[Fashion] A Journey Through Fashion by Iconic Designer Julian Macdonald

Hola, sorry for not updating this blog on last weekends. I was tied with gatherings and cousin sister wedding the whole weekends. Even though I was really busy, I still squeezed my time to attend the Fabulous Fashion Showcase and Retrospective Exhibition by Iconic Designer Julian Macdonald exclusively at A Journey ThroughTime IX, Starhill Gallery.

The Fabulous Fashion Showcase and Retrospective Exhibition by Iconic Designer Julian Macdonald exclusively at A Journey Through Time IX

I glad I did! The showcase and fashion show was fantastic! We were given a glimpse into the glamorous world of the stars at the Julien Macdonald Retrospective exhibition and a special fashion show featuring 8 specially-designed pieces for A Journey Through Time IX inspired by his travels around Malaysia together with his latest collection from the recent London Fashion Show.

Happy to take pic with the talented Julien Macdonald!

With the lovely emcee - Nadia Heng. She was wearing Julien Macdonald that day too!

Sharing with you an excerpt from his time with the media while in Malaysia:

· Why and how is Julien Macdonald here for A Journey Through Time IX:

This is my fourth time in Malaysia. I like Malaysia, I like the city of KL and I also like the fabulous beaches and the culture, the people are very friendly.

I met Dato’ Yeoh Soo Min (Executive Director, YTL Corporation Berhad) and Dato’ Jimmy Choo (renowned Malaysian designer) when I first came here for Britain’s Top Model and I always had a dream of coming back. Then I came back again to open the Debenhams store. I was very happy to come back. Dato’ Soo Min always wanted me to come back and do a show here in Malaysia. She saw my fashion show in London and always wanted to bring the excitement to Malaysia.

So about a year ago, she asked me to be part of A Journey Through Time and she wanted me to do an exhibition as well like a retrospective of all my favourites. So, for the first time ever, I am having an exhibition of all the famous people who have worn my dresses so it is very emotional for me because I have never seen all the dresses in one room. Some of them, they tell my life’s story. So you can say that this is also ‘A Journey Through Time’ for me as well!

It’s nice that people get to see my work and understand all the craft behind it and get to see dresses that have been worn by famous people like Shakira, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian. For a lot of people they see these celebrities only on TV or social media but it’s great to get to see the clothes that they actually wear, up close and go wow! I think that’s nice.

· His favourites from the fashion show (shown on 21 November):

I like the wedding dress, I like the romance. I always like the fairy tale story. It’s always important a wedding for anybody, it’s a big special day.

· About the special collection for A Journey Through Time IX:

There are 8 special dresses exclusively for A Journey Through Time IX and they took inspiration from the colours, the things I saw in Malaysia. There’s a jade green dress coz I know that Malaysian people like the jade, I made two white dresses coz white is very pure, very glamourous, very red-carpet, I made a yellow dress coz I always think of Malaysia as always sunshine and I made a fire-red dress which is inspired by the taste of the orient. I like the colours so I made special dresses, embroidery.

Next week, I will take the Malaysian collection to Hollywood to show it to the most famous stylist in the world and hopefully those dresses will be worn by famous actresses on awards’ red carpets.

· Advice on fashion:

You can never be too fashionable. In Julien Macdonald’s world – always dress to excess. Even if the dress isn’t very very glamourous, diamonds are always a girl’s best friend. And I always focus on the neckline of a dress coz when I was in Givenchy, I was taught that the most important part of a woman is her face, the shoulders, the upper body. Always the focus when being photographed. So always focus on having a great hairdo, fabulous make-up and I think diamond earrings are always great and fabulous shoes – always high, never flats.

· On his inspirations:

I love to travel a lot and different places provide me different inspirations. I got the inspiration for my latest collection through the travel to Bali. I got the inspirations from their texture, temples and lifestyle. Also, I like to take inspirations from the past and translate them to the future.

· On misconception about designers:

(When asked is it a glamourous world?) It is a glamourous world, a fantastic world but it is also very very difficult. If you manage to make it in fashion, it is incredibility rewarding.

Thousands have tried, but only a few make it. What makes one (designer) more successful than another is you have to have an identity and a brand identity. And if you manage to do this, you can be successful. My identity is glamourous dresses and knit wear so people recognize the great knitwear and these amazing glamourous dresses, so this is what I do (and known for). You have to have a look that people can identify.

· On natural talent:

I was born with a gift. I think everybody is born with a gift in life but unfortunately not everybody finds their gift or they find their gift too late. I was lucky that I found my gift when I was young, and I manage to make it work for me. But everybody has a gift, that why some people are great mathematicians, physicists, lawyers - people who found their gifts, they become successful. I was lucky (to find my gift).

· On future plans:

I would like to make my collections more accessible so I’ve started to development men’s wear range, at the moment I am just experimenting with the looks. In the future, I would like to develop a more ready-to-wear collection.