Madge Garland

Madge Garland
Madge Garland, by Man Ray, c. 1927
Born	(1898-06-12)12 June 1898 Melbourne, Australia
Died	15 July 1990(1990-07-15) (aged 92) London
Other names	Madge McHarg; Lady Ashton
Occupation	Fashion academic; fashion editor and advisor; author

Madge Garland (née McHarg, 12 June 1898 – 15 July 1990) was an influential figure in the British fashion scene, who made her name as a fashion journalist and editor working for, among others, Vogue and Women's Wear Daily. From journalism, she moved into a business role during wartime, later advising the British fashion industry and helping to form the London Fashion Group – a forerunner to the British Fashion Council.

In 1948, she founded the first fashion course at the Royal College of Art, helping to develop a rigorous academic framework with a strong industry focus. Robert O'Byrne described Garland as among the female pioneers who: "battled to have fashion design taken more seriously, in particular fighting for academic acknowledgment".

Garland's obituary in The Times noted: "She was no society featherhead, but a key figure in the history of British fashion journalism, the British fashion industry and the training of fashion designers."

Madge McHarg was born in Melbourne, Australia and was the third child of Andrew McHarg and Henrietta Maria Aitkin. Her father was an international shipper who exported to Australia and she had a peripatetic childhood, growing up in St John's Wood, London and attending the International School in Paris from 1912.

It was in Paris that her lifelong interest in fashion, art and literature was developed, however her parents prevented her from taking up a university place at Cambridge and she left home at 21, beginning her career as an errand girl on Fleet Street. This was considered very unusual for the times for a 'lady', especially as Garland was living independently in a boarding house in Earl's Court.

In 1922, she began assisting at Vogue UK, just after the arrival of its second editor Dorothy Todd, who was shifting the magazine's focus away from society and towards the arts, featuring articles by Clive Bell, Aldous Huxley and Virginia Woolf. Initially, Garland was a receptionist and teagirl, also teaching herself to type. She was married briefly during this period to Captain Ewart Garland but retained the name McHarg until Gertrude Jekyll told her it was dreadful and asked if she had another. From then on, she adopted her former husband's name.