People who are very passionate about their jobs and are not afraid of speaking their minds, quite often pass for fiercely outspoken, opinionated or simply blunt. Yet, if you listen carefully to what they have to say, you may learn something not just about life in general, but also about yourself. Professor Louise Wilson was this sort of person.
An inspiring figure for many, the Fashion MA course director at Central Saint Martin, died last Friday at her sister's house in Scotland. As the news broke, tributes started pouring over the Internet and on Twitter from representatives of the fashion industry, including designers who had been her students, fellow lecturers, and prominent editors and critics.
Born in 1962 in Cambridgeshire, as a young child she moved to Scotland with her family where she was raised on a farm.
She studied at Preston Polytechnic before continuing her studies at Saint Martin's School of Art.
After graduating, she worked for Les Copains and Gianfranco Ferré in Italy, but returned to CSM as part-time lecturer, being appointed in 1992 course director of the prestigious Fashion MA course.
In 1997 she left again to become design director at Donna Karan in New York, but, two years later, she resumed her role of course director on the MA course. In 2008, she was awarded an OBE for services to the fashion industry and education.
Commitment and passion defined her work: funding and raising money for the college was one of her main aims and she often highlighted in interviews the problems that education was suffering because of cuts.
Her outspoken views on the students' collections often meant she was considered as a harsh critic, but her methods proved successful, though, since throughout her career she tutored Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders, Giles Deacon, and Mary Katrantzou among the others.
British designer Jamie Bruski Tetsill, founder of Shapes of Things Ltd, pursued further studies at Central Saint Martins, under the tutelage of Professor Wilson. "I remember that for one collection I took inspiration from Michael Roberts' illustrations. I referenced his use of two nuances of the same shade and my designs ended up being very tonal. It wasn't conventionally pretty, but Louise Wilson loved the fact that it looked different," Tetsill states. "That was exactly what she was after - something that looked different and that was therefore unique to the person who had produced it." According to Tetsill, Wilson always spoke her mind, "She was honest in her opinions and her no-nonsense approach pushed and prompted you to do better."
Yet it wasn't love at first sight with Wilson, "On my first day in her course I sat frozen and tried to avoid her gaze by looking somewhere else," Tetsill recounts. "Obviously she spotted me and asked me harshly in front of everybody else if I wasn't maybe interested in what she had to say." Like many other students Tetsill suffered Wilson's final moment of rage just before his graduation show, "I didn't have the shoes for one of my designs, so she suggested me to go and paint a pair of shoes she had in her office. I found there some beautiful Italian leather shoes and I thought it was extraordinarily kind of her to offer me these shoes to paint. Soon afterwards I discovered I had actually spray-painted her lucky pair of shoes. I was gutted and you can only guess her reaction. Obviously, she called me names. I promised her I was going to pay back for the damage I had done, but then she forgot me and told me to go and use the shoes. That proved she really cared!"
Apart from her direct criticism, Tetsill witnessed also another side of Wilson: "At the end of my graduation show my mum went to thank her for pushing me to do well and she was lovely and kind with her. I think all her previous alumni like myself will be shattered now as we won't be able to let her know about our current work and achievements. She will be greatly missed: she has been a genuine inspiration and will continue to inspire us."
Professor Wilson is survived by her partner, Timmi, and their son, Tim.
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