On the Fashion Map

JOHN BURNS discovers how dress designer and maker SANDRA MURRAY is giving the Highlands a voice in the world of high fashion.

IF YOU WANTED to find a dress designer with an international reputation where would you look? London, Paris, New York perhaps? Surprisingly you could look a lot closer to home. Tucked away on the outskirts of Inverness is the studio of Sandra Murray, a designer and dressmaker whose creations are equal to any of those produced by more famous international design houses.

Sandra gained her greatest recognition to date when she produced the dress worn by the Queen at the official opening of the Scottish Parliament. Such a prestigious commission drew a great deal of attention to Sandra’s work as a designer of garments of the highest quality, but Sandra sees her creations as much more than expressions of high fashion – for her they are works of art in their own right.

First and foremost Sandra is an artist. Her paints are the textures on colours of the cloths she chooses and her canvases are the bodies and personalities of the women for whom she designs. For Sandra each finished garment is a work of art and, just as a portrait in oils says something about its subject, so Sandra’s designs speak of the women who wear them.

Many people would not initially think of dress design and dress making as an ‘Art’ with a capital A, conjuring up an image of tape measures, millions of pins and frighteningly thin women in bizarre frocks strutting cat walks. Yet standing in Sandra’s studio, a bright airy construction of concrete and glass that lurks secretly behind her deceptively normal Inverness house, you are in no doubt that this is home to an artist.

All around you are swatches of material strewn around the stark whiteness of the studio like dabs of colour from the brush of a careless artist. Here and there sketches hang, half formed ideas awaiting their realisation in silk, wool or cotton.

… one is left wondering how much influence the colours of her native landscapes must have had upon Sandra’s design

The place swirls with creativity as Sandra seeks fresher and more radical ways to find expression through the clothes she makes. Her art is three dimensional, combining colour, texture, shape and movement to create an art that is perhaps closest to sculpture than any other art form.

Sandra’s approach to design is as much about the women who wear her clothes as Sandra’s own ideas. “For me every design should be unique,” she insists, “as individual as the women for whom I design. I want my designs to be distinctive in the way they reflect the personality of the wearer – for this reason no two dresses can be the same because no two women are the same. I see my work as part of the expression of the wearer rather then of myself as a designer.”

“I don’t think women want to be defined by the people who design their clothes, we have moved on from that. Now women want clothes that will help them express themselves, that’s what I want to help them achieve.”

Sandra was born and grew up on the Isle of Lewis where her father was a boat builder and her mother ran a knitwear business. The strands of creativity ran through Sandra’s early years and she began making clothes when she was twelve years old as well as having a passionate interest in drawing and painting.

Inspired by her artistic interests she went to study at the Glasgow School of Art, where, after three years, she obtained a diploma in Painting and Drawing. On leaving college she trained as an art teacher and spent many years teaching.

She spent the latter years of her career in teaching working at Drummond school for children with special educational needs in Inverness before she began devoting herself full time to the creation of the exclusive designs for which she is now developing a world wide reputation.

Sandra’s growing reputation is slowly putting the Highlands and Islands on the fashion map

Sandra has looked to the finest designers and artists from across the world for inspiration. “I have developed my own style now,” Sandra explains, “but my early influences were designers like Frenchman Christian Lacroix. I loved his extravagant use of colour and fabric, the brightness I saw in his designs was refreshing.

“Another designer I enjoyed was the Italian, Franco Moshino. He is imaginative and irreverent, a whimsical designer interested in pop culture who rebelled against the fashion industry. I liked the humour in his designs.”

Sandra’s origins in the Western Isles must also have left their mark on her creative imagination, and one is left wondering how much influence the colours of her native landscapes must have had upon Sandra’s design. When you talk to her you are always aware of her passion for cloth, not only for its colour but also for its texture, the way it moves and feels against the skin.

Sandra has travelled widely in Europe and beyond in order to source the most original cloths for her designs. What she has been able to develop is a unique understanding for the way cloth can be used and the variety of cloths that are available. For Sandra as an artist it is the range of cloth that she is able to draw upon that gives her a greater creative freedom.

Now she is seeking new directions for her work and is creating a new collection of her work to provide inspiration for her customers.

“I want to develop a new creative freedom in the work I do and to break into new markets as I do it,” says Sandra as she outlines her new direction, “Until recently I have always designed clothes based on the needs of my individual customer. I have prided myself on the fact that I really have no house style and that it would be very difficult for someone to point out one of my pieces and say, “Oh that’s a Sandra Murray.”

“The hallmark of my work is its individuality. Now I want to move on and to be able to show the women I design for new and exciting ways to use fabric and design clothes. It’s time for me to produce a collection of my own that can be inspirational and allow my clients to make choices that they would otherwise not have made.

“I suppose it is giving them greater creative freedom as well. This approach might also appeal to women who I have not worked with before and who are used to being a little more adventurous in their choice of design.”

Sandra has also been developing her consultancy work and often works with product designers advising on their use of colour. Her consultancy is not confined to commercial businesses, though, as another of her specialities is speaking to groups of women about how to make the best use of their wardrobe and how to choose clothes that will suit their needs and their personalities.

Sandra’s growing reputation is slowly putting the Highlands and Islands on the fashion map, and she is proving that London, Paris and New York may just have something to learn from the budding Highland capital.

John Burns, 2005

Link

• Sandra Murray’s website