The Loss of Louise

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Louise Wilson

In my last post, I didn’t go into detail about the course of roller coaster emotions, which preceded and followed the Louis Vuitton Cruise show in Monaco.  In between the anxiety of keeping an eye on the FA Cup score back in London (Arsenal were 2 nil down just before the show) and watching an incredible collection play out on a digital water catwalk, and then finally concluding the footie with a comeback win (jealous of everyone who got to see the parade in Islington by the way…), a piece of shocking news broke.  Louise Wilson had passed away.  Imran Amed and I were poring over Twitter/Google+ updates to verify the news as we were taking our places for the show.  It was a shock, not least because Wilson was only 52 but that a creeping sense of panic over her loss had already set in.  Her name might not be in the wider public consciousness but her impact on fashion at large, from high street to high end, can’t be overstated.

Even as the Louis Vuitton show was playing out, I wondered about the design team, which is working under Nicolas Ghesquiere and how many of them have passed through the tutelage of Louise Wilson.  People focus on the starry names who studied under her twenty-year plus charge as course director of Central Saint Martin’s illustrious MA programme.  They regularly reel off Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, Mary Katrantzou, Jonathan Saunders, Simone Rocha as examples but look into every major house and fashion company in the world and Wilson proteges exist in every corner.

I don’t want to write a fluff piece reiterating bio facts and achievements.  I don’t want to pretend that I knew Wilson well either.  I didn’t.  Instead, I had a number of brief but memorable encounters with her, where her every word made me think, especially with regard to my own tenuous position as an industry interloper.  Here was a woman, who was a behemoth in the industry, who knew it inside and out, and worked tirelessly behind the scenes to push fashion further, through the output of her students.  She had seen it all, and saw past the fluff and chaff of fashion – a category which “bloody bloggers” could well fall under.  Therefore nuggets like “I hate bloggers but I like you” will always mean much more to me than she’ll ever know.  When I’d go and see the MA students’ portfolios at Central Saint Martins and other tutors would be reluctant to let me take pictures, Wilson was kind enough to let me go about my business.  She was fiercely protective of her students’ talent and ideas.  After all she understood how the system abuses creativity.  I was keen to make her understand that I want to champion and showcase CSM MA fashion design at its finest.  Wilson obliged and even fought my corner once, by saying “I know what you’re trying to do and I get it.”  That meant a lot.

At our other encounters, Wilson would rail about funding in education, the way young designers are quickly promoted in London, and how companies (which shall go unnamed) exploited fashion graduates.  Every word rang true and stayed with you, not least because physically her voice boomed and her speech was peppered with F’s and C’s.  Wilson did make me think that sometimes what I did as a profession was part of the problem. But that she didn’t tell me to fuck off whenever I saw her was a sign of approval.

My thoughts are with her immediate family of course but also the hundreds (nay, maybe thousands?) of people whose careers and outlook were shaped by her dedication to fashion education.  If my fleeting meetings with her got me thinking harder about what I did, then every person she has ever taught in that intense CSM environment will be feeling this loss far heavier and harder.

I’ve been typing in present tense and correcting myself constantly throughout this post.  I still can’t quite grasp what Central Saint Martins’ fashion department will be like without Wilson.  Actually, I can’t fathom what fashion period, will be like without Wilson.  That’s how great her impact was.

16 comments

  2. Louise is the kind of woman I’d like young girls to look up to.
    Now obviously I didn’t know her either but if enough people use the words ‘tough’ ‘loved’ and ‘inspiring’ when referring to you then that says it all.
    I think ‘revered as well as feared’ is a good way to be…and Louise encapsulated that.

  3. I can’t believe she’s gone, it really is a tragic loss. During my time at CSM she was to be both feared and revered, I truly can’t imagine CSM without her, not only the fashion department but the whole building! Her being (and voice!) stretched far beyond the walls of MA fashion. I am sure she will greatly missed, and I can’t even begin to think who will fill her place.

  9. She sounds like such an interesting personality. Honest people are so rare to come across. I really like her impact on fashion, it is so sad she passed away so young.

  10. Love how you wrote this piece, Susie. Really respectful and paid tribute to her! Thoughts are with her family and all those she taught x

  12. Susie, I appreciated that you did not write a fluff piece (it won’t be you or stylebubble anyway), rather it was a surprisingly personal piece that I felt was also a minor form of mourning.

    I too only have snippets of brief encounters, from as small as her scanning my outfit, to her asking me where my shoes are from.

    I didn’t know her or dare to say she knew me even by my name, but as a ‘blogger’, I too can put myself in your shoes and be utterly flattered and in a way validated if Louise ever told me that I was an exception to those who have blogs (which is why we love you S, we really need to give ‘top bloggers’ a new title). She really knew the industry so well, and knew exactly how to deal with it, her methodology was clean. Looking back I felt honored to even hide in MA corridors just to eavesdrop on her tutorial sessions. To me, it was like being a diehard music fan listening on the Beatles talk about inspiration for music. You are lucky that Louise saw you as an exception to the clutter this industry has so became saturated with. You are already in a way paying tribute to her as you continue on shining light on new designers, new talent, and new minds. She will be dearly, dearly missed by all who knew of the Great Louise Wilson.

  13. I wish you didn’t compare the way the system responds to creativity to ‘raping’. I love your voice + writing, but comparing this to something so disgusting, that can damage people for life , hurts.

    1. Criticism accepted. Will edit immediately. I was paraphrasing Louise though – she did use that word in conversation.

  15. A silent but very emotionally powerful post. I did not have the honor to know her personally and only read her name occasionally, but by the way you write about her one gets the feeling of having a little peek into the live of a great woman, teacher and personality.

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