MichelleSerrechia modelling 'Deco-Dance'
AusterityCollection
Photo: Mike Kells

The actual purpose of the shoot was to promote the Kells Modelling Competition 2011, as well as my new ready to wear collection ‘Austerity’. I don’t know why people are surprised to find that we have such fantastic talent nearby in Barrow-in-Furness; Mike Kells, the photographer, and Tracy Wells from Hatbox who designed the hats, for example. However, with Mike’s lens, my dresses, local, semi pro models and Tracy’s hats the results speak for themselves. Not bad, are they? Not bad at all.

Not many people know who the first internationally recognised, British fashion designer was…unless they have actually studied fashion.

Lady Duff Gordon or, ‘Lucile’ or ‘Lucy’ as she was known by the ‘society’ was one of the first leading international fashion designers, working the end of 19th to the early 20th century. Lucile started the business from home following a divorce and with no financial support, and a daughter to look after this must have been a truly daunting challenge in Victorian times. However, despite having no qualifications in dressmaking or tailoring she had an accurate eye and flair for fashion, and was driven by pure passion. By 1984 she had already opened Maison Lucile in Old Burlington Street in the heart of the fashionable West End.

Lucille brought innovative ideas in Fashion PR as well as in design, through her staged catwalks. The staged catwalk shows were unheard of before Lucile, theatrical, bold, shocking, and impressive, with goody bags, renowned customer service and VIP’s. And yes she is to be blamed, or applauded, for today’s catwalks. And, the ideas kept coming, for example, another interesting new idea for that time was her emotional collection. This comprised dresses with customised names inspired by literature, psychology, history and culture.

In fashion design Lucile is remembered for the free skirts – a slit skirt, and either a loose corset or no corset at all – rather radical in those days. She also brought in low necklines and trained her girls to be professional models rather than just pretty faces. By 1915 Lucile Ltd had show rooms in Paris, Chicago, New York as well as London.
She was very much a hands-on woman so nothing escaped her attention. Before long celebrities on both sides of the Atlantic sought her services and her travels lead to her boarding the ill-fated Titanic in 1912. Incredibly she survived.

Oh and let’s not forget that the tailored tweed suit was Lucile’s too. Coco Chanel may have developed the idea … but by then it wasn’t so radical.