
Creative Director for Women's and Menswear, overseeing a not
insignificant $23 billion of business.
I am exhausted just reading what that out.
Oh, and along the way, you designed Megan's wedding gown,
won countless awards and have a family.
I mean, well, well, I'm just humbled.
I really AM. Average day in a woman's life?
Oh. My God, I mean, your career is
fascinating. It's just fascinating to me.
Working directly with Calvin straight out of college and then
Ralph and then Tom forget it before getting the autonomy of
Chloe. They're no couture and now must
market. Is it unfair to ask you what was
your favorite role? No, actually, because I think I
mean, as much as there are probably different aspects of
each that I absolutely love. I think probably one of the most
special times was even though it's, it's quite, it was quite a
challenging time just with the sheer quantity of creativity and
work that I was doing was Givenchy probably it was very
defining in the fact that it was the first time I'd done couture.
And in, as you know, in the fashion industry, couture is
like the highest level of work that you can do.
So to be offered the opportunity to work in a historic Maison in
Paris, to be kind of given the keys to the house and then just
given a blank sheet of paper, just go for it.
Is really that the most extraordinary privilege and a
really unique experience. And then I think also during
that area, between doing Meghan Markle's wedding dress, but also
all the red carpet I did during that period, it was quite like,
been an amazing, amazing moment, I suppose, in my career, yeah.
Gosh, absolutely. How long did you have before
being given the keys and that first catwalk couture show?
So I joined in the May and I had my first show in September, so
it was quite quick. Wow.
So I and the summer holidays and as you know, the French love a
few weeks off in the summer. So I was joining at the
beginning of May, I think it was.
And then I had basically 2-3 months to get most of it sort
of, I guess put together by the time we closed at the end of
August. And then we reopened I think
third week of August. And then I had another four
weeks before the show and then I mean.
That was the first show. For those who who know less
about Kajol, can you just run me through that sort of process
from literally being handed the keys?
So one of the things I wanted to do when I joined because Jovan,
she is it. It's a very well known name and
especially obviously in fragrance and beauty.
But I think a lot of people hadn't really looked at the
archives quite deeply. And I felt it was quite
important to just immerse myself and understand Hubert and what
he created right from the beginning.
What was his sort of DNA? What was the signature sort of
style and spirit of the house? And when you sort of go in
there, obviously some people may know or may not know.
He had a very, very close relationship with Audrey
Hepburn, and he did all of the clothes for Breakfast at
Tiffany's, which is iconic and the most fabulous movie.
And so I thought, what else around that does he have in the
archives? So I got to go to which not a
lot of people know. There's a secret location in the
middle of France where all the archives are stored.
Not even I know the location because all GPS was like shut
off and only the driver knew. Even the driver didn't know we
were met by a car and then driven like further 10 minutes.
God, this is so James Bond. Yeah.
So all LVMH houses have an archive in a deep part of France
that nobody knows about. And so it's a it's a kind of
fascinating journey in itself going there.
And then you go to the archive and they have you can call out
certain items if you want to see.
So in like if you went to the VNA here where you can put your
gloves on and you can look at the couture dresses from the
past. And I actually spent quite a lot
of time in his paper archive, of which there was several thousand
boxes of his sketches. So pencil sketches that he had
done. And then in the September before
the show I actually met Lubert. Did he?
Yes, and it was about 6 months before he died.
So for me it was, it was a very important meeting.
It was something that I was really privileged to be able to
go and sit with him in his stunning house in the 7th Arran
Dieselmour in Paris. And he had pictures of Audrey
all around him. Very.
Imagine the world of those fabulous designers like the
Valentinos and Karl Lagerfelds from the 70s and 80s, where they
collected extraordinary pieces of, you know, furniture from
auction houses. It was just like being in the
most beautiful, like Maison. He loved the colour deep.
It like a deeper and more green. All the curtains with this deep
green, the beautiful green garden outside.
There was something about green that he was very attracted to.
He was even at the time I met him, which he was probably about
89, a little fragile on his feet, but he was 6 foot 4,
towering above me just like the most elegant man.
And I just looked at him and I just thought, God, it's him and
Audrey together. Like completely like different
statues, but just the same kind of elegance.
There was something so graceful about him.
And so it was a really wonderful meeting of me talking to him
about the fact that I wanted to revive Couture.
And even though there'd been a little bit of couture that my
predecessor had done in terms of red carpet and little
presentations, no one had revived the business of Couture
A Chavanshi for decades. And so I really was going to be
the one sort of reopening the doors, bringing the business
back in and also reinvigorating the shows.
So to go back to a show format. And he was thrilled to hear that
because he told me that that was the happiest time he he was
within his own house was when he was working in couture.
It's like for him, he's just most happy place.
So I felt very, I felt really thrilled to be able to bring
that to him, especially at that stage late in his life.
What a magical meeting. Did that meeting affect any of
your decisions, albeit late decisions on the show?
Not really. I just felt that actually going
forward, it gave me even more drive and passion to make the
couture such a huge success and a driving force for the image of
the house. So it was really the foundation
of what I wanted to do to bring the the house sort of back to
the forefront of being the leader in that space.
And it's interesting because at the time 2016 two 1017 couture
was kind of considered this like dusty sort of business that, you
know, there's a certain jet set kind of group of women that go
between the different Maison and they get their suit and they're
this. And and it was considered either
very sort of performance art and quite frivolous and sort of
disconnected or a little old feeling mature, let's say, for
people who were going to a ball or something like this.
And so there wasn't anything that felt sort of very modern
and really rigorous and also coming from different point of
view. And so when I did my first show,
you never know how things are going to be.
