Caroline Mary Charles (born 18 May 1942) is a British fashion designer.

Early life and education

Caroline Mary Charles was born on 18 May 1942, in Cairo, Egypt to British parents, Noel St. John Fairhurst and Helen T. Williams. From a young age she was interested in fashion. She left school at sixteen and studied locally at Swindon Art School from 1958–60.

Career

Charles did an apprenticeship at

Michael Sherard Michael Sherard (17 July 1910 – 26 December 1998) was a British fashion designer and a member of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers, which represented the British couture Couture may refer to: People * Couture (surname) P ...

's couture house, after which she worked with

Mary Quant Dame Barbara Mary Quant, Mrs Plunket Greene, (born 11 February 1930)The Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2019-20 stated her year of birth as 1930, and that she became a student at Goldsmiths College around 1950. is a ...

, and then worked for a year with the photographer Tony Rawlinson. She started her ''Caroline Charles'' label in 1963, aged 21. Charles was one of the leading designers in the explosion of demand in the US during the 1960s for clothes from young British designers. She travelled widely with her

Mod Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...

designs, visiting 36 cities and arranging fashion and pop shows, and appearing on television in the US and the UK, including the 23 November 1964 episode of '' To Tell the Truth'', in which she was the person whom the celebrity panelists were attempting to identify. Two of the four panelists correctly selected Charles. Her customers have included

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

, for both of whom she designed clothes,

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her ...

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

Cherie Blair Cherie, Lady Blair, (; born 23 September 1954), also known professionally as Cherie Booth, is an English barrister and writer. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Tony Blair. Early life and education Booth ...

Anne Robinson Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26 September 1944) is an English television presenter and journalist. She was the host of BBC game show ''The Weakest Link'' (2000–2017). She presented the Channel 4 game show ''Countdown'' from June 2021 to July ...

Helena Kennedy Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, KC, FRSA, HonFRSE (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2018. Early ...

and

Lesley Garrett Lesley Garrett, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 10 April 1955) is an English soprano singer, musician, broadcaster and media personality. She is noted for being at home in opera and "crossover music". Early life Garrett was born in the ...

. The actress

Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...

wore a green-beaded bodice and wide trousers by Caroline Charles, when receiving her Oscar for the 1992 film ''

Howards End ''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book was ...

''. According to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', "The beautiful classic cut, high standard of manufacture and quality fabrics are the foundations upon which the label was built".

Hilary Alexander Hilary Alexander (5 February 1946 – 5 February 2023) was a New Zealand-born British journalist and past fashion director of the '' Daily Telegraph''. She was twice named Journalist of the Year (1997 and 2003) in the British Fashion Awards. ...

, writing in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', called her "the thinking woman's designer". Charles was awarded an OBE in June 2002. In 2012, her memoirs, ''Caroline Charles – 50 years in fashion'' were published. As of 2017, the Caroline Charles label has stores in London, Cheltenham, Tunbridge Wells, Wilmslow and Exeter.

Personal life

Charles lives in

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

, London. She was married to environmentalist Malcolm Valentine from 1960 until his death in 2016. They had a daughter and a son, Kate and Alex.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Caroline 1942 births Living people British fashion designers Officers of the Order of the British Empire