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Today, I'm going on a style journey with creative Director
Lucinda Chambers. Lucinda has worked in the
fashion industry for more than three decades.
As Fashion Director of British Vogue for 25 years, Lucinda has
shaped the face of fashion and inspired the wardrobes of
millions of women. She's worked as a creative
consultant and stylist across High Street and luxury brands
from Prada and Money to H&M, River Island and Warehouse.
Lucinda is Co founder of both the luxury label Coalville and
the revolutionary shopping platform Collagory.
Hello and welcome, Lucinda. Hello, Amanda.
Thanks. For inviting me.
Gosh, it's we've been in each other's universes for very long
time, 3 decades, yes. And I have to say one of my all
time favorite images was when you collaborated with
photographer Javier Valronat. If I got that right and you
created that image of Linda Evangelista wearing Wakeley the
the beautiful. Well, I thought it was beautiful
white silk gazar oversized shirt and then the white skirt.
And then you threw a, a beautiful cream coat around the
shoulders and it was in this sort of magical, mystical
setting. What?
How did you create that that set that that story?
I think for me it's never just about the clothes, it's about
the narrative of the personality.
And Linda was well is an extraordinary model in the fact
that and they're quite rare actually, that you give them a
personality and the clothes help you tell that story of who that
person is. So it could be that you're
thinking about a woman who's leaving her husband.
She can't decide. She's a bit of a recluse.
She goes to a sort of island and it happens to be a coat story,
you know, So it for me, it was always about who that character
is. And I think with that particular
shoot that you're talking about, Amanda, that was about a
Hollywood star off off camera. So I wanted to capture all those
off moments where they looked as if they were about to go on set.
They were as glamorous as they could possibly be, but they
weren't acting in a glamorous way.
So we had, I remember the set was full of kind of old ropes
and backstage, but she looked extraordinary within that which
happens. You know, you walk off off the
theatre, you know, stage left and you find yourself in the
wings. You know, you're a Hollywood
actress and you find yourself in a car parking lot.
And I love that juxtaposition. So I do remember that shoot.
And, you know, we worked with incredible set designers and you
know who really helped, you know, form your dreams and make
those come true in a way. Because it looked like it was I,
I don't know, some sort of, you know, very off the beaten track.
Those the the sort of those mist rising, the brickwork, the rope.
The rawness, I think that was the thing I, you know, it was
the rawness of the setting with the beauty of the clothes, one
of which was yours, which is wonderful.
But I think, you know, there's another one I did with Linda,
which actually I think was my first Vogue cover, which was
with Peter Lindbergh. And it was her as a New York
taxi driver. And we did it in Clark and well,
with lots of mist and with a New York taxi because the budget
wouldn't allow us to go to New York.
So we recreated that. And I think that was part of,
you know, such excitement to create something that felt
really authentic. You had to believe.
I always felt you had to believe in that woman wearing those
clothes in that situation, however fantastical those
clothes were and however extreme the situation was, that there
has to be a kind of belief that she is that character.
Yes, so that it's not it doesn't become theatre, it doesn't
become costume exactly I. Mean, even though I love costume
and theatre. I was trawling through my design
studio at the weekend and look what I came up.
With Oh my gosh. And that was one of such happy
this was this was early days Wakeley.
Right. Can you?
Can you tell me about this, 'cause I was, I remember being
so thrilled. Oh, and when this came out
because I just, I love a white shirt.
Yes, and I know you. Do and you absolutely the most
brilliant white shirts 'cause they were always with such
volume so they were very easy to photograph.
Because they had editorial. Actually, weren't they?
Yes, 'cause they had shape and form and texture.
Yeah. So they were a dreamed
photograph. I still wish, I wish I had them,
but you know, when a white shirt goes, it goes.
But tell me about this. Well, this is this, this one
I've got in front of me. I I love that you picked that
one up because this was in Colorado white.
We went on a white water rafting trip, not that you'd know from
this picture with a fabulous photographer called Sheila
Metzner. And I was six months pregnant
and my baby was in the wrong position.
I remember going to the doctor the day before with my husband
to have a scan and he said, well, your baby's in breech
position, but you're not going anywhere.
And my husband said she's going whitewater rafting tomorrow.
And I think the doctor just thought that was a joke and sort
of moved on. It wasn't a joke.
And actually I'd always have been.
I mean, part of the wonderful thing about my career is travel,
you know, traveling and all the extraordinary places that we've
been to. But this was in Colorado and you
had to start the whitewash rafting trip at the beginning
and finish it. There was no getting off and
there were no, you know, you had to.
Everything was sustainable. You had to pee and poo.
Sorry to get into that. Was it early morning?