And you must, you must know this too.
Doing shows, you're always like, Oh my God, what's there going to
be the reaction of? So it's because even if you
think it's great, some people understand shows and some people
don't. And everyone's entitled to their
opinion, but you'd never really know.
And the minute the show finished, just a sea of
journalists launched on me. And I'm not joking, like about
50 mics and like, phones and everything in my face.
And I was, like, backed into a corner.
I was like, OK, I think this went well.
Everyone wants to talk to me, and it did.
It was just it was kind of one of those moments that was sort
of pivotal in my time at Johanshi where it just reset the
stage that I'm going on this different mission.
I'm really about the structure and the tailoring of Johanshi.
It's all about silhouette, it's about line, it's about cut, and
that sort of defined the era that I had there.
I mean, I remember seeing that show and and thinking, oh wow,
you have really nailed it. It was so beautiful.
Yeah, So it felt, you know, when you get a little chill after a
show and you feel like I felt good.
But I hope everybody understands it.
And it was a very tiny show as well.
We only invited about 250 people and it was a salon style, so it
was room to room to room. And we did it in the Marry in
Paris in this beautiful building called the National Archive.
And, and they basically in the basement house archives back to
the 16th century from Louis, from all the Louis kings.
And so it has a very sort of, I don't know if yes, sort of very
historic. You feel like there's people in
the wallpaper kind of place. And we did it really late at
night at about 8:30. And the whole, the whole show
was based on a night garden. And I, I based it on that
because I knew Uber was really fascinated by gardens, loved
gardens. And so I sort of based that
first show on on that sort of story.
And you obviously had this conversation with him about your
inspiration and was he? Was he delighted?
Yeah, he was. I mean, I think he was sort of
really curious to see what was going to come out.
And I think also he was still very much observing fashion.
He's just like, oh, I don't understand a lot of fashion
today. Are we talking maybe, you know,
10 years ago now? So that was when there was a
huge surge of St. wear on the runways.
So tons of hoodies and big pants and lots of kind of much more,
let's say casual wear coming onto the runway shows.
And he just said, I don't understand.
I don't, I don't, I don't get where this fashion is going.
And, you know, OK, I'm an old man, but I just believe in
elegance. And, you know, we're doing this
to make people look beautiful. And so it was a it was a very
interesting conversation about his philosophy coming from such
another era. I mean, he'd, he'd been in his
house like 50 years. And so, you know, he, he'd seen
many phases of fashion, but it was interesting to get his
perspective. Yeah.
Did you speak to him post show? No, he got a little ill after
the show and I tried to meet him again actually before the the
following show and I unfortunately he just went on a
sort of slow decline. But all I do know is that his
partner who was with him till the end, and I saw him actually
at Uber's funeral and he said Uber was smiling when he saw
your couture show, which I thought was just such a lovely
thing to say. And he didn't need to say it,
but I, I sort of thought that was just so generous.
Yeah, that's lovely. I mean, you've obviously had to
design according to all the different house codes.
If you were to have a Claire Waite Keller collection, what
would it be? What would the aesthetic be?
I mean, there's, there's definitely an essence of that in
what I'm doing at Uniqlo. I had to say.
So the Uniqlo C line that I have there probably has a good
portion of what I would consider my like signatures tailoring,
the softness with the sort of separates cashmere, all the
things that are kind of through my career sort of stayed with
me. But I think my my real, I guess
my real expression of myself, I felt actually Chloe really sort
of embodied that. There's this sort of romantic
sort of softer side of me that always fights with the voyage
tailoring side and I love kind of clashing the two together.
And it's always been sort of my approach to fashion.
I kind of feel that is the modern woman today.
Sometimes we have that like romantic moment or that sort of
soft moment when we're, you know, on some holiday more.
We're a big, we dress. And then there are other moments
where like today I'm in my sharp tailoring and my, you know, sort
of more signature sort of boyish style.
So I think I kind of flip between the two depending on
mood. And I feel like that's kind of
every woman today in a. Way were you ever attempted to
start your own brand? Sometimes.
But not really because I really like, I guess I sort of like the
idea of immersing myself in stories of other people.
And maybe that's a little bit like what actors do where they,
you know, choose a character and then they get deep into that.
And I, I like the idea of understanding and learning from
other people and how they approach things.
So I found that fascinating. I like history and I like
understanding where things have come from and I'm a huge fan of
fabric so the every brand I've worked at they treat things
differently, colour palettes, fabric, so I get to refresh
myself every five years. So I always felt if I did my own
brand it would be just One Direction and sort of 1 palette.
And I actually quite like this, the idea of sort of
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just £4.99 with code style DNA. The industry is obviously in a
really complicated place right now.
I just would love to understand what your thoughts are about
where it goes from here. It's getting faster and faster
and it's also getting more extreme, very much like, you
know, general life and politics at the moment.
And I think it's becoming more and more stark within the
fashion world. I think we either have now the,
let's say the Democratic fashion brands which can reach all the
way from a Primark up to let's say a Joseph or a Massimo duty
or even say a Frankie shop, people who are independent all
the way up to then the luxury brands which are reaching
further and further north in terms of the way they price and
and design. So I think it's, it's never been
easier to start a fashion brand in a strange way because of the
access to consumer. I mean, I know when maybe you
and I started, I, I would have had no idea how to get an
audience because there just simply weren't the avenues and
the access that you have now. So the fact that you could jump
on TikTok and just say, I've got this great T-shirt, look at it,
I can start it like this, I can do that.
You could get 2 million people say that.
