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My first guest is collector and critic Alexander Fury. As one of fashion’s most esteemed journalists, he’s currently the fashion features director at large of An0ther Magazine, and men’s critic at the Financial Times. He’s previously held positions at New York Times’ T magazine, American Vogue, the Independent newspaper, Love magazine and Nick Knight’s ShowStudio.
He’s has also written ten books on fashion and luxury and contributed to numerous exhibition catalogues. He’s curated and consulted on many of the world’s leading fashion exhibitions, including advising on the Victoria and Albert Museum’s recent Naomi Campbell retrospective (designed by friend-of-the-newsletter Ester Mejibovski).
But, Fury’s greatest achievement of all remains his ever-growing archive, where he has amassed over 3000 pieces of clothing from some of fashion’s most pivotal collections. The pieces have been featured in publications and exhibitions around the world, and appeared in a Vogue documentary covering his extensive collection of John Galliano pieces.
In this episode, we discuss eight items from his archive that chart his life and career in fashion. From his early years as a Galliano-obsessed teenager, to befriending the late, great Azzedine Alaïa, and continuing the designer’s legacy as a passionate, obsessive guardian of great fashion. There’s also a jacket that prompted a fist fight on New Year’s Eve and a dress that catalysed a meltdown in Paris.
This conversation was full of so many fun and fascinating anecdotes - I hope you learn as much as I did. You can find pictures of Fury’s pieces down below, and also a glossary of some of the people he mentions in the episode. In case you’re someone who enjoys further reading!
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The piece that reminds him of his childhood… Vivienne Westwood A/W 1990 Boucher corset
“I always say I was basically who I am now back then. But being who I am now in London in the 21st century is very different to being who I am in rural Lancashire in the 90s.”
The one that reminds him of his career… Black Sunspel T-shirt.
“I'm very different to a stylist or a fashion editor. When a stylist or a fashion editor goes to a fashion show, the way they put themselves together - it's part of what they're selling. “Look how fabulous I am. You could have this if you give me your shoot; if you give me your campaign. Whereas I think for me, this is a way of me kind of retreating back a little bit and being like, ‘It's not about me.’”
The one that reminds him of a high… Azzedine Alaïa coat
“When people ask me what I would save in a fire, I often say this. And people get a bit disappointed because it's a black - very beautiful - black wool coat. But it's not a ball gown or something super impressive.”
The one that reminds him of a low… a Chanel S/S 2006 tweed jacket
“I bought this jacket because the designer Stefano Pilati has this jacket. There's an amazing picture of him wearing it with like white jeans and a coat over the top and looking so incredibly chic. I saw this one and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can realize this dream I've always had I'm going to be able to look like Stefano Pilati.’ I got it, I put it on. I looked like Nancy Reagan.”
The one that makes him feel a part of something…
“I always say it's the first piece of Galliano that I saw in a magazine. It's the thing that triggered my obsession with Galliano. There are apparently five of them in the world, and I think I've seen it for sale now for about £90,000. That’s not what I paid for it!”
The piece that reminds him of a great party… Balmain A/W 2009 cape
“I wore it that New Year's and have very hazy memories of it because I got very drunk very quickly, as often happens, but one of the few memories I have of it was that I got into a fistfight over wearing this.”
The piece that makes him feel sexy… vintage matador jacket
“I'm very Mrs Prada - I'm just like, no. Let's do some ugly, let's do some conceptual clothes. I chose this matador jacket because I find matadors very sexy. So I've very much divorced myself from [the question] and been like, ‘this is what I find attractive in other people.’”
The one that got away…
“I’ll want to buy something and then I'll kind of put it off because it's a lot of money. Or, ‘Do I really need it? Should I wait for it to be discounted a bit?’ And then something will go and I'll be devastated and will never stop talking about it. And that was the case with this.”
Glossary and further reading (in chronological order of mention):
François Boucher: A famous rococo painter beloved by King Louis XV’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour, who was his chief patron (King Louis was the grandson of King Louis XIV, who invented the fashion system, remember?). Boucher’ works are full of pink, frills and sexual innuendos - the kind of details that amused the court of the time. A large number of his works are housed at The Wallace Collection in London, which Vivienne Westwood was hugely inspired by, especially for her ‘Portrait’ collection, AW 1990/91.
Amanda Harlech: Longtime muse to Karl Lagerfeld, who worked alongside him until his death in 2019. Prior to working with Karl, she worked alongside John Galliano. This article offers a good overview of her work. This is the shoot she styled for Vogue that Fury mentions in the episode (including the shot of ‘The Carla dress’.
Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele: French stylist, notable for her extravagant, OTT aesthetic. She was the stylist behind Anna Wintour’s first American Vogue cover.
Carla Sozzani: Founder of 10 Corso Como and sister to the late Franca Sozzani, editor-in-chief of Italian Vogue from 1988 until her death in 2016.
Susannah Frankel: Editor-in-chief of An0ther Magazine.
An obituary for Azzedine Alaïa written by artist Julian Schnabel, who created the famous ‘smash’ paintings that Fury mentions.
Collecting Fashion - the book by Alexandra Carl and Angelo Flaccavento, featuring both Fury and Alaïa’s archives, alongside those of other notable fashion collectors, each accompanied by an essay and a beautiful editorial shoot. Highly recommend! One of my favourite fashion books.
Stefano Pilati - designer, formerly at Yves Saint Laurent.
Christophe Decarnin - designer at Balmain prior to Olivier Rousteing’s appointment.
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What did you think of the episode? Which bits were your favourite? And who do you want to hear on the podcast next?