You know, use your bucket and we went down the river and this was
one of the pictures that came out of that.
And you had suitcases full? Yes, of clothes.
We had a raft. We had a a boat that was full of
the suitcases. And Fabienne, the model started
with that beautiful long hair that you can see.
And then halfway through we cast all off and we did another story
with a Harold crotch. So it was a but it was a
fantastic trip. I mean took Sam McKnight, who
was I? Was going to say, was that Sam?
Yeah. Brilliant.
Yeah, absolutely brilliant. I mean, some real adventures
over the time. Adventures.
Yeah. Well, what?
Is there one particular trip that stands out to you to this
day? I.
Think the most extreme place I've ever been to is Ladakh,
which is the northern most part of India.
Yeah, and it was, it was my first ever trip.
And I don't think so. You choose Ladakh I.
Read about it in National Geographic.
And I thought, I've got to go there.
And it's a really inaccessible place, pretty inaccessible to
this day. It's surrounded by the
Himalayas. It's desert, but surrounded by
the Himalayas. And I was told it was quite OK
to get in. It was hard to get out, but that
just didn't determine. Anyway, I asked Patrick
Demarchelier to come and the model Cindy Crawford and I said
to them and always said to their agents, there's no hotels.
We're staying in a tent. I thought they thought that was
a joke. So when we got there, Patrick
was was the hotel and I was like, no, it's a tent and it was
a tent. We stayed there for 10 days.
But it was great and it was fantastic and it was so
beautiful. And I think we all felt that it
was the most incredible trip of a lifetime.
Where, you know, we didn't shower for 10 days.
There's no running water. Obviously we were in tents, but
nobody minded because in those days, you know, and I know I
sound like a sort of old culture, people had the time to
do those big trips. But Ladakh and then actually we
couldn't get out. We had three seats on the
military airplane. And I made everybody draw burnt
matchsticks to who'd get the seat on the right.
Now I would say, Cindy, you have the seat.
Patrick, you have the seat, but I was like 18.
I was just like fair's Fair got to pull the matchsticks and I
think and Cindy didn't get the seat.
Patrick luckily did. So we were pushing Land Rovers
through the Himalayas for three days.
Wow. But I think, you know, Would I
do that again? No.
But. But I think back to the
logistics of that and thinking of trunks full of clothes.
We did and knowing you hats and and no steamer, no hair washing.
No, I mean no, just, you know, barely enough water probably to
get to. Get the make up off and on.
I don't think we even bother to see that.
I know. But you just, I like adventure
and I just, I'm quite an optimistic person, so I always
think people are going to come along on the ride with me
because who doesn't want to go to Ladakh?
Do you know what I mean? Well, they clearly did, but were
were there, have you ever had any complete disasters of, of
shoots because you're such an optimistic person and you just
sort of take people along with you?
We've had stuff happen, but I've never not come back with the
picture. But I mean, yes, I remember
going on a trip with Mario and we were shooting in this
incredible location and it was in just outside Miami and there
was a hurricane and it and everything was flattened.
But I always think but, but you know, the photographers I work
with were all incredibly resourceful and positive and,
and actually, and I don't know whether this is true of, you
know, shoots relationships, anything really, that good
things happen out of bad situations.
You know, there's no such thing as a crisis.
It's a sort of opportunity, I think, and I always think
everything for a reason. So, you know, there has been,
you know, I've been in Saint Barts where with Kate Moss where
half the clothes turned up and none of the hair and makeup
turned turned up. So we all turned out our
handbags. I don't wear very much makeup,
so there was little joy for me. But, you know, somebody had a
mascara and we were sort of spitting on that and Sam, you
know, got a pencil and cheesy weasel the hair and, you know,
so you can always make make something.
Don't. I've been in that situation in
Marrakech, yes, on a shoot. But tell me, in Miami, when the
hurricane flattened everything, what did you do?
Did you? Did you in that instance, turn
around and go home? No, gosh, no, you wouldn't have
the budget to do that. No, we just thought on our feet
really quickly and I actually I can think of the pictures now.
We, we just made the most of what was there.
So I think we kind of painted a wall.
There was some bits of wood lying around.
We got them up to, you know, and it was it, it was beautiful, the
shoot, I think. And there was a coverage of it.
And yeah, you, you, you always, you always get it done by Hook
or by Cook, but you just, I think you have to kind of let go
of your original plan. So you have to think in a
fertile way, I guess, and look around you and use what you've
got to play with, yeah. I mean, it's true creativity,
isn't it? But.
But exciting, Yeah. I don't think you could.
You. You just haven't got time to
think this is disaster because it's not.
It's fashion. It's a Yeah, You know, it's a
fashion shoot. We'll make.
We'll make it work. Yes.
