Louise Janet Wilson (23 February 1962 – 16 May 2014) was a British professor of

fashion design 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 ...

. Louise Wilson was based at the

Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where she was the course director of their MA in Fashion from 1992 until 2014. Her former students include Alexander McQueen,

Jonathan Saunders Jonathan Saunders (born 1977) is a Scottish fashion designer, known for his work with prints and use of traditional silk screening techniques. Celebrities who have worn his designs include Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Sienna Miller and Michelle Oba ...

, Louise Goldin, Christopher Kane, Marios Schwab, Peter Jensen,

Richard Nicoll Richard Philip Nicoll (15 September 197721 October 2016) was an English fashion designer, best known for his work on modernist classics with the coined term "night-to-day" versatility. Nicoll was awarded three Association Nationale pour le Dé ...

Christopher Shannon Christopher Shannon is an English fashion designer specialising in menswear. Early life and education A Liverpudlian, Shannon graduated from Central Saint Martins with an MA in Menswear, studying under Louise Wilson. Career After working wit ...

, Yu Lun Eve Lin, Charles Jeffrey and

Sophia Kokosalaki Sophia Kokosalaki ( el, Σοφία Κοκοσαλάκη; 3 November 1972 – 13 October 2019) was a Greek fashion designer based in London.Tamsin Blanchard, 'Sophia Kokosalaki hooks up with Asos', ''The Daily Telegraph'', January 21, 201/ref> ...

Life and career

Wilson was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, England, moving to the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

later in her childhood. After initially studying

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

at Galashiels Technical College, she went on to take a degree in fashion at Preston Polytechnic (later the

University of Central Lancashire , mottoeng = "From the Earth to the Sun" , established = as Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledgere-established 1992 (University status granted) , type = Public , chancellor ...

), graduating in 1984 with first class honours. In 1986 she gained an MA in Fashion with distinction from Saint Martin's School of Art (later Central St Martins). She worked for various designers including Les Copains, Gianfranco Ferré and Daniel Hechter and as a designer for

Guess A guess (or an act of guessing) is a swift conclusion drawn from data directly at hand, and held as probable or tentative, while the person making the guess (the guesser) admittedly lacks material for a greater degree of certainty. A guess is als ...

jeans Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and paten ...

before becoming an associate lecturer at St Martins in the early 1990s. In 1992 she succeeded

Bobby Hillson Bobby Hillson is a London-based fashion illustrator, former designer of children's clothing, and founder of the Saint Martin's School of Art MA Fashion course. Early life Hillson, who had studied at Saint Martin's School of Art, started out as an ...

as the course director of the MA degree programme in Fashion Design. She moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1997 to become creative director for Donna Karan. After two years she returned to Central St Martins and was made a full professor in 1999, although she simultaneously continued to work for Donna Karan until 2002.

Awards and honours

Wilson was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

2008 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2008 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Off ...

for services to education and the fashion industry. In 2012 she received the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator at the

British Fashion Awards The Fashion Awards, known as the British Fashion Awards until 2016, is an annual ceremony established in the United Kingdom in 1989 to showcase both British and international individuals and businesses who have made the most outstanding contribu ...

; on announcing the award the British Fashion Council described her as "one of the foremost educators of her generation".

Personal life

Wilson had a long-term partner and a son who was in his twenties at the time of her death. She was treated for

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

, but continued to work during her treatment.

Death and legacy

Wilson died in her sleep while visiting her sister in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 16 May 2014, aged 52.

References

External links

Vogue UK profileBoF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Louise 1962 births 2014 deaths Academics of Central Saint Martins Alumni of Central Saint Martins Alumni of the University of Central Lancashire British fashion designers Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Cambridge People from the Scottish Borders