INTERVIEW: PAM HOGG
Scottish-born fashion designer and musician (supporting none other than Debbie Harry in the early 90s) Pam Hogg has dressed many a name in the world of rock royalty, the likes of which include Alison Mosshart and Sioxsie Sioux.
Her celebrity following is second to none, with models Alice Dellal and Daisy Lowe among her cult followers and catwalk openers.
After focusing on her music career in the nineties she made a colourful comeback to Fashion in 2009 at London Fashion Week’s On|Off runway show with an array of trademark cat-suits and body-con dresses. She has continued to grow her collections and wow the crowds with Hogg Couture. Just Another Magazine finds out what gets her inspired, how music influences her collections and where she hopes to be 10 years from now. Read her exclusive interview here.
JAM: So, how do you go about producing a collection such as your most recent at London Fashion Week?
I started designing and making pieces alone in my studio from the end of November 2011 till the beginning of January in preparation for two students starting their placement with me around the 10th.
I taught them how to help me continue with the rest of the pieces, and then we were joined by a third student a few weeks later. She had come back for a second 5 week placement so the 4 of us made the whole collection.
JAM: What was the inspiration behind it?
I was thinking Pioneers, the depression, the American dream and what it had become, but focusing on the dreams they had in the search for a new and better life.
JAM: You choose to use what some might describes as ‘celebrity models’ in
your shows (such as the ever fabulous Alice Dellal, Daisy Lowe, Ben
Grimes and Sophie Willing)…do you have them in mind when beginning
your designs?
I choose these girls because they have great personalities and they enjoy wearing my clothes but I design for myself, I just escape into a creative zone and see what happens.
JAM: Here at Just Another Magazine, we were totally lusting over the super woman vibe in some of your most recent looks and those crazy head-pieces and accessories, that said, do you worry about the commercial value/sale-ability of your work?
That’s never a worry as I can make a good commercial item standing on my head. What I do for my shows is a full expression of myself and that can be a commercially viable piece or it can be a piece that translated down to a wearable level could give me boundless ideas for sellable items
JAM: You’re somewhat of a fashion veteran (in today’s terms!) after over 20
years in the fashion world, how do you feel the industry has changed you,
if in any way?
The industry hasn’t changed me at all as I am my own person. When I eventually get backing / funding I will have to structure my way of working to make it more fluid, but there will be someone in place to take care of that, that’s what the investor’s input would be and I will have to adjust to having a lot of people around me, but hopefully that’s what a PA will be installed for, to help make things run smoothly.
JAM: Where do you see yourself and Hogg Couture 10 years from now?
What I’d like is to have good solid backing and a successful up and running business.
People from all around the word want to wear my clothes but there are no outlets at the moment to purchase them. I’d love to have Pam Hogg / Hogg Couture shop in all the major cities.
JAM: Which other designers do you personally admire right now and why?
I admire all the designers who are in this business for the right reasons, the ones who create because they love it and want to explore rather than re-hash.
I admire the ones who have been able to get the balance right between creativity and business, that’s what I’m trying to do, its not an easy task to find a partner tuned in to your needs.
JAM: Obviously music was, and I’m sure still is, a huge part of your life, do you
feel music plays as important a role in your design process as it does in
your life?
I select and arrange all the music for my shows, it’s as vital as the fabrics I use in my collections. Sometimes the mood of a track can spark the creative process.
JAM: You were pretty involved in the punk movement; do you think we will see
a new movement emerge as a backlash to today’s climate?
Anything to stir up complacency is good by me, lets hope there will be signs of it soon.
JAM: What is the most precious item in your wardrobe?
My everyday shoes. They’re Westwood boots and they’re falling apart so i’ll have to go out and search for a replacement soon, or better still, get funding to produce my own range.
JAM: If you could design an outfit for anyone in the world (dead or alive) who
would it be and why?
I don’t see it in those terms, I just design and great people find me.
JAM: What do you imagine when you think of your buyer? What does she do?
wear/like and dislike?
Same as above.
JAM: If you weren’t where you are now, what do you think you’d be doing job
wise?
I could only have been doing what I’m doing. I’m an artist, a designer, a film maker and a singer / songwriter, but I should have learned pluming, there’s always a need for a good plumber, its a good steady job!
Finally…have a little listen to Pam on BBC 6 Music when she sat in on Jarvis’s Sunday Service show on last Sunday:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01dk85p/Jarvis_Cockers_Sunday_Service_Pamela_Hogg_sits_in/
Words & Interview: Holly Macnaghten
JustAnotherMagazine 