Fashion at the Royal College of Art: Own Labels and Household Names (1989-98)

Textiles designer John Miles was appointed in 1989 as the first joint Professor of Textiles and Fashion by Rector Jocelyn Stevens when Joanne Brogden retired. At the time of Miles’s appointment, the work of the Fashion School had been received with decreasing enthusiasm and press criticism of the apparently ‘safe’ designs and preponderance of projects with British companies. Stevens’s plan to amalgamate Fashion and Textiles at the College was intended to encourage an interdependence already evident in the fashion business, and allow a more holistic approach to emerging technologies, such as intelligent fabrics. Under Miles, individual expression was nurtured and a new emphasis on personal research and unique approaches gained traction against the more levelling demands of industry. In an echo of the 1960s enthusiasm for boutiques, the College produced a new wave of ‘own label’ designers. By the end of the decade the merger remained an unhappy marriage, and the two courses were again separated. The Miles era has important legacies, however, including the establishment of pathways to specialise in footwear and accessories, and a household-name list of alumni, including Philip Treacy, Julien Macdonald and Christopher Bailey.

The merger of Fashion and Textiles at the College was intended to allow better sharing of space and equipment, but it was a short-lived arrangement. The Gala fashion shows, meanwhile, found new London backdrops away from the College, including the Roundhouse in Camden (where Julien Macdonald's graduate show took place in 1996), the Banqueting House in Whitehall and the Porchester Centre in Bayswater.

John Miles had been greatly influenced by the success of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano from Central Saint Martins, and wanted to recruit students who might set up their own high-profile businesses rather than simply be absorbed into commerce. The enthusiasm for star names extended even to the visiting lecturer programme, with Karl Lagerfeld, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen among the many who delivered standing-room-only lectures or led oversubscribed special projects. By the late 1980s, the globalisation of fashion was complete and international travel was essential to the industry. For the College, this meant that it was firmly on the radar of major American designers, who would fly in to recruit young talent. The computer revolution began to take hold and for a time the School produced graduate portfolios in the short-lived CD-ROM format (pictured).