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“There is no room for ugliness in fashion.” Part 2

Not content with storming Britain, our favourite home-grown designer manages to crack Japan with his collection “Revisitation by Scott Henshall” in collaboration with the megabrand Abahouse. I wouldn’t know the first step to take for such a leap, so Scott explains “Basically, Abahouse saw the article on me called ‘Subversive Sloane’ in Vogue July 1999 and loved my “Englishness”. This was a wonderfully blank opportunity for me, they wanted someone fun, fabulous and British. “Revisitation” is my creation based on the concept that ‘to look back is to look forward’.” Lucky Scott has his own label which has 300 stocklists, is in 17 stores and there are 6 collections every year. Thankfully, this level of success has not made him arrogant, quite the opposite - he feels humbled and privileged to have been given this opportunity. He then quickly chips in “not many designers get to create their own label in Japan, which makes it much cooler!”

When I asked him to look at himself as a designer and a brand alone, Scott states “I’m a selfish designer-I dress women to how I want them to look and I dress men to how I want to look. That is my mentality. If they don’t like it, they can go to someone else!” I find this approach refreshing in an industry that consistently aims to please the majority. His passion lies in the creation of garments that reveal who you really are; he is a firm believer that “clothes should never wear you...you have to feel comfortable in your clothes.” After all, appearance is an extension of personality, and Scott has totally got this concept down. For his own personal appearance, Scott admits “I’m very high maintenance”…a point I was already aware of! “I am pretty much groomed all the time, My hair is done every 2 weeks, manicure and pedicure once a week, always tanned (you always look whiter in photographs!), that kind of thing.” He furthermore enlightens me “Some people seem to meticulously try to look ‘laid back’, but that never really works, although some people can totally work it. Johnny Borrell from Razorlight, for example, looks sexy in the ‘I just got out of bed’ kind of way, but this suits him. You have to be aware of people’s perceptions of you. Not every look can work for you.”

So what look does Scott think works for him then? He simply says “that tends to change whatever my favourite pair of jeans is at the time, as I live in them. If I had to say, I guess it would be a black Gucci leather jacket that I’ve had since 2000 as it goes with everything. I like a wardrobe that incorporates friends and family, it means more. People who change their clothes every season have a soulless wardrobe, like Victoria Beckham. Everyone can update their look every season but it begins to mean nothing.” This is a lengthy response, but that is one of the things I love about Scott. Firstly, that his experience allows him to make such statements, secondly, that he has an in-depth opinion about everything and thirdly, that he’s a good friend of mine and thus shares his knowledge with me, which means I can utilise it myself. Note to self – find my ‘soulful’ wardrobe….I’ll give it a go.

We could ignore his spell in 2006 on “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Outta Here,” or, we could discuss it in depth and I can tease out all the inside information. Let’s roll with the latter. I can’t help wonder what made Scott go into there in the first place and what the hell it is really like stuck in the Bush with people you don’t know?

“I got sick of people not knowing who I am; I would talk to people at parties for an hour and then they’d go “Ohh...YOU’RE Scott Henshall.” I was just a name, not a face. So I went on there to show my face so people would know what I looked like.” The reality and re-percussions of his short stint on the show was something Scott was totally unprepared for. He was not media trained for the whole experience and admits “I was their token ‘gay’, they re-edited it in a way that I didn’t like and if I watched it now, I would hate me.” What’s more, Scott says “it taught me a huge lesson, I came out of the jungle with my name fixed to ‘GAY’ and I was greeted by homophobia. I realised how protected and shielded I had been in the fashion industry, and what the general public are like – judging me purely on my sexuality. Made me realise how lucky I am to be so protected in my industry.” This was an answer I had not expected, and quite frankly, had no words to reply. General public – shame on you and your narrow minds. Moving on….

Scotty, we all want to know what we can expect from you for the rest of the year. Tell me now. “Well, I am doing more TV after winning Britain’s Best Dish! Oh yes...I won! With my Yorkshire puddings! I have a book coming out just before Christmas called “To Die For” which is like a fashion bonk-buster, the first of my trilogy books. I wrote it myself…with a ghost writer of course. It’s crammed full of the red carpet fashion world with bi-sexual surgeons, supermodels and designers. I guess I’ll just be continuing more fashion work as usual, having fun and making girls look hot” (It is comments like this that makes me gloriously happy I’m a girl).

Finally, living a life swept up in the fickle but fun fashion world must be at some points overwhelmingly stressful. So what does Scott do to unwind from this and enjoy some much needed ‘me’ time? “I simply go out with friends such as you (oh stop it, you’ll make me blush Scott,) and get completely wankered. I’m either out drinking or in recovery at home watching MTV.” I love a good frank, to the point and genuine response. So he is a human like us too then, good to hear!

There you have it. Revealed is the man behind the label…the person who is not just a brand name, but a fun loving, highly talented being who is lucky enough to have his job and passion as one role. Clearly, fashion design and media was his life calling, which he has pursued since his teens and through a surmountable amount of hard work, reached every goal he set himself.

His final thought? Simply “There is no room for ugliness in fashion.”

Nicola Louise Watson

02/04/09

tags: Model Celeb Fashion