And at the end of the day, yeah, it's fashion.
Yeah. Yeah.
It's not life order. Yeah.
And now in your I I've read somewhere that in your many
years at Vogue and then you had an interlude at Elle.
I mean, you must have done thousands of shoots, quite
literally. And is it true that you've never
kept the magazines that your shoots appeared in?
It is true. Oh my God, Did you keep a diary?
No. Did you keep the scrapbook?
I was going to say, did you? So what does the scrapbook look
like? It's very higgly Piggly and I
only kept it for a few years simply because my mother made it
for me because she was a bookbinder.
So I put in old polo. Oil, I was going to say.
My first kind of letter that was addressed to me at Vogue, I
think is in there. I actually haven't looked at it
for a long time. I think I was always looking to
the next thing. I don't think I'm kind of a
restless personality, but I know that I don't look back, you
know, So I probably was quite sanguine and thinking, you know,
that if ever the time came and it did, you know, where I
wouldn't work at Vogue, I could probably find all those
magazines. And of course you you can't
probably now, but I don't I'm not very nostalgic.
I mean, when I see a picture that you just showed me, I, you
know, it just evokes something so wonderful and magical.
And you know, sometimes I see somebody post it on Instagram
and I love that and I love having a flashback, but I don't
need to pour over my old work. Yes, because it's.
Because I'm looking forward. It's the next.
But I mean, I love I, you know, I love.
I love it when somebody else brings it up.
And, you know, they're always, they're always, I am glad to
say, really happy memories. Yeah.
Because you've now gone on to create Colville, can you just
run me through how that transpired?
Well, Colville is our brand that we have in, it's based in Milan
and Molly Malloy, who's my partner in that and I worked at
Money for many years together and I actually asked her to come
to Milan and live there and work at Money.
And I think when Money sort of when we left Money, we really
wanted to carry on working together.
So Molly was like this, and I think I'm going to start this
clothing company, you know, would you be on board?
And I was like, absolutely. And then actually at the same
time, probably exactly the same time, Serena and I had the idea
of collagery. So we had the same idea about,
we had a different idea about doing a different thing,
collagery, which is completely different.
And I, I do think, gosh, you know, there are these two very
different things in my life. But but what I also realized is
I've always had two things running along.
In tandem and with with Colville, did you go out and get
backing for it because it's a very complex time in retail and
fashion right now, Yes. And we actually we we.
Took, we took the sketches and the swatches and everything to
matches because we knew Ruth Chapman who owned matches at the
time, and actually Natalie Kingham, who is her fashion
director. And we took them to them and
they were in the Shard and naturally said I love it.
And she bought it off off the page amazing, which was
fantastic. I mean, Molly and I had spent,
you know, 11 years at Marnie and even though Coval is very, very
different from Marnie, a very different aesthetic and
different kind of a different way of working, you know, our
attention is very much on sustainability, about working
with women's groups and artisans all around the world.
It's a very different beast. And yes, it's not easy and it's
a challenge always, but it's one that's very close to our hearts.
So, and I think, you know, I think for many years there are a
lot of, you know, men designers out there who are, you know,
some of them who are brilliant. But I think Molly and I, you
know, we are different ages, but we, you know, we love very
similar things, which is print and color and the way
something's made and made to last and, and beautifully made.
And that's really important to us.
Do you? Did you get caught up in the
whole matches administration? No, no, we were very lucky.
We didn't know. Thank goodness for that.
But I know a lot of designers have suffered and yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's a, it's a fairly miserable time out there, I
think. But then you created collagery.
We did as well on your side. Well, I don't know which is the
side hustle actually. Well, they're probably both get.
Eaten collagery is definitely my day job.
Yes. So tell me, tell me about that.
Well, Sweet and I worked together for many years at
Vogue. Serena was executive fashion
director and I was fashion director and Serena's like half
my age. So just for those who don't
know, Executive Fashion Director means what?
Well, it's she was very much on the brand side.
I mean, she was really the interface of where the sort of
commerce of Vogue met the creativity of Vogue.
So she sat opposite me. She was very plugged into the
brands, the designers, what their needs were, what their
objectives were in a commercial sense.
So advertisers, yes. So she was really, there was the
advertising department. Yeah, there was Serena and then
there was me, you know, obviously with a lot of people
in between. But so she would always tell me
what brands, you know, you know, if they wanted something from
Vogue or, you know, wanted a bigger part to play or how we
could work with them closer. So it was a very much, she was
the interface between advertising on me and and you
know, worked very closely with PRS all the time and was
brilliant and we got on incredibly well.
And when we both left Vogue, I left slightly before Serena.
We were actually having a cup of coffee and we were thinking
where would we go now? I mean, we were very, very
privileged. Vogue, you know, we.
