Matthew Williamson

Matthew Williamson is a fashion designer based in the United Kingdom. His collections are shown twice a year during New York Fashion Week, and they often have an Indian influence, perhaps related to the time Williamson spent working in India for the clothing store Monsoon.

He counts celebrities such as Cat Deeley, Sienna Miller, Kelis, Jade Jagger and Plum Sykes amongst his friends, but has often been criticised by others in the fashion industry for using them to promote his designs.

In 1997 Matthew showed his debut collection at London fashion week. The collection was named 'Electric Angels'.

In 2006, Williamson took over as creative director at Pucci.

Delicate

\ Delicate as his designs are ,there's nothing lightweight about Matthew Williamson. As one of the more grounded graduates from Central St Martins, this designer's business has always turned a profit.

Born in Chorlton, Williamson studied in Manchester until he was 18, when he moved to London to take up his coveted place at St Martins. Looking back, he admits that the world-famous college was "not the place for me". "St Martins is all about innovation, about being the most edgy, about breaking ground in design and turning things on their heads. It's all very highly conceptualised - which is all fine and well and far be it from me to criticise. It just wasn't my way of working." Head down, Williamson completed his course and graduated in 1994, showing a "carnival dress" made from fabric swatches he picked up from Zandra Rhodes' studio floor. "I just worked my way through college, always thinking in the back of my mind that St Martins would be on my CV and that that was all I needed."

He then settled down to two years of work experience with the likes of Georgina Von Etzdorf, Marni and Monsoon. In 1996, after his beaded bags and scarves had caught the attention of Kate, Helena and Amber, Williamson was ready to launch his own clothes label with business partner Joseph Velosa. Kate, Helena and Jade Jagger later agreed to model in his London Fashion Week debut show, Electric Angels, and Williamson was powered onto the international scene.

By the autumn of 1997, Williamson was one of the in-crowd and invitations to dinners and parties started flooding in from the likes of Karl Lagerfeld. But, at barely 5'9", Williamson insists that he is still a private person, who prefers a quiet night in to a star-studded party. "I'm not doing this to be a star," he said in 1998. "It is great fun, but I am in it for the long-term. You have to have you're head screwed on otherwise you get screwed over."

External links

• Official Website