Karen Walker
ON HER FEMALE MUSES
“Much of our work, in ready-to-wear and beyond, has been inspired by strong female stories and women with outsider points of view: Amelia Earhart, Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club, Victorian suffragettes and suffragists, passionate and eccentric gardeners,
Sapphire from Sapphire and Steel, the women of the Spanish Civil War, Berenice Abbott and more. What these people have in common is an intrinsic and uncompromising attitude and style. This attitude and style is iconised in our Runaway Girl and Arrow motifs: a brave, forward-thinking, individual attitude, a sense of adventure and a point of view that always looks forward.”
ON THE WOMEN WHO INSPIRE HER
“When you’re in a creative field, inspiration sees no barrier between personal and professional, so the things that inspire me personally and work-wise are the same. So, all of the above women, plus so many more, inspire me. Just a few weeks ago I spent the day with Lee Miller’s son, Anthony Penrose, at their family home. Looking through Lee’s archives, drinking tea in her kitchen, snooping through her pantry, trying on her sunglasses and lunching in her local pub with Anthony was pretty thrilling as I’m such a fan of her writing, photography and general moxie. Basically, I’m always drawn to the anti-It girl, never the It girl.”
ON THE KAREN WALKER BRAND ETHOS
“I recently worked with one of my favourite talents yet, Phyllis Sues, who was one of the first American women to dance with the Ballets Russes. At the age of 93 she plays piano beautifully, every day, does hand-stands in her yoga practice, and has an intrinsic grace and elegance that comes through in everything she does and says. Personally, I’m only interested in working with people and on projects that capture this sort of strength and attitude.”
ON THE SUBJECTIVE INTERPLAY BETWEEN FASHION AND FEMINISM
“Well, everything’s subjective isn’t it? But, as a brand or a consumer you have a point of view and you stand by it. To me, ‘feminist fashion’ means freedom to be who you want to be.”
ON TRUMP, GENDER EQUALITY, AND THE WOMEN’S MARCH
“I think a post on our Instagram sums it up pretty well — a protestor holding a placard reading: ‘I can’t believe I still have to protest this shit.’ I think that when circumstances become extreme, brands, as well as individuals, have to take a stand and not sit on the side-lines or put a buck each way.”
“I’m always drawn to the anti-It girl, never the It girl”