If you sat there on receive mode, which I always was, you
know, new brands, new photographers, new models, old
brands, wonderful brands, wonderful designers, you know,
you got, you got so much information, which I loved when
we met for coffee, we were saying I wonder where we would
get that information from now. And also I'd always loved the
high streets. It was, I'd always been a big
fan of, you know, accessible clothes and, and sharing those
sort of fines. You know, I was the one who was
trotting up and down Oxford Street and I'd come back in my
lunch hour and people go, what'd you get?
What'd you get? Got this pair of shoes from
Zara. They're fantastic, you know, and
then I'd see sort of like six people wearing them.
And, and I love that. Not to bend anybody to my will,
but I just, I'm a big sharer, you know, I like doing the work
and making the sort of shortcuts.
You're a big inspirer though too, so.
Well, that's, that would be very nice.
But yeah, I just, I just want to share what what I found
basically. And so we were thinking so, so,
you know, I was thinking, well, if you need this and I need
this, we're very different ages. We've got very different styles
and tastes. Then there must be a million
women out there and actually now a growing number of men who also
need this. It's a real shortcut.
We like to think that it's a shortcut to style that we do all
the hard work for you. We see everything that's out
there. We edit it, we curate it, and we
give a shout out to Discovery Brands, I think.
Yeah. And so we we thought this is too
good an idea not not to do it. I think I just love it.
I, I think it's a brilliant idea and I think it's got a real
space in the market, particularly with, you know, if
you, if you think of the sort of Netaporte, I, I think of it as a
sort of luxury hypermarket. There's no edit in there at all.
And to, to have some a, a, a destination for product with
your eye and your taste level and you're picking from it.
You know, it may be Zara home or all the way through to something
that's beautifully handcrafted and cost thousands of pounds all
the way through. I just, I, I love the way it's
all put together. It's so inspiring.
And I, I think in my years as a, as a designer, I sort of, a lot
of people want a little bit of help because they may be
incredibly busy with careers or. Families, absolutely whatever or
just it's not how they're they roll, they roll.
No, I totally get that And I think I think most people need
help. I mean, I do and I don't think
I'm weird and wonderful. I think everybody either
they're, you know, time poor or they're not very inspired or
they're stuck in a watch or any of the above really.
And I think just to I think that was the real not a challenge
because it was wonderful to start something where, you know,
a bath mat from Zara would look very, very happy alongside a
beautiful Gucci handbag. And how to build a website that
didn't feel anxiety inducing, felt beautiful, felt as close to
a magazine as you could possibly get, but with that incredibly
bored price range. So and also taking you on a
journey. I don't know, Amanda, if you're
like me, but you know, I think I want in a very practical way, or
I need a pair of black sandals, but I might end up by buying a
lamp change. But that journey has got to be a
wonderful one. And that sort of segue and, and
I feel that's what we do at collage.
We take you on a journey that can be either inspirational or
it can be very practical. It can be lots of different
things, whatever you're in the mood for, but the thing that it
doesn't have is any anxiety attached to it.
So whatever your price point, you know, whether you can not
report that or whether, you know, I mean, people have said,
you know, that they've shot Zara for the first time or they've
invested in a bag that they normally probably wouldn't.
But you know, I think I think that's the beauty of collagerie
is that everything sits alongside in a very uplifting
edit. And actually one of the first
things that we thought about was something called in the mood,
which we still do. And I really enjoy working on
it. Which is it?
We can do something like a thin blue line and it could be a thin
blue line as a hair clip, a thin blue line in a lampshade, a thin
blue line in a rug. You know, it can be really off
piece, but it just takes you on this journey and I.
But that's, that's lovely. And and you've, I mean, you've
always been the arch storyteller.
And, but this is a different type of storytelling.
And it's, it's, I suppose it's a commercial storytelling.
Well, it's interesting to say that because, you know, from a
creative point of view and a kind of as a woman who loves to
see what's out there and really likes, I really love products
and I love clothes and I love stuff for the home.
But commercially it made sense because, you know, Serena saw
this at the sort of tail end of her time at Vogue was that, you
know, a lot of brands were pushing their commercial spend
into digital. So commercially it made sense
and creatively it made sense. So it was a real kind of
marrying of I think our two strengths into this, into this
website. I mean, bravo, really, good luck
with it, continued good luck. But I want to talk about your
personal style today. And we've got this fantastic CV
and career to date and so we're going on a style journey.
When you got out of bed this morning, how did you decide what
you were going to put on? Well, I'm a fan of a plan.
I am. I do.
Yes, I do like a plan. And actually when I found an
outfit that I feel good in, I repeat it.