And, and that's quite amazing in some ways, but then I also think
that not everyone can, you know, follow through and make that
into a business. And I think actually having the
skills as a designer is as as important, just like architects,
it's important to have the understanding and, and structure
of houses to build a good house that's going to last.
And so I think for me. The industry is quite polarised,
yeah, right now. And I still do believe in in
luxury and what it puts forward. It brings fantasy, it brings
that exuberance that we need, it brings the theatre.
But I feel more and more people are yearning for ease and
simplicity and just the idea of everyday things that have a
little specialness to them. It's fascinating to me because
watching all of these big houses have the creative director
shuffle around and most of them are men.
Why do you think that is? It's an interesting question.
I think there is there's many layers to that that we can
really unpack here because it's it's partly to do with the
environment. So quite often the fashion
industry can be quite hostile to women, and I think particularly
at a certain point in their careers, it becomes very
challenging. And I think that comes from
wanting to get married, potentially wanting to have
children, right? Generally at the pivot point
when they're going to get promoted and they have to make
decisions. So I think that's very
challenging #1 and it's unless you're in a company or with a
boss who has that capacity to understand and help you juggle
that and navigate you through it, I think many women just
decide to step back or step off for a moment, and then it's very
hard to get back in. And then I also think there is
this, this storytelling about the men who design fashion as
being poets and the women who design fashion as being kind of
like the craftspeople, the seamstresses, the people who are
more commercial and, and thoughtful about clothes in a
way. And I, I feel that there is this
disconnect. And that's what I, I really
wanted to try to push that dialogue at Givenchy, especially
to say, you know, I can really make a huge impact through
couture. I dressed so many people, so
many women on the red carpet. I did a royal wedding dress and
you know, I can also design commercially.
I have both strings, you know, to my bow.
And I think that often that is a not, not applauded enough in
fashion. Women aren't applauded in the
same way that men are. And I think this is something
that, you know, we're working through.
I think it's also about more women designers talking about it
as well. You know, in general, I think
across the industry, there's only about 30% women creative
director, which is, that's a pretty low number.
I mean, I think even in banking, it's more 5050.
So we're really behind on, on that.
And I, I hope going forward and I, you know, certainly made it
my mission to really help and support women.
I, I hire a lot of women at all different stages of their
careers. So I've got women on my team who
are in their late 40s, fifties. I've also got 20 year olds and
30 year olds. I have every single decade.
And I really do believe that people who are older bring an
enormous amount of women wisdom to the table.
And I think this is something that's highly undervalued in the
industry and something that I've really been very appreciated of,
of, of working with the Japanese who really value wisdom highly.
And so that's something that I've, I've found very
interesting and extremely supportive.
How did you actually handle your mat leave and that period of
your life? I, it was really challenging.
So when I had my first, I twins the first time round when I was
in my early 30s and at the time that I got pregnant, there was
no maternity policy in place. This was when I was working at
Gucci in London with Tom Ford. And not not because they, I
think, intentionally did it, just no one had got pregnant
before because, you know, the design staff were all fairly
young. And so at the time, they, you
know, put a policy in place and I got four months off.
But I was expected to go right back to exactly the same brutal
hours the minute I got back to work.
And they were brutal, yeah. So I was, I was travelling, you
know, even when my, you know, little ones were like 6 months
old, I'd be away from them for two weeks in Italy, working at
the factory, working in the showroom, 2 weeks at the show
and, you know, consistently every month or every other
month. So, you know, throughout my
career, I travelled constantly and thankfully I had an, an
amazing partner, my husband who's been with me and also just
a great, you know, network of people that I could lean on, you
know, my mum and various other people who really helped.
But it's, it's not easy to juggle.
And then when I have my, my third child, so my son, I was
just about to start at Chloe. And so I was seven months
pregnant when I accepted the job.
And you weren't exactly hiding it.
No, it's very obvious. And I gave birth and four weeks
later I was in the office. Oh my God.
And I agreed that I would do part time for two or three
months and then by basically August I was full time and I
moved the whole family to Paris. It was.
There's a lot going on. Let's talk about your role at
Unit Globe for a moment. You are the inaugural Global
Creative Director for women's and menswear, overseeing a $23
billion business. Yeah.
What exactly does that mean on a day-to-day, month to month
basis? Can you give me a glimpse of
your working life? I can, it's, it's busy, but in
Interestingly a lot of the work is done out in Tokyo.
So I have a a few offices around the world where we do different
things. But the, all the main decisions
are done in Tokyo. And so I'm actually going to be
going out there in three weeks from now.
And there are about 6 meetings a year where we go in.
I review all the prototypes. I then present all the
prototypes to the owner. The owner is very, very involved
in his brand as, as he should be.
And he and I talked through the collection and we, you know, put
the focus on where, you know, real, this is really, you know,
the first time I'm really dealing with big numbers in my
career, you know, enormous, enormous numbers.
And I think that it was very daunting when I first went in
there and they started fanning about like billion this and
billion I was like, how much I'm like, oh, let me just think
about that decision. But it's very interesting how
quickly you get familiar and comfortable with it gave gave me
a glimpse into working, I guess on Wall Street where just
numbers are numbers. And you do, you do have to think
carefully because it has a high impact.
But at the same time, you do have to get comfortable with
them too, because otherwise you'd just be frozen by the
decision. So I now know when I'm designing
what is going to be a hit item and what is a just a trend item
versus a, you know, a long term classic.
And this is something where I have to really applaud Uniqlo.
They spend enormous amounts of time, effort and and money
actually investing in scientific testing, quality testing so that
our clothes are not throw away clothes.
It's because it's not just about price, it's about quality and
longevity. Exactly.
