Christopher Shannon
Christopher Shannon burst onto the fashion scene after being selected to showcase his luxe sportswear designs on the prestigious Fashion East and Topman MAN catwalk during London Fashion Week last year.
He told Female First all about how a normal lad from Liverpool landed in the fashion industry and his latest collaboration with a computer game character.......
So how did you get into the fashion industry? Is it something you have always wanted to do?
The first thing I wanted to do was move away from my home town, I had really itchy feet from my early teens. Art college seemed like a good option. I always thought doing fine art was a bit self indulgent and I didn’t really fancy being poor. I really liked graphics but was dreadful with a computer. Fashion seemed to be a bit of everything so that’s what I applied for. Since finishing my BA I've worked in loads of different areas of fashion, in styling, magazines, print design before going back to do my MA and really focus on menswear.
You went to Central Saint Martin's where many of this country's top designers studied- did you feel any pressure from the expectation to do well while you were there?
I did on the BA but so much of it is rubbish, there’s a lot of attitude on the BA not always backed up by ideas or ability. I didn’t really realise that going to fashion college is really a rich kids thing to do and has become more and more so. St Martins used to have a real mix of people from all over, recently it seems to be a lot of plummy girls and straight forward lads, its all gone a bit high street and not really the culture clash it used to be 5 years ago. I was always much more into the idea of the MA, I really like the work that Louise Wilson turned out there, always interesting but viable and done to a great standard, the BA was always much more balloons on your head and kittens on the catwalk. The pressure on the MA has to come from yourself rather than from external sources, you have to really understand why you are doing it and what for.
You were born in Liverpool- and Liverpudlians are really into their fashion- what influence did the city have on you?
I didn’t really realise how massive it’s influence had been until the MA, going back to all my reference points from being a kid and seeing how so many of them have stayed with me subconsciously. Even though it’s a city famous for music and football there is such a particular style to it, something you don’t really see anywhere else. Tracksuit culture is still massive and that’s juxtaposed with the extreme wag styling of the girls who look incredible. I think these things really affect me in my work, that gross ostentation next to very particular ways of wearing sportswear as a luxury item.
You started out your career working with William Barker on the Kylie Minogue tour- what was this like?
I worked with them both for a few years, it was something I fell into really when I was doing a lot of print design. It was really a very big learning curve. I was never really a Kylie 'fan' or drawn to that type of music but I learnt so much from the experience. Travelling a lot and working on lots of different project at one time, It also made me realise the things I really wasn’t interested in being involved with. The massive work load I got used to doing really helped me be focussed back on the MA.
You have also worked very closely with Judy Blame, he's a bit of a fashion legend, so what is it like to work with him? Did he live up to your expectations?
Judy is incredible, I’d been a massive fan of his from the first time I saw a Neneh Cherry video, then later also the work he did with Bjork, Shakespeare’s Sister and Massive Attack. I really like how multi-disciplinary he is, from his styling to his jewellery he manages to get his aesthetic across in a very particular way. We worked with him a lot on his jewellery which he doesn’t let you see until its just right, when we shared the same studio I would get in in the morning and Judy would have been up all night creating, buttons and bits everywhere then all these amazing pieces hanging everywhere. I always look forward to seeing what he does next.
What's this collaboration with PROTOTYPE all about?
There’s always a lot of print in what I do. I was an avid comic reader growing up and really like that sort of imagery, so when I was approached to work on PROTOTYPE it seemed a great opportunity. It was good to work on a print range that comes from somewhere else rather than my normal points of reference and Alex Mercer, the protagonist from the new game PROTOTYPE was the perfect starting point. We tried to do something that had a narrative element to it but where the branding is subtle and not so billboard.
Finally what are your top tips for men’s fashion for Autumn/Winter 2009?
Obviously to wear as much Christopher Shannon as possible and don’t wear brown or purple.
Christopher Shannon has designed a range of limited edition t-shirts inspired by the lead character of the new game PROTOTYPE. Call 0207 693 6999 for stockist details.