I'm totally rinse and repeat. So I have worn this combo
before, but this morning I felt optimistic, which is why I've
got gold sandals on and it's pouring with rain outside.
But I don't care because I did hear that the weather forecast
is going to pick up, so I'm channelling that I'm manifesting
the sun. And will you take a little
wardrobe selfie of yourself once you've you just it's I wouldn't
go that. Far, but it's a good idea.
I should do that. Yeah, that's a tip.
That's a tip from the top. No, I, I love doing that 'cause
otherwise it's just, yes, there's too many things going on
and, and you know. Particularly with the
accessories of which I wear a lot.
So I'm gonna, yeah, I'm gonna do that.
But you grew up in London? I did.
Would you say you were exposed to fashion from a young age?
No, not at all. But my mother loves clothes.
Creative. She was, although she would
never say that. She she would never have said
that she was creative, but I think she really was.
She was mad about clothes. My father was as well, actually.
But my mother was an amazing seamstress.
She taught sewing. So she taught me.
Did she teach you? Yes, yes, yes.
And I love sewing. I love sewing now and it's a.
Wonderful gift, actually, isn't it?
Yes. And also just to mend things,
you know, I, you know, and cut things up and make something
else out of something. I really like, enjoy doing that.
Yes. And I can remember most of her
clothes. She, she, she really loved
clothes. We would go to Harrods, not
because we could afford anything there, but we'd go to look, look
and learn. She would always carry a tape
measure in her pocket, which I still do.
And we're trying all the clothes.
We would measure them and then we would go and buy the fabric
and we would copy something like a cloak or, you know, and I
remember all my outfits as a child.
Lovely, and where were you buying your fabrics from?
Peter Jones. It was then, yeah.
I mean, lastly, I'd go to like Berwick St. to all those, all
those fabric houses there or the cloth shop I love in Busch Bell
Road. But I think in those days it was
Peter Jones. Yeah, it was.
Do you? Remember the moment that you.
First, put on something that made you feel transformed.
My mother made me a red snakeskin mini dress with a huge
stonking great zip and it was short and I remember I had these
black shiny shoes with a stonking great buckle on them
and I just and I wore it with like a skinny polar neck sweater
underneath. I was probably about six or
seven. And so that I just felt.
Really. Great.
Late 60s, yeah. Yeah.
What do you think was your light bulb moment in terms of fashion?
When I left art college, I was making Perspex jewelry and I was
selling it in Camden Market in Stockney, naked in Camden
Liberty. And I had a stall in Camden.
And this was a real light bulb because it changed everything
for me. And a pair was used in a free
magazine called Miss London, which was handed out on the
Tube. And I, it was like a sort of
magic thing that happened that I mean, because we weren't, I
wasn't a magazine reader. I wasn't a fashion, you know, I
made my clothes, but I didn't think that I could have a Korean
fashion. I didn't know what that would
look like. I didn't know that was a
possibility. But when I saw these earrings in
this magazine, I couldn't believe that I had touched them.
I couldn't believe, let alone made them with a Black and
Decker in my bedroom. But I couldn't believe that I
touched them. And then they were on a model
that to me was like, it was just like something otherworldly and
unobtainable and, and just so, so exciting.
And then I thought, so they left my bedroom and they ended up in
this magazine. What's that process?
And that was a light bulb because I thought I've got to
know what that process is because I didn't believe that
there was. I just thought it was magic and
were. You.
Wearing those Perspex earrings a lot yourself, Yes.
What was your style like at that time?
All sort of punky. They were kind of, they were
kind of fluorescent. The earrings were all kind of
fluorescent. Jaggy, Zigzag, very Bowie esque.
Kind of lots of colors. My hair was multi colored.
I made all my clothes out of furnishing fabrics.
I mean, I looked a bit freaky. I mean, I wasn't like I wasn't.
I was a kind of probably romantic punk, I think less of
an aggressive one, more romantic and rebellious and, you know,
just loved experimenting with fabrics and patterns and texture
and haircuts and makeup and yeah, my mother always try, try
everything out. Try everything out.
And I mean, you were at Conde Nast Vogue for the best part of
three decades, weren't you? Or, and and more actually, how
would you describe your style evolution from first walking
through the door of Vogue house? When I first worked through went
through the door of Vogue House, I thought everybody would look
extreme and exciting and extraordinary.
So I think I cobbled, I made. I remember I made an outfit for
your. First day, yeah.
And it was. And I was, bear in mind, I
wasn't in the fashion as secretary to the Petri Cash
woman. And it was a Tutu.
I looked a bit like a kind of moist dancer on acid, sort of
me. And it was a Tutu.