And so one of the things that I've I admire a lot in Japan is
this culture of repair and care that they do love that and
Shashiko, yes, Shashiko Kinsugi on ceramics.
And so those are the things that have been culturally within
their history for many, many centuries.
But I think they take that philosophy also into Uniqlo that
all the, I think the items that we produce need to be really of
a quality that can be long, have a great longevity and be cared
for for a long time easily. And so we make a lot of things
very easily to wash a lot of things that have less wrinkling.
So they're easy to, you know, care for and I do find that
myself, I've got items that are easily 10 or 15 years old and
they look the same as when I bought them.
They're it's quite phenomenal, the quality level at Uniqlo.
So I do believe that, you know, even in the scale that we are,
we're producing things that can last a long time.
So this is I guess the the mission really is longevity over
just, you know, quantity. So today we're going on a style
journey and it's your personal style journey, so let's start
with what you're wearing. So I'm in Uniqlo today, so I've
got on. The jacket is from last season's
Uniqlo C collection. So that launched in September.
And this is actually one that Kate wore in New York when we
did a press day in New York. And then the shirt that I'm
wearing underneath is this very cool, kind of like nylon little
short sleeve boxy shirt. And again, this was from last
summer. We launched it and it's actually
going to be relaunched this summer, so you can buy it soon
in the store. It comes with a matching
culotte. And then I have on a nylon
parachute pants, which I love. This is a quite a Japanesey
look, but it's like a big volume nylon pant again because it's
kind of wet. And so and then I have my tailor
coat which is over there to check coat, which is from Uniqlo
as well. So I'm fully Uniqlo.
Fantastic. So you grew up in Birmingham?
I did. Were you very exposed to fashion
at a young age? You know, I was through my
mother, who was an avid home seamstress really, and I think
that came out of economics. We didn't have a lot of money.
And so she and I would go every weekend to the Birmingham Rag
Market. I don't know if you know that
it's in, it was an area called Digbeth, which now doesn't exist
because they're built all over it.
But it was a huge outdoor and indoor market.
And you would have basically vendors with massive stalls this
high with fabric. And we would go there and we'd
just like, you know, look for things.
And as I got older, I had the chance to have more opinion
about the fabric she chose and say, well, I like that one.
But it was very much about creating at home, making at home
out of economics, really. I mean, it was just cheaper to
make it herself. She just had to buy the pattern,
buy the fabric, and then it's just her time that she put in.
So something might take a month to make because between, you
know, looking after kids and all the rest of it, she would do it
a bit in the day when we're at school.
And then at night we'd be trying on and pinning it and altering
it. But I didn't realise at the time
this was an exposure to my career, basically from a first
hand knowledge of someone you know do it, learning herself.
So I learnt along with that in a way.
And when did did you get on the sewing machine and start making?
Later when I yeah, she always got annoyed because I would like
freeze the bobbin up. The machine would get stuck
because you have what did you do?
I was usually, I was trying to like, you know, do the back, the
sort of back stitch to stop the end of the scene.
And, and so I, yeah, I learnt from quite a young age how to
sort of sew. She was very precise.
If it wasn't straight, she'd make me unpick it and redo it.
So I learnt to get, you know, very accurate with my work.
And later then I, I thought I was going to go into the arts of
some sort and I thought I'd go into graphic design.
So I did a little internship in graphic design at the time,
which back then in the 80s was all done by hand.
People drew all the typography and hand gouache, painted it in
and it's kind of crazy to think now, but I realised that
actually that was just not 3 dimensional enough for me.
And then I thought, oh, I'd be a Potter.
And so I went into like pottery and sculpture and thought that
might be really interesting because it was on a general arts
and design course and realised that at that time pottery was so
out of fashion, nobody wanted it.
There's no money in it at all. And I thought, well, I didn't
want to be poor my whole life. And so then I started to, you
know, kind of get this sort of feeling from all the things that
I'd learned over the last decade actually, because at that time I
was like 1617, I, you know, I sort of got a leaning into
fashion and I'd sort of pushed it to the side thinking maybe,
oh, maybe I'll find other things.
But really, I probably knew that was the the one thing that I
already was good at. And so then I really leant into
it and said, right, I want to go into a fashion degree.
So at 17, I I did my bachelor's, Yeah.
And then on to the. Royal Royal.
Yeah. Royal College of Arts.
And that was really informative because that one was a very
specialized course in fashion knit, where it's the first time
they were doing this course. And so I was one of six students
who got onto that and I learned technically how to do industrial
knitting. So working on industrial
machines, learning young counts, learning how to spin, learning
how to like knit on these and sort of transfer, do my own
programs. And then you have to create a
final collection fully knitted. So I, I graduated with a really
specific skill, which I would actually say that's a really
interesting way to approach your career is to find a niche and
find a specific skill that you can offer or a particular way of
doing that skill that's unique. Because I got hired immediately.
I was one of the few people who got hired straight away.
And you went to Calvin Klein. Calvin Klein.
And were you then head to Kelvin?
Completely, yeah. And I was so excited because.
It was kind of big old clothing allowance.
No, no, not, not that much. I think I was allowed like to
items or something, but I visited the sample sales a lot.
But I, I realised that that time I already at, at university had
a very Polish kind of style. I wore flat lace up shoes.
I love pants. I, I wore a lot of shirts,
sweaters. I couldn't really afford a lot
of jackets and I wasn't that great at making jackets.
And so I was really much more leaning towards knitwear at that
time. And so I remember arriving at
Calvin and thinking, OK, I've got to figure out my wardrobe.
And at that time, everyone wore black.
Everyone. I mean, I'm still at that time.
