Ghost is a London
fashion label
Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...
founded in 1984 by
Tanya Sarne.
It is known for classic
vintage clothing
Vintage clothing is a generic term for garments originating from a previous era, as recent as the 1990s. The term can also be applied in reference to second hand retail outlets, e.g. i''n vintage clothing store''. While the concept originated ...
-influenced
viscose crêpe, satin and
georgette
Georgette is a feminine given name, the French form of (''Geōrgia''), the feminine form of George.
Georgette may refer to:
People
* Georgette Barry (1919–2003), stage name Andrea King, American actress
* Georgette Bauerdorf (1924–1944), Ame ...
designs, which are modified slightly each season to keep them up to date, but do not follow trends.
The
Design Museum
The Design Museum in Kensington, London exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all funds generat ...
in London described the introduction of the Ghost dress as "one of those quiet revolutions" where the significance of an event in fashion history goes almost unnoticed at first.
History
The Ghost label was founded by Tanya Sarne and the designer
Katharine Hamnett
Katharine E. Hamnett (born 16 August 1947, in Gravesend, Kent) is an English fashion designer best known for her political T-shirts.
Early life
Hamnett was born on 16 August 1947, the daughter of James Appleton, a group captain. She attende ...
. They called the label "Ghost" after Sarne's business methodology, which was to employ a team of in-house designers who would create, or "
ghostwrite
A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...
" the collections that would be linked to her name, under her supervision.
[ Among the designers who worked for Ghost were Andrea Sargeant who created the original look,][ Nicholas Knightly (who had worked with Stirling Cooper and later went on to design for ]Mulberry
''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...
and Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...
), Suzanne Deeken, who went on to design for Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...
, and Amy Roberts (a former Galliano assistant) who introduced knitwear in 2001. In the early 1990s, Ossie Clark
Raymond "Ossie" Clark (9 June 1942 – 6 August 1996) was a British fashion designer who was a major figure in the Swinging Sixties scene in London and the fashion industry in that era. Clark is now renowned for his vintage designs by present- ...
, renowned for his fabric cutting skills, helped out at Ghost.
Ghost became known for its strongly vintage-influenced designs, often distinctively using rayon
Rayon is a semi-synthetic fiber, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. It is also called viscose. Many types and grades of viscose f ...
(viscose) fabrics, which if shrunk and dyed, developed a crinkled texture similar to vintage crepe.,[ Not only could the fabrics be made in various weights and sizes, the clinging garments made from them were easy to wear, easy to care for, and could be worn by women of all ages and shapes.][ By 2006 Ghost was a globally recognised brand name.][
In 1996, the department store ]Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
gave Ghost more floor space than any other designer due to the popularity and saleability of the clothes. The clothes were also praised by industry insiders such as Nicola Jeal from '' Elle'', who described them as products akin to Levi's
Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...
jeans or Gap, and Grace Coddington
Pamela Rosalind Grace Coddington (born 20 April 1941) is a Welsh former model and former creative director at large of American ''Vogue'' magazine. Coddington is known for the creation of large, complex and dramatic photoshoots. A '' Guardian'' ...
, who described them as "clothes that women like to wear."
Ghost clothing was designed as a range of versatile and interchangeable separates which could be worn from one year to the next without looking out of date. Although seemingly delicate, Ghost clothes were hard wearing enough to survive being screwed up in a rucksack without needing ironing, which made them very attractive to tourists and travellers.
In May 2006, following the sale in December 2005 of controlling interest to Kevin Stanford and the Icelandic investment group Arev, Sarne resigned from the company.[ '']The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' suggested that Sarne's unorthodox behaviour and approaches did not work well with Stanford and Arev's business ethos.[
Two years after its founder resigned, Ghost went into administration in 2008 as a result of the Icelandic banking crisis.] In late 2008 it was bought out by Touker Suleyman of Hawes & Curtis
Hawes & Curtis is a British fashion company founded in 1913, currently operating 29 stores in the United Kingdom including two in Jermyn Street, London. The brand is best known for their shirts and jackets.
History
The company was founded by ...
.
References
{{reflist
1984 establishments in the United Kingdom
Clothing companies based in London
Clothing companies of the United Kingdom
Clothing companies of England