And I remember I'd hadn't got time to completely finish off,
but I made all these petals and I stuck them in the waistband of
the Tutu. And then I had ribbons going up
my legs and Oh yeah, I mean something crazy.
And I remember all the leaves dropped off.
So I was there with my bottom hanging out at the end of the
day, but and everybody was in sweater dresses and I just was
like. And how did you feel in?
Life Tutu. Oh, I think I started the day
feeling pretty good. I probably ended it feeling a
bit of a clown and a bit and a bit stupid, but I just thought
that, you know, they'd expect something, not that anybody
looked at me and they didn't. And do you still find yourself
experimenting with clothes? I don't experiment.
I mean, I love buying clothes and I love, I mean not that I
buy a lot, but I I like experimenting with color, I
think, and shape and print, but less with the kind of
extremeness I think. And do you use vintage shopping
as an excuse to experiment with those things?
That's a really good point to answer, yes, because I think I
do love vintage shopping less so now.
I used to be a big vintage shopper just to find that thing
that nobody else had or that was so, you know, individual.
And also I love sewing myself. So I love buying something
vintage and then, you know, maybe a dress and then cutting a
shop and make it into a skirt or, you know, something like
that. But so I like doing things to
things. Where are your favorite vintage
haunts? Oh Bush Bellow Rd.
Still, Yeah, and I go to a lot of I go to Car Boots at the
weekend and I often find something, but I look more for
housey things at Car Boots. I've got to ask you about your
wedding dress. I haven't seen any pictures of
it, I have to admit. Tell me about it.
It's actually a coat. And it was a funny story because
I went to a beautiful vintage shop back in the day called
Marilyn Garrett in Pimlico. And she had this Peloponnese
Navy blue, very long sleeveless, gold embroidered.
Sounds flashy, but it's not. It was dull gold embroidered,
long vest, beautiful. And it was a fortune and and I
said man, and that's, that's beautiful.
And she said, yes, it's actually going to a museum in Greece.
And I said how wonderful. And it just sounded so romantic.
And I tried it on and it fitted like a glove.
Anyway, Fast forward maybe five years later and I got engaged to
Simon and I went back to Marilyn and I said, do you remember that
beautiful rest? And I said, have you got
anything vaguely like it? And she said, it's come back
from the museum Anyway, So I bought it.
And when I said to my mother I was getting married in Navy blue
wool, she did think that was a little bit odd.
But it's beautiful. It's beautiful.
And I wear it sometimes to, you know, my 50th birthday party or
and it's a lovely thing. It's a beautiful thing.
And what did you wear it with? I wore it with a very dull gold,
beautiful sort of long with tiny puff sleeve dress underneath.
Are you? Obviously through the years
you've collaborated with so many inspirational designers.
I wondered if working closely with these designers ever had an
impact on your personal style? Oh.
Hugely, hugely. Funnily enough, I've only ever
worked with women designers. Not because that was a sort of
choice, because you, you know, it's often don't have a choice
no matter. But you know, the first designer
I worked with with was Michio Pardo.
And I was a Prada for 10 years, a massive influence.
She saw fashion and women with such intelligence.
I think with her. And also when Comde Gasol came
to town, you know, I've never dressed in a sort of sexy way or
kind of bling way because I just don't have my face isn't sexy.
So I've I've never gone in that direction.
And designers like Nietzsche or Ray Caracubo, Women designers.
They gave you a. Freedom to dress intelligently.
And I think I was so they were so revolutionary because you
didn't have to be that showy, sexy person.
You didn't have to. They gave you permission.
I mean, actually when I think of somebody like Christopher Kane
as well, I think what all these amazing designers do is give you
permission to look at something differently or to dress
differently. And I know that sounds a bit
weird about because why can't you give yourself permission?
But in a way, we all want to look, you know, OK and confident
and, and when they give you a different vision and when they
put on a different vision, my God, it makes you fly, you know,
and for Mutia, you know, I worked for Prada for 10 years
and, and at the time then, you know, halfway through, she
decided to launch Mew Mew. And what she was doing was very
different. And it was, and I still wear the
things that I have to this day and they haven't changed.
There was a kind of longevity about it that was wonderful.
The same with Comte de Gaston as well.
What was the process of actually working with Moocha?
Well, it was interesting because I worked on the first ever part
of show. I remember going around Vogue
saying has anybody heard of parter?
And I think one person said, I think they do luggage.
So I thought, oh, luggage leather factory, that's
interesting and worked on the first show and stayed with her
and there was literally kind of three of us, knitwear designer,
me and Moocha. And the process was really, you
know, working on the designs as well as actually, you know,
choosing the models that go into the show and everything.
So I really learnt how to put a show together on Prada's watch,
which was incredibly amazing now I think about it.
