July 8, 2017 |
Molly Goddard can do no wrong – she’s one of London’s brightest design talents, she was nominated in the British Young Emerging Talent category at the British Fashion Awards and topped it all off by becoming a finalist for this year’s LVMH prize. Not a bad year. And yesterday, she joined the prestigious list of names, including Alexander McQueen and Grace Wales Bonner, to show as part of the V&A’s Fashion in Motion series. Combining a handful of new designs with a look through her archive, it was a celebration of her knack of making clothing at once delicate and excessive, playing on party dressing and Sunday best. We caught up with her earlier this week for a chat about the project…
Finn Blythe: I read your Mother taught you to sew – how does that nostalgia of making things together with her come through in your clothes today?
Molly Goddard: My Mum alwasy put me in posh smocked dresses, which were from charity shops or passed down through the family but I wore them every day to play in the park, never for anything special. I think that attitude to precious clothes and dresses not being something too fussy has really stuck with me. She used to make me these simple dungaree dresses but covered in rik-rak or in an amazing print.
FB: Why is scale an important theme in your collections? Why does it interest you?
MG: I’m not really sure, when I was younger I always loved looking at haute couture shows, John Galliano at Dior especially, I always saw the volume and fabrics and maybe that’s where it came from. Something about seeing how much fabric you can physically put into a dress really excites me, I like the impracticality of it, but at the same time making it wearable by using a very light and synthetic fabric.
FB: How did Louise Wilson help you during your time at CSM?
MG: I don’t think anything could have helped me while I was there – I was a mess on the MA! But in hindsight I learnt an enormous amount. Louise didn’t want everyone to stay in college working all the time, she wanted you to be out seeing things and doing things, it sounds so obvious but it’s helpful to remember when you’re stressed and stuck in the studio. Films to watch, books to read, and mainly to do what you do best rather than what you think people will like, there is a very long list…
FB: The show is free and available to all – quite a change from the ultra-exclusive viewing that we see during fashion week. Are there any changes you’d like to see in the way we consume fashion shows?
MG: I think it’s so brilliant to have a show that anyone can come to, and it’s fun for me to view it in a slightly different way – as more of a show than a fashion show to promote a particular collection. I do think it’s something there should be more of, but I think fashion exhibitions, like what they have at the V&A, portray fashion really well for people who aren’t involved in fashion. I am torn though, because I think it’s wonderful for a show to be accessible in this way, but a part of me feels that there is something to be valued about the exclusivity of fashion shows, I feel it contributes to their intrigue and ability to really excite and inspire – which is something I loved so much growing up.
Photographs Kamil Kustosz
