Claire Barrow’s designs started simple. Simple, but clever. She seized upon that most iconic and enduringly popular fashion item – the vintage leather jacket – and began scrawling over them with her modish doodles. And if the lure of buying vintage is that each item is a little bit unique, then Barrow takes that quest for individualism to the next level. Custom orders for her one-off designs began flooding before she’d even graduated, and “Rihanna” wasn’t the only familiar name on the waiting list. But what started simple has now matured and blossomed into a full collection – Barrow made her London Fashion Week premiere this year, having been scooped by Fashion East alongside the audacious Ryan Lo, and Maartan van der Horst. But her attention to detail and DIY ethos haven’t evaporated as she rises to meet soaring demand. We spoke to her about the collection, and her hopes and fears for the industry she’s entering.
Your work is very much rooted in painting and drawing. When did you decide to become a fashion design, instead of an illustrator or painter?
It happened quite organically for me, as I’ve always been interested in making garments myself, or customising my clothes. I took a year out from studying Fashion Design at the University of Westminster to work on the painted leather jackets and it really took off straight away, which was brilliant. It’s been crazy – I have a lot of work on, and though I have interns and people who help me along the way, I still do most of it myself. Each piece in the new collection has a different illustration on it – there’s no repeat prints – not even two bits of a garment the same. They’re all hand painted or hand printed.
You showed alongside Ryan Lo at Fashion East this year, which I found really interesting, because although aesthetically you’re very different, you’re both very much rooted in DIY. Do you think that’s indicative of a wider trend?
Yes, and I think the reason that DIY is becoming so important now is because the industry isn’t accessible enough for young designers – not everyone has the chance to go through the normal route of working with someone and then getting a line, so Fashion East is a great alternative platform to go through. DIY is something that you have complete control over – it feels more genuine, and I like that side of it. I’ve always been interested in punk, and how fashion can be functional and fit into our lives. I like the idea of doing everything myself, and having full control over the design process.
It’s funny because punk is now at a second generation, where the children of original punks are now old enough to be punk themselves: I recently inherited a vintage leather jacket from my da. Was punk something you picked up from your parents as well?
Not at all – for me it was a complete rebellion against them, and against the whole North East in general. I come from a town where people stay there, they work, they marry, and live quiet lives. There’s no industry there for fashion or art, which is a shame because there’s a great college that produces a lot of really good artists, but they tend to leave. So it’s really a reaction against where I’m from.
I read the SS13 collection was inspired by alcohol – is that true?
Yes. It’s not about my love for alcohol, though – it’s more a comment on our generation, in that there’s nothing we work towards anymore. Most people are complacent just going to college or university, meeting the same people, going to the same places, and the only thing that seems to mutually excite people any more is drinking. It’s not necessarily a criticism, because alcohol brings people together, and that’s great. But I’d like to see people who wear the collection expressing something about it – I’d like to start seeing people get a bit more clued up.
If you could see anyone, living or dead, wearing your designs, who would it be?
Oh. There’s lots. Charles Bukowski, John Lydon, Elvis and Priscilla… Morrissey, not that he’d ever wear it, but…
It’s interesting that you named way more guys then than girls there. Do you see the collection as being quite androgynous?
It’s not really that, it’s more that I like to see people who think for and speak out for themselves, and unfortunately we don’t see enough girls who do that – there’s no one I find particularly inspiring at the moment. Obviously I’ve worked with people like Rihanna, and that’s great, but I’d like to see more female artists around that make people think. It’s a really bad indication of our society that not many are visible.
Do you think that fashion is a tool capable of bringing about social change such as that?
Fashion can dictate a lot, and it can inspire change. But I don’t think the fashion industry is taken as seriously in certain respects, and I think there needs to be reformation within the industry itself as well. There’s a lot of unemployment in the sector, so I don’t understand why people can’t be trained up for jobs other than designer – as seamstresses and other craft-based roles. I feel like the industry could easily expand a lot more, and that people should work together and collaborate more – fashion is a very competitive industry. I feel like it should be more cooperative.
