Copyright George Althaus
Remember when you were a child and one week you wanted to be a supermodel, the next it was a fashion designer, and then a few day’s later you had changed you mind again and set your heart on being a world-class snowboarder?
Well for one woman all of those childhood dreams have come true. FemaleFirst caught up with Charlotte Dutton, the snowboarder, model and designer all rolled into one, to see how she manages keeping so many balls in the air.
You have done so much in your life that it’s difficult to know where to begin, so we shall start with your career as a snowboarder which you began at the age of 11, how did you get into the sport?
Basically I went on a skiing holiday with my family and my ski instructor had just learnt to snowboard so he asked me if I wanted to take a lesson I was reluctant at first because I had only just got the hang of skiing but he kept asking and saying “Come on I’ll give you a free lesson!†I think he really wanted to show me because he had been teaching skiing for most of his life and he was excited because he had just learnt a new thing and he wanted to get anyone he could to try it too, so I took the lesson and I loved it!
Then when I returned to London I went to the local dry ski slope and there was a couple of snowboarders down there so I carried on learning with them and took a few lessons and hung out with a group of snowboarders there and became friends with the other snowboarders and went more and more often.
Where can people go to snowboard during the summer months?
There’s a really cool place called the Camp of Champions which is in Whistler (Canada) which is on the glacier and I have been there quite a few years in a row. The good thing about it is that it’s great for kids whose parents are going away somewhere and don’t what to take their kids. You get completely looked after, you get the hotel, full board accommodation and four days coaching on the mountain by professional snowboarders, so it’s all their heroes who will be there and they have a great time because they’re just hanging out with the sportsmen they look up to. All of the coaches teach them hot to do their tricks better and there are loads of pipes and jumps every summer.
Is it for all levels of snowboarders?
Yes, its for all levels, there are some really good kids there, and lots of them are going to turn professional and they go there to train. The standards are really high but they let anyone in as it’s like a holiday, but probably you wouldn’t go if you are an absolute beginner.
Where do you like to go snowboarding?
I love France, mainly because I love the European lifestyle. I like everywhere in Europe but the main place I love the most is Whistler Blackcomb, I have a house there and you can snowboard all year round. You can also go the Laxx glacier which is a really nice place to go.
Do you prefer snowboarding when it’s hot and sunny or when it’s cold and the snow is coming down and you get the real ‘winter’s scene’?
The rest of the world seems to head off on summer holidays to relax on beaches rather than get the adrenaline pumping up a mountain!
I like it when it’s hot and sunny, don’t get me wrong, I love skiing in power, but the people that do go in summer are those who are really into snowboarding as the rest of the world seems to head off on summer holidays to relax on beaches rather than get the adrenaline pumping up a mountain! So when you are there all the people come together and have a great time having BBQ’s up the mountain and it’s hot so you get the best tan which is great for me who is really pale!
Many people can’t afford to go and ski or snowboard in a foreign resort because of the cost of travel and then ski and boot hire, lift passes as well as accommodation, where is there in the UK that people can try out the sport?
The ski camps can often be expensive because you are getting full-tuition an accommodation. But you should also go to a dry ski slope, which are all over the country, as well as the snow domes which are popping up these days, which has indoor snow.
Obviously going to these local slopes are a lot less expensive because you can go on snowboarding nights which offer special rates.
What made you decide to put snowboarding on the back burner whilst you worked as a model and fashion designer?
Well modelling and snowboarding have always gone hand in hand with me as I have always snowboarded and modelled from a very young age. The did conflict at times because I’d come back from skiing with tan lines, or sometimes even a broken arm - that happened a few times - and the agency would have to wait until I got rid of my goggle marks or out of the cast, but they were always quite happy to let me do my thing snowboarding because obviously modelling was always my second career to snowboarding, it’s just what I did to make money off-season but obviously it was my main focus for most of the time. I just got lucky with modelling, It just started taking off after I was scouted out in London.
How do you keep in such great shape when you’re not snowboarding because obviously you have to be fit for snowboarding as well as looking gorgeous for modelling?
Don’t own a car! Just walk everywhere, to the office, that’s what I do. But every body type needs something different to stay in shape because we’re not all the same. I’m naturally quite small but I tend not to lift heavy weights or do things which would bulk me up because that wouldn’t be right for my modelling. I go swimming a lot because I’m not a great runner as I always get stitch and it’s bad on your knees, but swimming is really great. However, like I said before, walking is the best thing you can do in my opinion, I genuinely believe that if you walk everywhere you will feel better.
When I was younger I was put on weight gain to beef me up for competitions at my school in America, and then I’d get back to working as a model and stopped doing anything so that I lost all the muscle. When I need to drop a few pounds or lose my post-snowboarding muscle I just stop working out and just walk everywhere as working out beefs me up rather than tones me up.
You designed a range of snowboarding gear for Topshop, called Moto SNO by Charlotte Dutton, were you impressed that’s such a high-street name wanted to launch a range of sports clothes when they usually only cater for the fashion followers?
I’ve always worn Topshop clothes and have always been a fan of the store in Oxford circus, I practically live there when I’m not modelling or snowboarding. I’m a shopaholic and was honoured even though at the time I didn’t think of it as such a big deal as I was modelling and snowboarding that I just thought of it as something else that I was working on but it didn’t really register with me until after I’d done it and thought; “Wow, I have my own range in Topshop!†most people would give their right arm for that. I’ve done it all off my snowboarding, I did the Unique campaign for Topshop with Rankin and that’s how designing the Moto SNO range came about.
You’re now working on your own clothing range, Misticon, which combines both style and function, but it must be difficult coming up with such versatile clothing?
