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British fashion stars honoured by University of the Arts London

 

Fashion luminaries David Downtown, Lulu Guinness OBE, Stella McCartney, Chris Moore and Dr Philip Sams PhD FRSA will be honoured by University of the Arts London this month, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the industry. Honorary doctorates and fellowships will be awarded at the University’s graduation ceremonies at the Royal Festival Hall between 16 and 19 July.

 

In receiving the accolade, the four join an impressive list of fashions finest to be honoured by the University including Giorgio Armani, Alexander McQueen, Vidal Sassoon CBE, Suzy Menkes OBE, Mario Testino, Harold Tillman, Jimmy Choo, and Rosita Missoni.

 

David Downtown (Honorary Doctorate, awarded Tuesday 17 July 2012, London College of Fashion ceremony)

Fashion illustrator extraordinaire David Downton knew he wanted to draw for a living from the age of eight. Working as an illustrator on everything from cookbooks to textbooks for over decade, in 1996 Downton was commissioned by The Financial Times to cover the Paris couture shows. Proving to be a pivotal moment in his career, he has since become an in-demand and prolific fashion illustrator with clients including Vogue, Tiffany & Co, Chanel and Selfridges. His portfolio includes portraits of some of fashion’s and film’s most iconic women including Catherine Deneuve, Dita Von Teese and long-time muse Erin O’Connor. He is a Visiting Professor at London College of Fashion, which held a retrospective of his work in 2006, and in 2007 he launched international fashion illustration journal Pourquoi Pas?.

 

Lulu Guinness OBE (Honorary Doctorate, awarded Tuesday 17 July 2012 in absentia, London College of Fashion ceremony)

Famed for her playful and iconoclastic accessories design, Lulu Guinness OBE started her business from the basement of a house in west London in 1989 after leaving a job in video production. She has since become well loved for her collectible, limited-edition handbags injected with fun and wit. Inspired by everything from birdcages to bookshops, The Florist Basket and the Violet Hanging Basket bags are just two of the designs that have been included in the permanent fashion collection at the V&A. In 2006 she was awarded an OBE for Services to Fashion, and has expanded into footwear, clothing, home wear and publishing.

 

Stella McCartney (Honorary Fellowship, awarded Wednesday 18 July 2012, Central Saint Martins ceremony)

World leading designer Stella McCartney graduated from Fashion Design Womenswear at Central Saint Martins in 1995. Two years later, she was appointed Creative Director of Chloe, where she was soon credited with reinventing the brand and achieving a fivefold increase in sales. Applauded for fusing sharp tailoring with feminine elegance, McCartney launched her own fashion house in a joint venture with Gucci Group in 2001. Her influence extends beyond the design world; McCartney has put sustainability on the fashion agenda, refusing to use fur or leather and incorporating eco-elements into her collections. Appointed Creative Director of Team GB by Adidas, British athletes will be wearing her designs when they compete in this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.

 

Chris Moore (Honorary Doctorate, awarded Tuesday 17 July 2012, London College of Fashion ceremony)

Legendary catwalk photographer Chris Moore began his career as an assistant at Vogue in the 1950s. He soon pursued his own path, earning the title ‘king of the catwalk’ for his prolific work photographing designer’s collections - from the exclusive 1960s Paris haute couture shows to the whirl of today’s London Fashion Week. Titles such as The Guardian, Harpers Bazaar, Sunday Times Style and the International Herald Tribune have commissioned work from him for over 20 years and Moore also spent time as the in-house photographer for Alexander McQueen. In 2000, he launched catwalking.com, an indispensible resource for the fashion industry showcasing his runway photography. His impressive archive has been the subject of a number of exhibitions, including a retrospective at London College of Fashion in 2007, where he has been a Visiting Professor since 2006.

 

Dr Philip Sams PhD FRSA  (Honorary Doctorate, awarded Tuesday 17 July 2012, London College of Fashion ceremony)

Dr Philip Sams has been at the forefront of innovations in fashion science and sustainability for the past decade. Having worked for Unilever for more than 30 years as a scientist and research leader, his interest in the creative industries was sparked in 2000 following a meeting with Sandy Black, Professor of Fashion and Textile Design and Technology at London College of Fashion (LCF). He brought his scientific expertise to the College’s new Masters in Fashion Studies course and, retiring from Unilever, pursued research into fashion/science interactions, setting up his own consultancy focused on the future of fashion, textiles and product design. Helping to establish the Centre for Fashion Science, now part of LCF’s Centre for Sustainable Fashion, he has been a Visiting Professor at the College since 2009. Dr Sams represents LCF in the Free Radicals initiative, launched in 2008 to find innovative cross-disciplinary solutions to global challenges like sustainable water use.

 

Other figures honoured by the University this year include actor Colin Firth CBE (Honorary Fellowship), artist Yinka Shonibare (Honorary Fellowship), physicist and creator of the World Wide Web Prof Sir Tim Berners-Lee OM (Honorary Doctorate), and Turner Prize-winning artist Tony Cragg CBE (Honorary Fellowship).

 

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