It was a real actual sort of emerging trend in, in fashion
through I think the Japanese designers who'd come through in
the 80s. And then Calvin was sort of
spearheading this minimalist kind of movement of which black
was like the perfect expression of that.
And so we worked a lot in black when we were doing all the
prototyping. He wanted to see everything in
black, calicos or jerseys. So it was either that or pale
beige. Those were his like 2 colours
that he wanted to see things in. So we, I, I sort of very quickly
gravitated to a wardrobe and I very immediately understood the
absolute ease and simplicity of tonal dressing.
And that was one of the, I guess defining moments of like how to
get ready for work fast For me was like, Oh my God, if I've got
all black items, I can just put anything together and it will
work and I'll look polished and put together as long as I've got
a really good accessory, you know, I can actually look even
on a budget look really chic. And so I, I understood that
very, very quickly. And it became kind of a then a,
an experimentation of silhouette of like what, what is my shape
that works for me? Do you remember what you wore on
your first day to Calvin? Yeah, I wore kind of like a
pleated Isimiaki type skirt in black.
And then I want to say sweater, like a little short sleeve
sweater. That you had made.
I think it was one of the ones that I've made, Yeah, I've had
like, I came to New York with two suitcases.
That was it. There was nothing and I wasn't
earning a ton of money. And you left with how many
container container. Exactly.
Yes. My my life changed a lot in New
York did. You acquire a lot of clothes
during your different and you're definitely.
In Paris I did, yes, I acquired a lot and I think that came from
the being at a creative director position as well.
So wanting to also represent the brand, express the brand.
And that's also a very different thing that men have.
Men creative directors have that's different to women
because they can show up in jeans and AT shirt and it's all
fine and they, you know, people accept it.
But women are expected to wear their brand, embody their brand,
dress the brand. It's very different bar.
And bearing that in mind, have you, have you always designed
clothes that you would wear? Yes, even though I would say
within the collection I designed things that I wouldn't wear
always because there are in my mind always, you know, different
women that I want to, you know, approach into the into the
brand. So at Chloe it was very much
about this very youthful spirit. So we often did a lot of very
short skirts, which at the time I wore a little bit of.
But generally I'm not someone who wears short skirts and I
sometimes often find like super skinny tight tops.
I'm not someone who also wears a lot of tight things.
So I will go into that world. But generally I'm sort of
balancing when I'm when I'm designing a collection.
But I do think it's important that, and this is actually a
conversation I had with Isabel Moron actually when I was in
Paris, because she obviously has her own brand and she embodies
her brand totally, 100%. And she's like, yeah, don't you
try everything on? I'm like, yeah, I like to try
everything on and I like to wear things.
And actually now at Uniqlo, we do that all the time.
We wear test everything and I try everything.
And I think it's such a vital part of making clothes
successful. And that's for me the power of
women designers is the fact that what we.
Has a really high success rate of being in your wardrobe a long
time because of just that knowledge and also the
consideration when you're wearing it, you really eke out
all the problems. You also fine tune it so that it
looks even a bit sharper or a bit softer.
It embodies the spirit more, I think, of what it's trying to
express. If I was to ask you the one
piece in your wardrobe that you have designed across all the
different collections you've done that you still reach for
and love the most, I have a horrible question.
It is a. Really difficult question, I'll
say. I mean, I would say a category
more than one item. I would say definitely for me
it's coats because I have a 60 coats that's so embarrassing to
say or about 60 coats. And part of that is because I've
just acquired them over the years and I, I tend not to give
them away or sell them because they, they're good coats.
They've got really great coats and they have different
expressions. So I have beautiful like
shearling collarless coats from Chloe.
I also have these very beautiful elongated pea coats as well that
I did at Chloe. Then I have these sharp
shouldered, very Manish tailored coats and jackets from Givenchy.
I have still little. I have a beautiful little double
fleece like shrunken blazer from my Calvin days.
It's still gorgeous. It's like an, a beautiful kind
of wool, angora wool mix and it's it, it, it's still as
modern today as it was 20 years ago.
And so there's parts of me that just say there, there is there.
There is a moment where you realise there is a timelessness
to everything. It just has to have its moment
again. And are you a hoarder or an
editor, Would you say in terms of your approach, both?
I'm a hoarder, as in I have an archive.
Yes, far too many things. But I also within my SO in my
bedroom, I will have a selection of items which are on constant
rotation usually like hanging off the wardrobe or in the
cupboard. And those will be the items that
I'll be kind of heavily using within probably a six month
period. And that might tally up to about
30 to 40 items. Is that a thing?
And do you do a big old try on on your own in front of the
mirror? Just I'm pulling it.
Spontaneous, actually, because I'm working with clothes all the
time. I kind of know what things I'm
like, oh, I want that pant shape because I know I've got a jacket
that's gonna work perfectly with that.
Or I'll, I'll say, Oh, my T-shirts now getting so
stretched out that will move to be like my weekend T-shirt that
I'll wear running around, walking the dog.
And then I need like a new crisp T-shirt for work.
And this is another interesting fact about working in Japan.
You need to look very clean and tidy all the time.
Like no used, dirty and like aged clothes.
It should look crisp looked after well, you should look very
presentable, very professional. And so yes, I'm moving clothes
in rotation based on their wear as well.
What is Stay at home, chill out they're wearing?
I could be anything from a cashmere robe and I'm always
barefoot in the house. I, I really am someone who loves
to kind of be on, you know, carpet and warm floor.
And then I, I really, I, I love cashmere sweaters at home.
I have to say I'm always in like a lovely kind of big oversized
thing or a robe or like a soft sweatpant or a legging.
