Hilary Alexander talks fashion and per una: The LadyM Interview
This week I got offered the opportunity of my fashion journalism career. To interview legendary fashion journalist and stylist, Hilary Alexander.
Hilary is currently joining the Marks & Spencer’s per una design team on a fashion roadshow around the UK. As she is coming to Bluewater in Kent this weekend – Saturday 26th October. I couldn’t wait to find our more about the event itself and ask some key fashion questions to an outstanding fashion legend.
As well as talking about the per una live style shows and her “Ask Hilary” section on the M&S website, we also chatted about New Zealand Fashion Week, Strictly Come Dancing and archaeology!
per una style roadshow
So far this week Hilary and the team have been in Glasgow, Chester, Bristol and after Bluewater they will be in Dublin. As well as doing shows for the staff in the stores in the region, the public get to have a styling show and the event has been well received so far. So I delved a bit deeper into the per una collection, the roadshows and Hilary’s experiences of London Fashion Week.
LadyM: What is the most common question you have been asked so far?
Hilary: I get a lot of questions about how to hide the tummy or what’s the best style for a big bust. Generally people want to have a nice silhouette. For this an empire line dress is very good for a both of these. There are quite a lot of illusion dresses in per una which are very good for giving a slim silhouette – dresses with plain black panels at the side. Christmas parties are another thing people want to know what to wear. Lace and leather are popular and around for Christmas.
Since I wore a black suit jacket with leather sleeves to work today, and leather is super trend for this season – I asked Hilary what she thought of the “leather on leather” look, similar to the double denim.
Hilary: There’s a lot of interplaying textures, if you look at the collections of Yves Saint Laurent for example, Celine, Dolce & Gabbana, they mix textures a lot. Leather trims, leather sleeves. Sometimes you don’t want to wear ALL leather so it’s nice to have the sleeves mixed with some tweed or wool on the rest of the jacket – it’s a nice detail.
LadyM: What are the key pieces that you think deserve to be in your “Hilary’s Edit” on the M&S website this season?
Hilary: I particularly like the black and white houndstooth coat, because it’s round collared, slightly a-line and looks quite 60′s in shape. It’s works brilliantly with stretch leather jeans which have body con stretch panels down the side. The other thing I like is the beautiful black ribbon lace dress with sleeves covering the elbow – it’s quite a simple straight cut dress but the detail means it looks like a dress that could cost you several hundred pounds and it’s only £75.
“Sometimes it’s not to do with age, it’s to do with attitude” Hilary Alexander, talking about ‘dressing for your age’
Next we talked about London Fashion Week and the Autumn/Winter shows – the deep textures and dark colours bringing a sense of opulence to the collections and enrichment for the season. Hilary explained that there were a lot of “jewel tones” – like red ruby, green emerald, blue like amethyst – giving a kind of richness in the colour. With a lot of mixture of fabrics; a lot of satin, lace, taffeta which are quite opulent looking. We discussed how you can get the similar effects as collections from designers such as Dolce & Gabbana by wearing the same colours or fabrics without spending the same amount of money.
LadyM: What’s your favourite memory of London Fashion Week?
Hilary: Definitely the Alexander McQueen shows before he went to Paris. They really were electrifying, as you just didn’t know what was going to happen. I remember one of his early shows when he flashed his bum (!) and there was another show he didn’t in Borough Market with a wrecked burning car on the catwalk. That was sensational.
“Tom Ford’s AW13 show was just fabulous, so amazing that he chose London”, Hilary Alexander on her favourite memories of London Fashion Week
Next I asked Hilary the really tricky question of who is her favourite fashion designer of all time. She mulled this over for a while, so I refined it to “Who is your favourite fashion designer(s) of the moment?”
Hilary: I couldn’t just pick one, I’d have to pick several. Dries Van Noten comes to mind, Mary Katrantzou (a LadyM favourite!) and I really like watching what J W Anderson is doing – I couldn’t wear a lot of his clothes but he is very innovative and has a lot of great ideas.
Hilary was born in New Zealand and since I’ve recently come back from New Zealand Fashion Week I asked her about her time in New Zealand and her relationship with fashion there – and got a very interesting answer!
LadyM: When you were in New Zealand were you in to fashion then?
Hilary: No, not really, I can’t say that I was – I wanted to be an archaeologist. I was always and still am, interested in ancient civilisations and ruins – maybe that’s where my love of tribal jewellery comes from.
I asked Hilary if she was interested in New Zealand fashion designers and brands and we talked about how different New Zealand Fashion Week is to LFW (she went 10 years ago) and how great it is that Dunedin hosts a fashion week that is so well organised, attended and has amazing international designers for a city of 120,000. She’s heading back there next year and taking Julien Macdonald with her.
Talking of Julien, another of Hilary’s passions is Strictly Come Dancing so I had to ask the following question:
LadyM: I know that you love watching Strictly, have you ever considered being a contestant?
Hilary: No, no no – I’m a huge fan and love watching it. I was very sorry when Julien got voted off – he gets 10/10 for total enthusiasm and passion even if he didn’t have exactly perfect dancing skills. I loved watching him.
Hilary will be presenting three inspiring live style shows at M&S Bluewater on Saturday 26th October at 12:00pm, 1:30pm and 3:00pm from the brand new per una Speziale range, inspired by couture trends, to stunning winter coats featured in the recent ‘Leading Ladies’ ad campaign. Hilary is really looking forward to meeting customers and introducing you to new things and new ways to style clothes, so make sure you are there on Saturday!
Recommended
-
La Redoute Brand AmbassadorAugust 3rd, 2014
-
#weeklylust | Not Just A LabelAugust 3rd, 2014
-
Energise your work wearJuly 23rd, 2014
-
#weeklylust |Peter Pilotto Nova GeoPrint Ponte DressJuly 12th, 2014
-
#TedBakerLIVE! | Ted Baker Live Stream AW14July 8th, 2014