Julien MacDonald

Julien Macdonald OBE (born March 19, 1971) is a Welsh fashion designer.

Biography

Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Macdonald went to cyfarthfa school in Merthyr Tydfil. Macdonald was taught knitting by his mother, and soon became interested in design. He was also interested in a career as a dancer, but instead studied textiles at Brighton and went on to the Royal College of Art where he gained a Masters. Soon after he graduated, Karl Lagerfeld recruited him to work for Chanel. He also worked freelance creating knitwear for Alexander McQueen

In 2000, he was appointed as successor to Alexander McQueen as chief designer at the Paris Haute Couture house of Givenchy, and in 2001 he was named British Fashion Designer of the Year. His creations have been worn by stars such as Joely Richardson, Kylie Minogue, Geri Halliwell, Dame Shirley Bassey, Carmen Electra and Naomi Campbell [http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/julienmacdonald/] . He was also selected by British Airways to redesign their flight attendants' uniforms. He also acts as a judge on the British version of "Project Runway", known as "Project Catwalk", which is broadcast on Sky One. In June 2006 he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to fashion.

Controversy

Macdonald has attracted much criticism for his extensive use of fur, including one incident in which he and Paris Hilton were flour-bombed. He has stated that fur provides the majority of his revenue and that his label would collapse were he not to use it.cite web | url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article346290.ece | title=Julien Macdonald: Defender of the fur | publisher=The Independent | date=19 February 2006] In February 2007, Macdonald was again criticised for the prominent use of fur in his autumn collection, causing further outrage when he claimed that "People who don't like fur can p*ss off. I love fur. It's a beautiful natural product from animals."cite web | title=The anti-fur mob? They can p*** off | author=The Daily Mail |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=436082&in_page_id=1879 | date=14th February 2007] The couture hats are created by Prudence Millinery.

References

External links

* [http://uktv.co.uk/style/video/aid/587735/searchArea/971/sr/13/csl/2/cst/Home|UKTV%20Style/mf/video/sb/recent UKTV Style video - backstage at a Julien MacDonald fashion show]