where sustainability meets studio 54

Brian James and I had the pleasure to speak to the incredible designer Julia Clancey. The full interview appears in Off The Rails Magazine.

Julia Clancey is a designer whose work evokes the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age and the hedonism of seminal 1970s-night club Studio 54. 
Drawing inspiration from these cultural touchstones, Julia creates clothes imbued with a high-octane flamboyance which channel the unapologetic escapism of those emblematic eras while inhabiting a thoroughly contemporary sensibility. Creating pieces suffused with a cabana to club duality, Julia has become the go-to designer for an ever-increasing number of women who appreciate the transformative magic that comes with wearing her serotonin-boosting designs. 
Living and working between Los Angeles and London, Julia has never lost sight of her Yorkshire roots. Roots which inform everything that she does, including the rigorously sustainable ethos which underpins all her work and her commitment to social justice.  
We sat down with Julia to discuss what was an unorthodox route into fashion, the key to her longevity in an often-transitory industry and her hopes and aspirations for the future. 
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"Congratulations on what is the 20th anniversary of Julia Clancey, the label. Julia, what is the key to your continued success and longevity is in an industry where designers reputations can ascend and descend rapidly?"
"Wow! No way 20 years? I had a break for several years after one of my collections was stolen. At that point I went into costume design on Hollywood film sets.
The key? Well, I have never really listened to a lot of advice: the do’s and don’ts. I very much thrive when dancing to the beat of the sound of my own drum. Over the years I have lost count of all the things I was told I could not do. Yet here I am… more the tortoise than the hare maybe.  Being self-taught, all the experimentation you would normally do at college, was thrust straight out there with no filter. Although it takes time to find your groove, I have always been very driven: with my blinkers on. I absolutely love what I do and am incredibly grateful for those who appreciate it too.

From a very young age I would sketch out designs and predict what the next trends would be. The bible for me back then was Freeman’s Catalogue!"

JULIA CLANCY

​Read the complete article here in Off the Rails Magazine.
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FASHION & STYLE