And what a an incredible journey.
It was a journey. I mean, I've done a couple of
shows before for John Rocha, which was wonderful.
And so I kind of vaguely knew, but not really, you know, to
that from from the beginning to the end of the design process
right to the end of actually showing.
I was, I was going to say, because, you know, it wasn't
just the show then then you would go into the next season
with Moocha. Yes.
And, you know, you were there to kind of, you know, a lot of
designers and it's, this was true of, you know, Consuelo, who
was Armani and Jill Sander. You know, a lot of designers
work in a very isolated way, you know, and I always thought it
was my job to kind of come in with ideas, with inspiration,
you know, and have a kind of window on the outside world of
what was happening, but also to find things that hadn't been
done or, you know, that was that was my job.
And it's always your job, I think, to to inspire and kind of
delight and bring something fresh to the table every time.
Yeah, True. Now I know this is going to be a
very challenging question for you, for someone with such
eclectic taste, but if you could only dress in two brands, one
designer, 1 High Street, which two brands would those be?
And Oh my gosh, well, it would actually not so difficult,
although I do, I love, I do love as you watch so many of us.
It would probably it probably would be Coalville because we
design with, you know, a woman in mind that's often us and it
would probably bizarre because of the choice you.
Seem, unsurprisingly, so very confident.
Do you think clothes are part of that confidence?
Yes, I do. I do, I think I, but I do
understand the anxiety of clothes because we all have
that, you know, and, and, and it's not to say that I wake up
every day and put something on and feel fabulous.
I don't. And often you've just got to try
things out and they don't work at the end of the day.
And you think that wasn't quite right or whatever, but you have
to get dressed every day. And I think isn't it great if
that can be a source of pleasure rather than anxiety?
But it's taken me a long time to work that out.
You know, I did some research about this because I did some, I
did a study for with Imperial College about interviews.
You know, people make up their mind, I think it's something
within the 1st 24 seconds and that's so unfair in a way.
And of course it's kind of how you come across and you know
your manners and you know your attitude.
And yes, clothes can give you incredible confidence and they
can also give you incredible anxiety.
So I understand people who just want to be comfortable and get
by. I totally get that.
But I also think that they can be magical and have powers of
transformation. And I mean, we feel like
$1,000,000. Yes, we can message through
through. Our clothes and.
What do you reach for when you want to feel empowered, for
example? Probably a pair of earrings.
Would you say age as a consideration to how you're
dressing? No, I don't think so.
I mean, but not consciously. What's sexy for Lucinda Chambers
what I. Find sexy is people who look
like they're really in their skin.
I probably find men sexy who really don't look as if they
bother and look as if they're wearing kind of French workwear
and they've worn out forever. Whereas I think actually I find
women sexy in a completely different way.
Like just looking really comfortable and cool, I suppose,
and a little bit edgy and a little bit different.
Yeah, yeah. Would you say you've got a style
icon? Probably Tilda Swinton, both off
screen and on. I always think she looks
incredible on screen in those films that she's done where she
dresses in an extraordinary way and I'm sure she has a huge
hand. Well I know she has a huge hand
in what she wears, but also I just think she looks like she
loves fashion and enjoys it and looks so unusual and looks so
intelligent. In all your years at Vogue, I
mean, you must have had to dress some extraordinary characters.
Wonderful variety of musicians and actors and artists.
No incredible privilege, really, to have that access.
Yeah. And any really tricky times when
you just couldn't get that person into the look that you
wanted. Well, there's only one tricky
time where the look wasn't there and it was when we were shooting
Emma Watson and none of the clothes turned up.
We were on the Eurostar. They had all got stolen from the
train and we were in on the last train coming in.
It's about midnight. We went into the luggage van of
the Eurostar. All the all the suitcases have
been stolen. So we had literally nothing to
dress her in. And again, it was a bit of a
sort of scramble. I think I borrowed a hat from
the assistant and I took the sweater off my back and
scrambled around for perhaps sunglasses.
She wasn't a happy Bunny. No, that did not go down well.
No, it did not go down well. You know, she was young and she
was really excited. It was her first Vogue shoot,
and I think she was really disappointed, obviously.
Yeah. I mean, I think we did manage to
get a dress from like, a fabulous Chanel thing in the end
for the cover. But yeah, the rest of it was
very patch, patch and scratch. Boom.
And talking about worst fashion moments, would you say you've
had one particular one personally that you look back on
and you think, what was I thinking?
I don't. I don't think I can remember
one, but I do. But I do remember dressing.
I had a phase of all purple, purpley purple underwear, purple
eyeshadow, purple hair, purple glasses, purple.
I can't wear The Color Purple now.
Not that I was having such a miserable time at that time.
