Colin McDowell

Colin McDowell is a British fashion writer, journalist and academic.

As senior fashion writer for The Sunday Times, in the 1990s and 2000s he became a familiar sight in the front row of fashion shows along with his contemporaries Anna Wintour and Suzy Menkes. He is the author of some 20 books on fashion and designers, including McDowell’s Directory of 20th Century Fashion. In 2008 he was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to fashion.

McDowell grew up in Gloucestershire and was educated at Durham University. While teaching in Rome, he became an assistant to Italian couturier Pino Lancetti.

In 1984 McDowell established his reputation as a writer with McDowell’s Directory of 20th Century Fashion, which became a standard reference work for fashion students. He became involved in teaching fashion in London (his students included John Galliano) and began writing for newspapers and magazines. In 1986 he became fashion writer of The Sunday Times.

A vocal critic of the British fashion establishment, in 2003 McDowell founded Fashion Fringe (also known as Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden), a platform for developing new fashion talent set up jointly with international management agency IMG. He remains the creative director. The competition attracts chairmen including Donatella Versace, Tom Ford and John Galliano. Winners of the competition who have gone on to become regular exhibitors at London Fashion Week include Erdem, Basso & Brooke, Gavin Douglas, Aminaka Wilmont, Eun Jeong and Jena.Theo. The 2010 winner was Corrie Nielsen.

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