British beauty and Hollywood star Thandie Newton was on hand this week to honour Matthew Williamson at London’s Design Museum, which is hosting a retrospective of the designer's work. The Ten Years In Fashion exhibition shows examples of the signature eclectic-ethnic style which over the last decade has won him an A-list fan base that includes Sienna Miller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Keira Knightley and Demi Moore.
Manchester-born Matthew launched himself on the fashion scene in 1997, with no financial backing, shortly after graduating from Central St Martins. He achieved a major coup by having Kate Moss and Jade Jagger model at his London Fashion Week debut and now has a globally-recognised label, a store in Mayfair and another soon to open in Manhattan.
The designer – who recently returned to the British capital after five years in New York – feels his work is perfectly suited to a museum. "What I do is an art form," he says. "There is the same integrity involved as in any other art discipline. You start with a blank page and an open mind."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