I'm very, very. So if I'm on the sofa, I want to
be really comfortable. Definitely.
Cocooning So the other end of the scale is what did you wear
to get married in? So I actually designed my dress.
As you can imagine, I was a bit controlling this.
This was 99. So I got married in the last
year of the last century. And so I, this was 99 was just
after Carolyn Bessette got married.
So it's the era of the bias cut and the minimalist.
And I chose not to do that. I chose actually something
weirdly that probably looking back today, I would say it was
quite gilarchy because it was a very sharp slash butter neck,
sleeveless, so very much like the Audrey Breakfast at
Tiffany's, the iconic black dress, very much that neckline,
very straight at the front. And then I had probably like a
sort of like a 1m fall at the back of the skirt.
So chess sat in and then I had my mum's veil.
Beautiful. Yeah, beautiful.
It was very simple. How did it feel on that day in
Saint George's winds as you helped arrange that dress before
Megan climbed the steps of Saint George's Chapel?
It was, I mean, it was a kind of a magical moment.
You sort of also very focused on that moment of, of just like,
I've got to make sure this is all all correct and that she
looks amazing. I realised there's a gazillion
photographers and cameras. So, you know, wanting to make
sure that, you know, everything was sort of smooth and that the,
the train of the dress was going to go up the steps in the right
way. Bear in mind I had not practised
this. There was no rehearsal well
because we were so concerned about people seeing me or her or
seeing a shape of a dress or anything.
She had done one rehearsal just in a dress dress sort of with a
piece of fabric at the back, just so she understood the
weight of of fabric. And I'd given her kind of a
length of fabric, roughly sort of the same.
Had you provided the sort of the back of the skirt of the dress?
For just a piece of cloth, even on a belt, just because I was
like, I don't want to reveal anything.
I don't want anything to get out.
So, and it was done at night. So, you know, the, that was the
only rehearsal she had and then I had none.
So I, I just sort of remember looking at photos of the Chapel.
When I arrived at the side of the Chapel, I was there probably
about 10 minutes before, 10-15 minutes before her.
So I remember looking at the stairs, looking at where
everybody was like assessing the scene as it were, and realising
they, they told me you'll be when the car arrives, you'll be
moving to the back door of the car.
She'll step out and you she'll, she'll pose just at the bottom
of the step and then she will go to the middle of the step and
pose and then the top of the step.
And so I knew that I had very little time.
So the the most important thing was I didn't want anything to
catch in her shoe. That was really important.
I knew that I had to lay the fabric out as wide as possible
so that it would just, you know, gracefully go up the steps.
But the part that was the most difficult, I think was the veil
because obviously it's on the head.
So already it's, you know, got a weight to it.
And again, if that caught on a little bit of grit on the step,
and I know they had like, clean the steps endlessly, but, you
know, if anything were to catch it, it was the finest sort of
French silk tool. So you know that.
Which is gossamer, yeah. It catches in a second that that
type of fabric, fabric and and there were two little page boys
that were going to hold it. Oh, and they, I believe, hadn't
practiced that hard time. Oh my God.
So I'm really stressed hearing a little.
Bit of practice at the at their home or hotel where they've
been. But you know, I just remember
roughly knowing kind of the scale of the veil.
I remember picking up one side of it and giving it to the one
boy and then threading it through my hand.
You know, like when you're measuring fabric and thinking,
OK, I've got like about this much and keep it there.
And then it, and then they went, that was it.
I, I, I had to just let it go because you, you can't wait.
You know, the whole thing, it's pivoting on a schedule.
And, and so, and off it went. And, and I just remember I knew
I had to walk off immediately to the side because you don't want
to be in the photo. And the car was leaving.
And then there was that moment where she was like halfway up
the steps. I remember just like glancing
back and going, Oh my God, it looks perfect.
I'm just being so like, really it was just one of those like
adrenaline, adrenaline rushes that you, you, you can't even
imagine. It's like insane.
And then did you pop up the stairs into the?
Channel Yeah, I went up the very like side of the stairs.
And then after she went in, I slid in and then she was just in
the sort of entrance way where Prince Charles, well, King
Charles now, was at the side to take her arm.
And then I just had to make sure again that it got rearranged
because of course, it's quite actually a small area.
And so to make sure that that also was all OK and the page was
to take it up the aisle and then I slid to the backside of the
church, then, well, but then to be in the church and hearing the
gospel choir and everything was just magical.
Was it everything that you thought it was going to be in
terms of a dress and a veil? Yeah, I was.
I was really happy with it. I know she was thrilled with it
as well. And I think we were really
looking for the essence of purity and simplicity, the idea
of something utterly timeless, and also just something that
really personally spoke to her style as well.
And I think, you know, as you've seen over the years, she has a
very clean, very beautiful, pure sense of style.
And I think that was the, you know, sort of start of the
embodiment of that for her. How did you choose what you were
going to wear to that wedding? Yeah, that was that was another
consideration that you you sort of put it into the back of your
mind and then I'm thinking, Oh no, I'm going to be on TV too.
And so I knew that one of the most important things as I had
to just blend in and we we had we had to have a discussion with
this with the with the PR team a few days before I had I had also
considered it. I prepared already.
I thought I'd either going to wear black, but I thought black
was really not appropriate at a wedding.
So I chose Navy. And so, and I think Navy is also
kind of a classic, classic English timeless colour for a
wedding in a way. And so I thought Navy gives me
that in sort of invisibility where I can just blend into the
car but also look very chic. And, and I know it's a, it's a
really good colour on me and I never wore a hat because a lot
of my friends who had weddings before, they just had very
casual weddings. So I'd never really worn a hat.