I have led two completely different lifestyles and socialised with completely different people, for example with modelling I’m surrounded by loads of stylists, make-up artists and other people who are very much into their clothes and fashion and parties and can be quite eccentric and love seeing the big cities such as Milan and Paris. When I go to castings I always have to look my best and glamorous.
However, when I went snowboarding I wanted to stay dry and warm and comfortable and I’d need all these other clothes with me, and quite often I’d have to go from a snowboarding competition in Austria to a casting in Paris and I could only have one bag so I had to pick what I could take with me on these trips very carefully, and always found myself wishing I could have a jacket that looked casual enough to go to the gym in but also nice enough to wear to a casting.
I needed something fictional and fashionable so I thought what better way than to make a range of staple clothes for an everyday girl who leads a lifestyle similar to mine. For example they might want to go to a yoga class and then meet their friend in a bar, and they want clothes which allow you to do both.
England is a prime example of why we need multi-functional clothing, you can look out of the window and it will be sunny, but within a few hours it could be raining, so you need to be able to wear your vest top and shorts, and have a little jacket that will keep you out of the rain.
Will you be the face of Misticon?
I will obviously be associated with it because I designed it but it will be me and a load of other models who promote it. We’re doing a huge catwalk show in November for worldwide fashion TV, so obviously I’ll just come out as the designer and get all my friends to model it. I don’t want people to think I didn’t design it though because I designed it to the last thread and I want to be able to take credit for that.
What is the secret to your success as a fashion designer, model and athlete?
I always said to my mum that if I wasn’t a snowboarder I would be a fashion designer and she was like; “Whatever Charlotte!†and now I’m both. But I think, as with most people, the secret to success is to try and try until you achieve it, never ever give up. With me, I’m really bad at things unless I’m passionate about them, if I’m not bothered about it I’ll just leave it. If you don’t do it right then try again, because eventually you’ll get it, because everyone learns from their mistakes and the only reason you have not to succeed is that you have lost the passion to keep working at it.
Which has been your favourite career path? The snowboarding, the modelling or the fashion designing?
Oh no, I can’t answer! They are all so different, I can’t compare them, every girl grows up and wants to be a fashion model, but at the same time, you can’t choose that over living every day in a mountain with the sun shining and snow and getting up when you want and doing what you want and snowboarding when you want. I love both of them and then designing, when I am 100% in control of my own range and build it from scratch, it’s great. I just couldn’t choose even though I am putting all my effort into designing at the moment, I couldn’t choose between any of them.
Finally, never one to stick with tradition, what’s next for you?
After this I’ll probably start working in stocks and bonds! No, just kidding, I honestly don’t know, if you had told me when I was younger that I would be where I am now, I would never have believed you. Every week I wanted to be something different, and that’s what my life is like, who knows what I’ll want to do in the future, I just try not to worry about the future too much. I believe you should always find a balance between work and fun, that’s the most important thing.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison
Remember when you were a child and one week you wanted to be a supermodel, the next it was a fashion designer, and then a few day’s later you had changed you mind again and set your heart on being a world-class snowboarder?
Well for one woman all of those childhood dreams have come true. FemaleFirst caught up with Charlotte Dutton, the snowboarder, model and designer all rolled into one, to see how she manages keeping so many balls in the air.
You have done so much in your life that it’s difficult to know where to begin, so we shall start with your career as a snowboarder which you began at the age of 11, how did you get into the sport?
Basically I went on a skiing holiday with my family and my ski instructor had just learnt to snowboard so he asked me if I wanted to take a lesson I was reluctant at first because I had only just got the hang of skiing but he kept asking and saying “Come on I’ll give you a free lesson!†I think he really wanted to show me because he had been teaching skiing for most of his life and he was excited because he had just learnt a new thing and he wanted to get anyone he could to try it too, so I took the lesson and I loved it!
Then when I returned to London I went to the local dry ski slope and there was a couple of snowboarders down there so I carried on learning with them and took a few lessons and hung out with a group of snowboarders there and became friends with the other snowboarders and went more and more often.
Where can people go to snowboard during the summer months?
There’s a really cool place called the Camp of Champions which is in Whistler (Canada) which is on the glacier and I have been there quite a few years in a row. The good thing about it is that it’s great for kids whose parents are going away somewhere and don’t what to take their kids. You get completely looked after, you get the hotel, full board accommodation and four days coaching on the mountain by professional snowboarders, so it’s all their heroes who will be there and they have a great time because they’re just hanging out with the sportsmen they look up to. All of the coaches teach them hot to do their tricks better and there are loads of pipes and jumps every summer.
Is it for all levels of snowboarders?
Yes, its for all levels, there are some really good kids there, and lots of them are going to turn professional and they go there to train. The standards are really high but they let anyone in as it’s like a holiday, but probably you wouldn’t go if you are an absolute beginner.
Where do you like to go snowboarding?
I love France, mainly because I love the European lifestyle. I like everywhere in Europe but the main place I love the most is Whistler Blackcomb, I have a house there and you can snowboard all year round. You can also go the Laxx glacier which is a really nice place to go.
Do you prefer snowboarding when it’s hot and sunny or when it’s cold and the snow is coming down and you get the real ‘winter’s scene’?
I like it when it’s hot and sunny, don’t get me wrong, I love skiing in power, but the people that do go in summer are those who are really into snowboarding as the rest of the world seems to head off on summer holidays to relax on beaches rather than get the adrenaline pumping up a mountain! So when you are there all the people come together and have a great time having BBQ’s up the mountain and it’s hot so you get the best tan which is great for me who is really pale!