But it's too much. You traumatized.
Yourself, I, I traumatized. I was in purple.
Trauma. Yeah.
Most people are traumatized by their school uniform colour but.
That I love my school. Uniform that was a a self
induced yeah, just too much is exercise and fitness an
important part of no. Who you are?
I wish it was. No, no, I know.
I've got to. What's your approach to your own
hair and makeup? Makeup I I wish I was good at
it. So I'm and I'm not even though
actually I worked in the beauty department for five years.
I really am into and very curious about beauty brands.
So I do take care of my skin and I love discovering new brands at
the moment there's a wonderful new brand called see to skin and
it's a small brand it's beautiful absolutely
everything's grown on their farm.
It's a wonderful thing. And then there's things like
Domamiel, also an English brand, beautiful in Devon.
So I do take care of my skin. But the only thing I do do, I
would never let go of my hair colorist who's Nicola Clark, who
I've been going to for 30 years, and she does blonde brilliantly.
She does. Kate Moss, Cate Blanchett, Kate
Winslet. She does it well, and she
squeezes me in. Let's talk about sustainable
fashion for a moment. You know, Coalville definitely
before sustainability was a word on everybody's lips was was
something that was absolutely uppermost in our mind.
And, and I think we all have to be responsible in a sense of,
you know, wearing our clothes for a much longer time, making
them have a different life when they go on, not throwing things
away, not making, you know, impulse silly purchases that you
just wear for an afternoon. And I think, you know, thought
and consideration and has to be absolutely front and foremost.
And and I think it is up to each and every one of us because it's
through our choices of whether we buy that or that from there
or there that will really shift things.
I mean, it's a really interesting time, isn't it?
Because we're all being told by less, by better, you know,
repair upcycle, etcetera, etcetera.
And yet when you think of it from a brand's perspective,
their ambition is sell more, sell more, sell more.
And it's it's a real contradiction.
But it's ever been thus. I mean, I think you know,
whether you choose to. I mean, I buy maybe you know, an
expensive handbag maybe once every three years or five years,
but I look after it or I give it away or I do.
I do do quite a lot of charity sales with my clothes.
I don't have anything in my cupboard that I don't wear on a
regular basis. But it it's a challenge for the
brands, isn't it? It is a challenge for the bands
and at Money we did many collections a year, which we
then actually cut down because it was too much.
Yeah, there was too much product and we were doing too many
collections. And I think you can change the
nature of a company and you do less collections with less
products, but the products very thoughtful.
What's the oldest piece in your wardrobe?
It's a hat that I got from a wonderful shop called Krola and
I probably got it in the late 70s, early 80s.
But I'm, I actually don't hang on to a lot of things.
I mean, I don't buy a lot of new things, but I also don't hang on
to, to things. But I have hang on to that
because it's got lots of memories of when I lived in a
squash and we all I dressed in like men's clothing and that was
part of that. Now, if someone was to describe
your style DNA in three words, what 3 words would you want
those to be? I think probably somebody might
say I'm eclectic, bit of a mishmash, decorative.
So we've got a collective decorative.
I think comfortable. I'd say colorful.
Yeah, I do love color. Yeah, color is always involved.
Let's spin on to some quick fire questions.
So these are quick answers. What fashion advice would you
give your 20 year old self? Or try things out.
Try things out. Try things out.
Which fashion trend would you most like to see make a
comeback? Quite.
Love 70s kind of twisted Jarvis Cocker situation.
Fashionable beauty trend that you'd consign to Room 101.
Do you know what? Nothing.
I think there's something for
everyone and everyone looks great in something.
But I love the positivity of that.
Your last impulse buy? Probably my wonderful handbag
stripy colorful Strathbury collab.
Yeah, collab. Yeah, your views on tattoos.
Love them on other people. No, they're beautiful.
I mean, my sons have all got them.
They're beautiful. And do you have one?
No grooming or well-being treatment.
You couldn't give up. My hair colorist Nicola.
High end or High Street? Both Crocs cute or puke?
Oh I love Crocs. Gazelles or sambas, Sambas,
Sports lux or rock'n'roll, Sports lux.
Cashmere or cotton. Cotton cargoes or chinos.
Chinos, Trobe or Tracy. Tracy Trendle.
Style, style, color or monochrome color, pattern or
plane pattern. Hoarder or editor, Editor,
Charity shop or resale charity shop?
Shapewear or lingerie? Both at the same time.
Bikini or one piece? Both not at the same time.
And finally, at the end of the day, what do you or don't you
wear in bed? Pajamas.
Lucinda, what a joy to spend this time with you.
God, I could have asked you a million other questions, but
thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much and loving me.
Thank you. What fun.
Thank you. Thank you.