FASHION:Closing the generation gap with timeless classics
LAST YEAR WHEN fashion designer Helen Cody was dressing her mother Mary for her 80th birthday, the idea for this photo shoot took root. The challenge she set herself was to create clothes for women from 16 to 60 - and beyond - using real people from every age group to illustrate her point.
"Designers should be facilitators as well as creators," she says, "and my work adapts to women no matter what their age - I think personality is just as important as the clothes.
"This made me look at how to do really elegant and stylish clothes for older as well as young women and to create something chic and modern and yet appropriate to their age."
Here seven customers and friends aged from 16 upwards model clothes from her current collection.
Michelle Ward, teenage model with Morgan the
Agency
"This was her first assignment and she's the picture of
innocence," says Cody. "Everything I do is about subtlety and the
paleness of her skin determined the choice of colour of the dress.
She has the frivolity of youth and I think she looks like a little
ballerina in this dress." Her dress is a pale grey taffeta with
hand-dyed graded charcoal feathers and Swarovski crystal on the
front and layered on the skirt. It has a grey, boned-crinoline tutu
underskirt.
Leigh Arnold, actress in her 20s
"She's full of personality and character and has
been wearing my clothes since she was 19. I designed this for her.
Here she is with her dog Jack who goes everywhere with her." Her
dress is made of multi-layered grosgrain ribbon with a little
corset and vintage clasp. The skirt is in graded silk tulle in
oyster, pebble, lilac and charcoal.
Louise O'Loughlin, early 40s
"Louise has been a customer for years and she will
always pick a particular piece and I will always do a Louise dress.
She's very cool, she likes interesting details and unusual things
more than tailored looks." She wears a figure- skimming dress in
heavy silk with three bands of grosgrain ribbon on the bodice and
crystal detail with a fan of sheared cock feathers.
Mo Arnold, mother of four in her 50s
"She's mature and sophisticated and always wears
tailored pieces. She has a very instinctive way of dressing and was
once a fashion model. This dress is a twist on a classic shape,"
says Cody. It is a fine wool dress with knotted front pleating.
Marianne Cunningham, mum of three, late 40s
"She's a long-standing customer who will ring me and
say that she's going to something in three weeks' time. She's very
quirky but also fashion-oriented and wanted that orchid dress
because it is kind of sexy, but very structured and elegant." The
dress is a rigid shell-coloured taffeta with appliqued orchid of
burnt taffeta decorated with pearls and beads.
Marina Moran, late 60s, mother
"She's really bubbly and fun with a youthful spirit.
She's petite with a very relaxed attitude to life." The grosgrain
jacket has a slightly 1950s look with a pleated back and cutaway
collar. The draped skirt is in fine wool.
Jill Wrynn, late 70s, grandmother
"She's my mother's best friend and used to be an actress,"
explains Cody."She has amazing poise and is always elegantly
dressed. She has been really interested in my career and very
supportive and loves the whole idea of dressing up. She's a very
romantic woman with a great sense of drama. I chose pink for her
because it reflects light so well and is so feminine." She wears a
silk ottoman pink trapeze jacket with macaroon-shaped buttons,
below-the- knee- length tulip skirt.
All clothes made to order from Helen Cody