What Louise did next...
Mistress of re-invention Louise Linton (she’s tried modelling, acting and writing and she’s a Washington wife to boot) f inds a new career as, er, an ethical FASHION designer!
DURING her extremely varied life she has been a model, author, actress and Washington wife.
Now Scotland’s queen of re-invention Louise Linton is taking on a new role: as a fashion designer.
The 40-year-old is preparing to launch a range of ethically produced clothes and shoes – all stamped with her name.
Her designs include high-heeled shoes, marked with the brand Linton in large gold letters on the insole, while others feature a chunky gold logo made up of her initials – two back-to-back letter Ls.
The Scot – who is married to multimillionaire Steven Mnuchin, the former US Secretary of the Treasury – has revealed that, despite only discovering her passion for fashion during the lockdown, she plans to take on renowned designers such as Stella McCartney and Christian Louboutin.
She has also explained her commitment to using materials for her designs which are eco-friendly and vegan – despite also admitting she previously wore a fur coat and loves fish and chips.
Examples of her new venture are found on her Linton World website, which is under development but which invites visitors to browse shoes, handbags, loungewear, swimwear and kaftans.
In a podcast for Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), she revealed: ‘I saw a hole in the market for women like me who maybe love a beautiful pair of Louboutins or a beautiful handbag but doesn’t like the guilt that comes with that object.
‘All our clothing is made out of recycled plastic bottles and we have another fabric that we’re going to use next winter made out of plastic that has been collected from our oceans and recycled into a high-performance sports fabric.
‘I hope that the style of the shoes and the sexiness of the shoes rivals Louboutin.’
Ms Linton has admitted feeling guilty about wearing fur, saying: ‘Years ago, when I foolishly and out of lack of education bought a second-hand fur coat, I had no idea they farmed animals for this and that these animals stay in tiny cages. In my naivety I probably didn’t even think about where it came from.
‘I just thought someone shot the animal, ate it and put the skin out there but it’s important that manufacturers and producers and fashion designers start to take responsibility and accountability and get on board with protecting our planet.’
Raised in Melville Castle, near Dalkeith, Midlothian, by her property developer father William and mother Rachel, who died from breast cancer when Ms Linton was 14, she attended the prestigious Fettes College in Edinburgh. After a gap year in Zambia, she moved to Hollywood to pursue her dreams of acting, landing TV roles in CSI: New York and Cold Case and movies including Charlie Sheen drama The Power of Few.
In 2013, she met hedge fund boss and movie financier Mr Mnuchin, who has backed films such as Wonder Woman and Avatar.
In 2016, with Mr Mnuchin working on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, she experienced her first public backlash, after publishing a memoir of her gap year which included tales of fearing a rebel attack as an aid worker with ‘angel hair’ in Zambia.
Amid accusations parts of the story had been over-egged, she apologised for any offence but the book, titled In Congo’s Shadow – described by one critic as ‘the defining work of the “white saviour in Africa” genre’ – was withdrawn.
She has also been accused in the past of touting her wealth and been villainised for her closeness to the Trump administration. But now, free of her Washington shackles, Ms Linton is keen to focus on her animal rights advocacy work.
Despite her claims she is now vegan, she admitted in a recent Business Leaders podcast she still has a hankering for fish suppers.
She said: ‘I’m really missing my fish and chips in Scotland. I’ve got to get back there to my fish supper. I FaceTime every day with my siblings. Even though I’m not physically there, I feel as though my heart’s there.’