And then I thought, well, I don't want a giant hat either
because dealing with everything and then a hat.
So I chose just a very small little kind of pillbox hat with
a sort of WAVY thing on the top, I think it was.
And it was a Givenchy dress that I designed for season before.
And it had like an elongated sort of torso, a sort of dropped
hip with this sort of layered volume, sort of flu skirt shape,
and then buttons down the front. So it looked tailored.
It had a little shoulder pad, so it looked kind of crisp because
it was May. So I was also kind of unsure of
what the weather was going to be.
But I knew from adrenaline I was going to feel hot.
You know, you're going to be sitting there and I thought I'd
need something. I don't, you know, feel like I'm
going to like take a jacket off or something.
So I'm like kind of a tailed shape, but also looks feminine.
So I went for kind of a combination of the two.
Would you say you have a style icon?
That's such a tricky thing for me to pinpoint because I feel
like in different eras, different people bring kind of
a, a sort of a style that I get attracted to.
So I think when I was growing up, I thought, you know, I grew
up in the 70s. I thought Jackie Onassis was
like so amazing because she was like, it was almost this sense
of like ease and that casual American sort of chic that
looked so polished and expensive, but casual at the
same time. I was like, how did they do
that? It was, it was quite a sort of
extraordinary mix. And I actually like the
simplicity of always what she wore.
And then I think during the 80s I think I diverted so many
different directions. I had a Madonna moment and where
that came from. And then Human League, do you
remember? Them the 80s was a confusing
moment in fashion. Confusing moment in fashion.
And I think, I think at that time also because I was a
teenager, I was just exposed to so many different things.
I think my style just, you know, zigzags so much.
And then when in the early 90s, when things got a bit bleak and
everything went a bit minimal and dark, I kind of found my way
just through that tonality of just distilling everything into
either a black. Or a beige or a.
Navy and just not having to think about mixing actually.
And it wasn't until I then worked at Ralph Lauren, who's
all about colour preppiness, you know, that vintage style, loved
movie stars and loved storytelling and loved Colorado.
And you know, these like amazing moments of kind of vignettes of
lifestyle that I suddenly then had to really completely shift
my wardrobe entirely. And he was someone who looked at
you when you walked in the room. So in when when he walked into
the studio to work with us for four or five hours at a time,
quite often he would immediately look you up and down and you
needed to look great. And he likes, as most men do,
women in heels. So often I would be in heels and
I'd wear like a little bias cut, like chocolate brown skirt and a
little knitted tee or a little sleeveless top.
Because that time the there was still that sort of Carolyn
Bessette feel of that bias kind of look and slip dresses, all of
those sort of very, almost like nothing items in your in your
wardrobe. So I remember wearing a lot of
that, but I was working on menswear at the time.
So sometimes I'd switch between that and then other times I'd
wear like a a men's dress shirt with a great pair of jeans.
And Ralph looks amazing in denim.
I mean, you've probably seen the photos of being in denim.
And back in that era, he was spending a lot of time in his
house in Colorado and Aspen. And he he's just like the best
looking cowboy. I mean, he's just, it's, it's so
perfectly like precise in terms of the perfect vintage Levi's
and you know, the amazing like a Western shirt or, you know,
flannel shirt. It was just he, he just, it was
great. And the perfect boot and the
perfect cowboy boot. And so there was elements that I
absolutely loved. But so now if I were to ask you
to describe your style DNA in three words, what 3 words would
those be? I would say always tailored,
mostly tonal, I would say in that sense, and I'll flip
between could be ocean one day, could be white one day, but
generally tonal. And then I would say a touch of
femininity. There's always something that's
a little bit of a volume or something a little soft.
I often wear pleated skirts. So I think yes, there will be
Taylor Tone or with femininity. Love that.
I mean, you're such a an amazing stylist as well as a designer
and I have to ask this question because I I think you've got
such amazing taste. What advice would you give to
women as the years tick by? The tip to staying cool and
relevant and stylish without being try hard.
Yeah, it's it's actually something that I think is is
quite difficult today because you've bombarded with
information and I think I have seen over the years, like a lot
of people try different things. And I think as you age, you need
to understand your body shifts dramatically.
So often that means that things that were looking great on you
when they were cropped and short doesn't maybe look quite the
right proportion anymore. I also feel that you need to the
the most amazing looking women always look comfortable.
They just look like they'd not even thinking about what they're
wearing. And I think most importantly,
you need to find the right cart and silhouette that works for
you and know that you can sort of add some fashion elements
into that. Definitely like I, I know a
double breasted blazer looks great on me.
That's always my go to and I know that I've got the right
height to carry that off. And I also know that and I can
do it in different lengths and it it works really well.
But for other people it's single and for some people it's a
really crop shape. And I think finding that jacket
that works for you, that you can just put on any outfit, just
will finish everything. And also I feel the same way
about coats, which is why I've kept so many coats in my life
because they are the outfit finisher that I think everyone
should have. Do do invest in a really good
coat and you can invest at £100 in a good poke.
You don't have to spend thousands.
You can buy a beautiful from the High Street well cut coat.
If it fits you well, then I would say, you know, really do
make that purchase because I think that can carry you for
seasons and seasons and you can keep going back to it.
And I think also buying it in sort of very timeless colours,
blacks, greys, navies, those are the kind of the things that will
never, ever date. And I think beware of belted
things, belted coats, they can often make people look bulky.
Yeah, yeah, good, good advice. Do you have one item of clothing
means the most to you? I would, I would say now because
my mother's passed away. It will be my mum's sweaters.
