Laughter show party
Leeds fashion designer Bo Carter tells Stephanie Smith why her latest catwalk venture will leave comedy audiences in stitches. Pictures by Steve Gabbett.
BO Carter’s life is packed with pinch-me moments right now, thanks to a little idea that began to brew when she spotted the comedian Lou Sanders wearing one of her designs on the BBC1 teatime quiz show Pointless. The dress – a yellow, fleecy, organic cotton tunic with a high cowl neck – was bright and punchy, well suited to both the wearer and the occasion. Comedians always have something to say, and so do Bo Carter’s ethically produced organic and vegan clothes. Why not bring the worlds of fashion and comedy together?
“I am not into influencers and people who just want to put out TikTok videos about nothing – I want it to be more than that” says Bo, who is based in Leeds. “The vibe of the catwalk is changing – we don’t do that size 8 standard catwalk thing.
“I was never into comedy because it was a very male-orientated world – it used to be. In the last 10 years or so, there have been so many more female comics coming through. I got interested in the whole world of comedy.”
She met with comedian, writer and actor
Tiff Stevenson, who suggested she organised a comedy-meets-fashion show in London. “If someone says something to me like that, I just go and do it,” says Bo.
So she began planning Fashion Loves Comedy, a show that sees comedians take to the catwalk. It takes place next but has already attracted the attention of some of the UK’s leading comedians. Jenny Éclair is taking part, as is Shaparak Khorsandi, plus many others including Alexandra Haddow, Hannah Byczkowski, Sophie Duker, Lucy Porter, Rosie Holt, Amy Matthews, Desiree Burch, Kemah Bob, Kelly Ford, Laura Smyth, Little Pickle, Naomi Cooper, Ria Lina, Sharon Wanjohi, Tatty Macleod and Yuriko Kotani.
In fact, so many comedians have come forward since Bo’s callout that the original planned event has grown into a mini festival of style and comedy, celebrating International Women’s Day (March 8) across three days – March 7 at Studio Jones in E8, and March 8 and March 10 (the grand finale) of the Fashion Loves Comedy Festival at Tooting Tram & Social. As well as modelling on the catwalk, the comedians will also perform stand-up slots, blending humour with haute couture to leave audiences in stitches. The events will raise money for the Choose Love charity, with all profits going to support refugees and displaced people across the world.
Several of the comedians also took part in a fashion shoot in Tooting to promote the event, with Bo’s partner Steve Gabbett taking the photographs.
Bo (short for Bozena) lives in Batley with Steve and their five cats. As a child in Poland, she created an imaginary world designing and cutting out paper clothes for her paper dolls. She moved to the UK when she was 21, trained to be an accountant and worked