Website: www.julienmacdonald.com

Julien MacDonald was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, U.K. in 1972. He graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1996 but even before that, in 1995, he had started his solo career designing knitwear under his own name, as well as for Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen and Koji Tatsuno.

Seductive and opulent, Julien MacDonald's work takes the girlishness out of knitwear. He spins out fiery fantasies from his trusty knitting machine.

Julien met the German designer Karl Lagerfeld when he won the annual Lagerfeld competition while at college. As a result, Lagerfeld hired him as knitwear designer for Chanel in 1996, and told Vogue: "Julien plays with his machine like Horowitz plays on his piano." MacDonald uses new modern fluorescent yarns and luminous mohair.

In 1997, the designer founded his own company and created his own label. He debuted at London Fashion Week, and his show was an instant commercial success. His Autumn/Winter collection was entitled "Mermaids" and his Spring/Summer 1998 was called "Modernist". During the latter, he presented suit-of-armour dresses rather like those of Paco Rabanne.

It was a surprise when Bernard Arnault (chief officer of LVMH who own Givenchy, Dior and others) appointed Julien Macdonald the British designer, as chief designer for Givenchy haute couture. His first collection was Spring 2001 which was well received. His most recent collection for Givenchy is Autumn/Winter 2003 held in Paris in March. Click through to Givenchy for details.

Spring/Summer 2003

MacDonald participated in London Fashion Week in September 2002, showing his own label for Spring/Summer 2003 collection. Here on the left, is a dress from that show.

Autumn/Winter 2003

Macdonald put on a Champagne-drenched show for Autumn/Winter during London Fashion Week in February 2003. On the right is one of the outfits from the show.

The PETA anti-fur brigade disturbed the show for a while till security men dragged them off. He later showed huge fur patchworks and smaller fur shrugs which were the reason for PETA's anger.

Macdonald is one of London's great craftsmen. Karl Lagerfeld invited him to spin gossamer-fine golden knits for Chanel couture. He remains creative director of Givenchy couture inspite of British media doing their best to unseat him. Macdonald himself says that his first few months at Givenchy were pure hell and will haunt him all his life. His contract with them expires in April 2004, let us see what happens.

His recent Fall 2003 collection was a sharp spiky set of clothes, largely black and white with some flashes of gold and silver. He showed figure-hugging tailoring, sexy biker-inspired leather pieces and gorgeous evening wear from cobweb-fine mini-dresses to sleek sparkly bias-cut red-carpet wear.

Spring/Summer 2004

During London Fashion Week in September 2003, Julien Macdonald showed his usual elegant womanswear collection for next Spring. An outfit from this collection is shown on the left.

His show was the highlight of the week featuring sharper clothes than past offerings with sleek Eighties-style leather jackets, tapered trousers, pantsuits and glamorous chiffon dresses. He made a party of his show, using Naomi Campbell, Elizabeth Jagger, Jacquetta Wheeler and other super models, with loads of celebrities in the audience.

You can also see the review and pictures of his Givenchy show by clicking through.

Designer Laptop Bag !!

Yes, MacDonald has created something to have thousands of women computer geeks jumping with joy. Here it is - the designer laptop bag -in three colours, fuchsia, white and black for the modern sophisticated businesswoman.

Leaving Givenchy

MacDonald presented the Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2004 show for Givenchy in January and it was a beautiful show. However soon afterwards, he announced that he would be leaving Givenchy when his contract is up in April. He has not indicated his future plans.

Autumn/Winter 2004

The MacDonald Autumn/Winter collection was shown in London during Fashion Week in February 2004. Julien's show had a celebrity audience as usual, and his collection was the signature MacDonald glitz. There was less flesh on show than usual, bulging fur wraps ensured girls will be warm next winter. There was an occasional touch of tweed on a supertight trouser suit teamed with a see-thgroughchiffon blouse. Fine fisherman knits were worn above tight leather pencil skirts. Plenty of glittery feathered dresses for the red-carpet occasions coming up, particularly red bias cut satin creations split to the thigh which had a silver screen elegance.

What a Doll

Julien unveiled his couture-clad BARBIE at the glittering show in the March, dedicated to the fashionable doll. The event was attended by loads of celebrity daughters including Lisa Mafia's daughter Chelsea and Bob Geldorf's daughters Peaches and Pixie. The clothes were rock and roll, glitter and serious glamour.

Julien's activities are multiple, he designs the uniforms for British Airways, Kylie Minogue's costumes for her world tours and red carpet dresses for a host of lovely women like Joely Richardson.

In September 2004, Julien was awarded an honarary degree by the University of Wales, Newport, U.K.

Spring/Summer 2005
London Fashion Week

During London Fashion Week in September 2004, Julien showed his collection for next Spring. A dress from the collection is shown on the left. On the right is a dress which was reported to have a value of 2 million pounds because of the diamond embellishments.

He brought a little bit of Givenchy haute couture back with him. Although he made no secret of his unhappiness at working in Paris, his Spring collection had a touch of Paris elegance. His ruffled column dresses and chiffon blouses, Chanel-inspired tweeds, encrusted with pearls and models with perfect hairstyles, all reminded us of Paris. He has also picked up his knitting machine again, showing crochet stitches on dresses and jackets. His finely tailored shorts and tulle dresses showed refinement.

Autumn/Winter 2005
London Fashion Week

The Autumn/Winter collection was shown on the first day of London Fashion Week in February 2005. Here on the right is a spectacular glittery tweed dress worn by supermodel Naomi Campbell. Julien presented richest brocades, and pouf-skirted prom dresses, high-waisted trousers and skinny plus-fours under long cable-knit cardigans. Strips of furs like fox, chinchilla, mink and sable were scattered all over his gowns. Some huge fur coats had Swarovski crystal belts. It was a glamorous show.

Spring/Summer 2006
London Fashion Week

Julien MacDonald presented his Spring/Summer 2006 collection during London Fashion Week in September 2005. A colourful outfit from the collection is shown on the left.

His front row clientile was a little unusual. A team of cricketers sat next to Miss Piggy dressed in Julien's couture outfit. His glamorous show included a technicolour Swarovski crystal embellished full length gown, with a halter neckline. His models all wore high tasselled platform shoes which looked like tripping them up several times. Gold knit dresses were strewn with sequins, a marabou feather gown and a purple sequinned gown joined the line. It was a good start to London Fashion Week.

The only sour note was when 3 PETA activists staged an anti-fur protest on Julien's catwalk. They stood behind him and waved banners, while he was smiling at the audience. It was a bit embarrassing.

New line of Lingerie at Debenhams

In November Debenhams the famous store in London, will be putting two new designer's work on display. Betty Jackson will sell her widely awaited "BLACK' collection and Julien McDonald will made a market debut for his new line of STAR lingerie.

2005