Scott Henshall
Last time we really saw Scott he was heading out of the I'm a Celebrity Jungle, having not really found the experience an enjoyable one.
How times have changed, because now the designer is getting all ethical about clothes and helping to champion Global Cool's fashionable message to Britain.
We caught up with Scott to chat about fashion week, his Global Cool charity work and why he'd put more clothes on Madonna...
Hiya, what have you been up to recently?
Erm... gosh obviously it's been fashion week and I've been putting together a new fashion book, been doing lots on TV and I'm appearing on Britain's best celebrity dish soon. Watch this space, I do very well on that!
What's your fashion novel about?
Basically It's a cross between what I call a Jackie Collins novel and you know a bit of an expose on the fashion industry! All a culmination of my years of experience of being in the evil world of fashion. [FF: Are there any scandalous secrets in there?] Well, there's different names and places and people, but it's sort of a culmination of all the things I've experienced. All I will say is the truth can be stranger than fiction!
Did you do much at fashion week, FemaleFirst was there!
Aww, did you enjoy it? Well, it's a shame the Oscars was around the same time as Fashion Week, but there you go... Anyway, for me well, we launched Global Cool at Fashion week as well. [FF: Oh, yes you're party! How did that go down?] Well, I get asked to do so many different charities, and I think with Global Cool it does what it says on the label, it's not wrapping itself up as anything else. This is our message and we're doing it in a cool, fashionable way- everybody loves fashion and they've got so many celeb ambassadors; Orlando Bloom, Sienna Miller as well as people like Tony Blair and Prince Charles too. We're doing these fabulous events to raise awareness, but at the same time we're not preaching to people, and everybody loves fashion so we give them a chance to indulge and have some guilt free shopping for the noughties, as I call it! So you know people can pass on items that are cherished to them and people can get new goodies in exchange for that- it's a fun way to do something for a charity.
Are you an ambassador for Global Cool then?
Yes, I am and you know we donated a dress that Paris Hilton had worn in her show to find a new British Best Friend and it was a £3,000 dress. You know it was really cool that all these people from all over the country, had come down and had a free shopping trip, while getting the message in about Global Cool. And people should have guilt free shopping, you know no-one needs to buy anymore and there is three messages today- people should go swishing, or swap your clothes with friends, as well as donating their mobile phones too, the charity has already had 100,000 handsets given in which is brilliant, so it's getting their message across to a cool, young audience.
You must get asked to do a lot of campaigns, why did you choose to get involved with this one?
Well, I think again it resonates from being in fashion and being a fashion designer and I think everybody has to take an ethical response, and work with factories to make sure they pay a fair amount, you know and make sure they have codes in place and again try to produce as much as possible in the UK. Global Cool's message is you know, they're not preaching their just doing fun things, everyone loves fashion, they love celebrities, that's the kind of message they're trying to push across. If you do small things like flick the switch, hand in your old mobile phone, or turn your TV off- simple little things can make a difference.
Do you think recycling/customizing and reusing is the future of fashion?
Well, I think in this kind of credit crunch as well, people are having to look at different ways of holding on to the item they've got and buying key things to revamp their wardrobe each season and the trends for the season will be very 80s. Raid your auntie's wardrobe, dig out your mum's old clothes, attach shoulder pads and get creative. Fashion at the moment is all about styling, rather than spending a fortune on the latest things, which you know right now people can't afford to do and it makes it more fun.
You could be anyone, take Girls Aloud for example they mix high-street stuff with top end designer couture clothes, so it goes to show that style doesn't have to be about spending money, it's about having an eye and keeping up with websites like yours and seeing what's fashionable and adapting it to yourself. Fashion is about being relevant to the times and I love this war time spirit of make-do and mend, you know look after your clothes and reinvent them. The serious message is hundreds of pounds worth of clothes are bought each season and left unworn in the back of people's wardrobes.
Do you think the recession has had an impact at London Fashion Week this year?
I think at times of recession there has been lots of bright colours shown in fashion week, people tend to go one of two ways, they go quite crazy with a throwback to the 80s, with lots of glamorous looks, but I tend to not go and see the competitors, so I've stayed away from the shows. I just think it's quite bad that for London Fashion Week, a lot of key serious buyers from America haven't been coming and again the celebrity quota at fashion week has been down because of The Oscars.
If they'd had it at the time of the BAFTAs and Elle Style Awards people would have been in town and it goes to show you that you have to do cleverer things to get people's attention, it's not just about spending loads of money on a fashion show and it's more about people's personal sense of style, which isn't necessarily good for the industry, but for the long run it's probably better for the environment.
As a designer yourself, who would be your dream to dress?
Gosh, the ultimate person for me is Madonna! [FF: Really?] Yeah, I mean... why would you say really? [FF: well, I think she's taken a dive recently to be honest...] No, I think people tend to knock women when they get to a certain age, but for me she founded the MTV generation, she one of the few icons left from the 80s, you know if you look at them now, she's the only one who is still as relevant today as ever before. She's the ultimate designers muse, most designers they probably say her, but again I love Gwen Stefani, Katy Perry- I think she's quite amazing and again all of these people look to Madonna, so if you're going to dress one of them you may as well dress the original. I'd put her in a few more clothes than she's been sporting at the moment though!
Whose your fave celeb client?
Paris Hilton. I've known Paris for a long time, she's really fun loving, doesn't take herself too seriously and is a great clothes horse. I mean literally if you look at the celeb culture, she's what epitomizes it, but she's also a great business woman and she looks fabulous! If you look at this throwaway culture, she's the perfect fashion icon.
We like Paris we think she's fun!
We love Paris, she is fun.
Thanks so much!
Not at all, It's been a pleasure!
FemaleFirst- Laura Terry