Paul Shriek Timeline

1959

He was born Paul Graham in Rothbury in 1959, but grew up in Ashington. His father George was a mechanical engineer who taught at Ashington Tech, while mother Trudi was a seamstress and dressmaking teacher. “Between the two of them they created this monster,” laughs Paul, who changed his surname as it “was not a memorable name for a fashion designer”.

1976

Paul studied at Newcastle’s College of Art and Technology and dreamt of being a theatre designer until he heard of someone working in the West End who didn’t earn much money. “I loved theatre but I decided to pour all my energies into fashion.”

1977

Training at Newcastle Polytechnic for four years gave Paul a grounding in the fashion industry that was invaluable.

“It also gave me the safety net to explore my design creativity and develop my skill base. But above all the encouragement and confidence to create the alter ego I named Paul Shriek with the tag line ‘Fashion that screams of the woman of the Eighties!’”

He graduated with a First Class Honours Degree.

1980S

In 1980 Paul established Paul Shriek Limited Edition as a label. In 1981 he embarked upon his journey as a designer based in a studio on the Quayside.

Fresh from the Polytechnic his designs were sold in Topshop and became the brand’s top-selling concession in the country.

His haute couture pieces were snapped up. His other accolades include fashion consultant for television music show, The Tube. He opened his own shop in Newcastle in 1982. “I sold a sweater dress that was £14.99 and a lady flew over in her private jet from Jersey just to buy the dress.”

The economic disruption of the mid 1980s made Paul rethink and he moved into the world of further and higher education.

1990S

Leaving full-time employment as a course leader in Fashion, having established a National level of achievement at Newcastle College, Paul relaunched himself into the fashion industry with a new label, Paul Shriek Couture. He also worked as presenter on the ITV Tonight programme.

2000 ONWARDS

In 1999 he designed costumes for Sleeping Beauty at the Tyne Theatre in Newcastle. He’s now internationally recognised as a couture costume/set designer.