I gave her a lot during my career, so when I worked at
Calvin, I gave her some Calvin sweaters at Ralph.
I did the same at Pringle. Every era that I've been in a
brand, I've generally given her knitwear.
And when she passed, my father gave me a lot of the sweaters.
And although I did edit through quite a lot, I do have a few
boxes and I think I will have to go through them at some point.
But those are the things I remember her wearing so much.
And there's something just that's innate about my career of
being, you know, knitwear has been one of the things that's
gone throughout my whole career. It's been sort of an anchor in
every brand that I've worked for.
But it also reminds me so much of her.
Let's talk about travel. You're always on the road, yes?
Do you have a particular travel look?
Generally is a big oversized boyfriend cashmere sweater.
I usually take it depends on obviously the time of year.
So that would be more or less from September to March.
April I'll be in that because planes are often quite cold.
And then I take a large cashmere wrap with me because I often
like that just when I'm sitting, meaning I don't necessarily want
that big blanket they give you or whatever on the plane or
whatever little blanket have. So I take my own blanket and
then I will generally be in leggings actually, or very like
a nylon pant. Like there's something very
roomy and easy and I will have my headphones with me.
My iPad almost don't watch anything on the plane actually,
except what's on my iPad. I'll like store up things.
I've pretty much watched everything at this stage, all
our real read stuff. Or I'll be going through my
archive images if I'm doing research, doing a bit of work.
And then my suitcase is always, I would say probably 30% pre
packed for every trip. So only unpacked 70% and then
30% stays in the case so that I can save some time when I have
to repack and know that I've already got, you know, that
toiletry kit in those I take like I also be very English,
take like my teas with me like this.
So because I'm, I'm out there often for like 2 weeks
stretches, it's quite a lot of time.
And so I will and I, I often have to take multi climate
clothes because it might be cold here, but I could arrive in
Tokyo. It's 22°, which often is the
case in April. Actually I go in April or
October, it will be maybe 8° here but like 22 over there.
And what luggage do you use? So I have some old luggage at
the moment, but mostly it's it's either my my sort of old store
luggage which is like a weird no brand thing that I got 20 years
ago. Or Rimowa, your approach to
sustainable fashion. I think I know the answer here,
but ultimately. The most sustainable thing to do
in fashion is just to keep things.
And this is one of the things that I personally do myself.
Hence ending up with a big archive of, of clothes which,
you know, obviously you need space to store that.
But I now have 23 year old daughters and they are
constantly diving in there and pulling things out.
It's saving them so much money because, you know, mum's got a
black sweater there or. Are there any no goes for them?
Yes, definitely couture, yes, any wrong way or couture pieces
unless it's a very special occasion and not not coming out
of the cupboard. But it's it is something I think
it's actually an important thing a mother should do is actually
teach. And my mother taught me how to
repair clothes, how to clean clothes, how to iron clothes,
how to look after clothes. And this is something that is
not done today. And I really believe strongly
that this is a vital part of the sustainability package in a way,
is that you learn how to look after your clothes.
People are so rough with their clothes to say today because it
is this throw away mentality. And like I said, I have clothes
from Uniqlo which maybe cost me, you know, 40 lbs that are 10
years old and are still great. And there's no reason to throw
it away. So just because it's cheap
doesn't mean it's throw away. You'd need to look after your
clothes is what I would say. Love that, absolutely love that.
Do you buy much vintage? I used to buy a lot of vintage.
I buy maybe still a proportion of that.
Today I buy a lot of 2nd. Hand and is that as inspiration
or for you to wear both? So I don't, I pretty much pay
full price for anything but Uniqlo and so I go in the store
and I buy full price Uniqlo, but everything else if I'm buying
designer, I buy second hand. Let's spin on to some quick fire
questions, fashion advice you'd give your 20 year old self.
Maybe be a little more adventurous.
I was quite black in terms of my wardrobe.
There was not a lot of colour in there.
Which fashion trend would you most like to see make a
comeback? You know what I think dressing
up because everything's so casual today.
Why do you think dressing up? Fashion or beauty trend that you
would consign to Room 101. Anything over augmented and
classified, I think for me that is just something that people
should not be doing. Your last impulse by.
That probably was when I was in LA and I bought like that basket
bag. That's like a sort of
superfluous purchase because, you know, don't necessarily need
a basket bag for only two months for you maybe.
Your views on tattoos? OH.
I think if it's something that you know, expresses you, then
you know that's that's for you, not for me.
Grooming or well-being treatment?
You couldn't give up. I do love a Korean face mask.
High end or High Street? Both absolutely Crocs.
Cute or puke? Definitely not Crocs.
Gazelles or sambas? I would say I'm a gazelle.
Sports Lux or Rock'n'roll? Sports Lux Cashmere or cotton?
Oh, easy cashmere. Trilby or Tracy?
I would say probably Tracy. Trend or style?
I would say style always and everyone should aim for that.
Colour or monochrome? Monochrome Print or plain?
Plain. Order or editor?
Both. Charity shop or resale?
Or resale probably, but I like a charity shop too.
Get some bargains. Shapewear or lingerie?
Depends on the occasion tights. Stockings or hold UPS?
Tights because it's sportier, quite like them.
Bikini or one piece? I have both.
And finally, traditional last question at the end of the day,
what do you or don't you wear in bed?
I wear 100% cotton and I I wear like a little sort of camisole
and little boy shorts. How chic As can only be expected
of you, Claire. Thank you so much.
Honestly, I could have talked for hours and hours and hours.
There's so much that I haven't asked you, but I love this
conversation. Thank you so much.