The British designer talks to Cara Kennedy about her red carpet gowns, how after 10 years she has regained control of her company and why she thinks Scottish women are just fabulous.

The old boardroom of Glasgow’s iconic House of Fraser store situated in the city’s Buchanan Street, was made for Amanda Wakeley. Beautiful, elegant and undeniably decadent its interior décor – hand crafted wooden panels and traditional Victorian fireplace, exquisite in both their design and construction – share more than a few qualities in common with Amanda’s designs. It therefore made the perfect setting in which to chat with the acclaimed British designer who has become world renowned for her high octane glamour and wonderfully constructed clothing. At 46 years of age you would be forgiven for thinking that she was half that. But that isn’t just down to her youthful complexion, bright eyes and glossy blonde hair: she positively exudes energy, enthusiasm and a general lust for business that you would expect from someone just starting out. But then in a way Amanda is. She has just completed a buy-out of her own label and resumed full control as owner for the first time in more than a decade. It signals a new beginning for the brand and the end of some tough times which, at one point, even saw Amanda leaving the company after her former husband and business partner sold the business following their divorce.
     Thankfully those days are gone and Amanda is back at the helm. We caught up with her at the House of Fraser store where she was spending the day meeting her Scottish clientele and picking out clothes for her ardent fans. We wanted to know how she felt being back in charge, what plans she has in store for the label and what she thinks of Scottish style.

Tell us a bit about why you have come to Glasgow?
It was just a few weeks ago that I bought the brand back so it is in my control 100 per cent which is so incredibly exciting. It’s the first time in 10 years that I have owned my own label and I wanted to get out and talk to the customer and really get their opinions and thoughts. I absolutely love meeting our customers because I love seeing the clothes on all sorts of shapes, sizes and skin tones.

Does Glasgow strike you as a fashionable city?
I love Scotland in general but what I love about you Scottish girls is that you dress up. I’ll never forget being in a taxi in Glasgow on a Thursday night, a few years ago, and I looking around saying, “This is like Sex and the City!” All the girls were running round in high heels and seriously dressed up and I love it! I love that people really enjoy fashion, clothes, dressing up and going out up here – you’re very social.

You have just regained control of your company – what does that mean to you?
It’s an incredible feeling and it has given me a huge boost in terms of moving forward with the product and the team. It’s just given me a renewed sense of vigour and I may be working 24/7 at the moment but I am loving it with a real passion. It almost feels like this is a new business and in a way it is because this business has been majority owned by people who didn’t have as much interest in it as I would have wanted them to. When you own something you are much more passionate about it.

You even left the company at one point – that must have been heartbreaking.
I’ve always been the Creative Director – I had four months out of it don’t get me wrong, but in that time no product was developed so nothing was really done without me but it is wonderful to be back. It’s great to have the heritage of the brand that I have and have the energy and passion that is usually associated with a new business.

What made you want to design clothing?
I’d lived in the States and I came back to England at the end of the eighties and I just couldn’t find the beautiful, yet glamorous, clothes that were perfectly cut and in the gorgeous colours that I had been used to buying in America. I remember being in Browns one day and one of the sales assistants coming up to me and saying, “Where did you get that coat, it’s amazing.” It was something that I had made myself and when that happened to me a few times I realised that there was a gap in the market so I started my business. I really started in a tiny way with a tiny collection that I sold to friends and friends of friends and the whole thing just grew from there – into a monster!

You are entirely self-taught – is that correct?
Absolutely. Ever since I was tall enough to reach the foot of the sewing machine I’ve been making things. I realised recently that I haven’t been on a sewing machine for a while but every now and then I get this urge to ‘make’ something so I’ll sit down at my machine and just whiz something up.

How would you describe your work?
We use four words to describe the brand: woman, ease, pure and luxurious. We really come back to those four words all the time and I believe you see that in all of the designs. I would also say it’s the attention to detail and the gorgeous fabrics we use, the really cleverly thought-out colour palette and the beautiful cuts but those four words definitely sum up what I’m doing.

As a woman designing for women what is the most important thing to you when designing?
I want women to feel good about themselves. I know that sounds really banal but for me it comes from the inside out as much as the outside in. I want women to feel good when they put on my clothes so we make sure that they are lined so they feel delicious when you put them on. Secondly, we make sure that the cut is so flattering that whoever wears it can be confident that it looks gorgeous.

Your bridal collection is a major part of your business – is that an element that you enjoy working on?
Oh absolutely. In fact that was the first bit of the business that we bought back. I’m a huge believer in the bridal side of the business and I love it and I love working on it. There is something wonderfully romantic about clothing anyway but when it comes to bridal clothing you can really be as romantic and fantastical as you like.

What can we expect from Amanda Wakeley in the future?
I think it is very early days for me to say anything concrete. We are looking at everything with fresh eyes and that’s an exciting thing. The brand and the company isn’t broken, so it doesn’t need fixing, it’s just tweaking bits here and there.

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