Royal Mail celebrates fashion
By FashionUnited
loading...
The Royal Mail has unveiled a series of designer stamps to celebrate the last 60 years of British fashion, with labels including Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and Paul Smith gracing ten new first class stamps.
The stamps, which go on sale from today, May 15, feature prime examples of the ten designers’ work, shot especially by renowned fashion photographer, Sølve Sundsbø. These include: Tommy Nutter’s suit for Beatle Ringo Starr, which was recreated especially for the shoot; Vivienne Westwood’s 1993 Harlequin dress, which was worn by Naomi Campbell on the catwalk; and Alexander McQueen's duck feather dress, which featured in his romantic autumn/winter 2009 Horn of Plenty collection.
Sølve Sundsbø worked with live models wearing the designs, which wear either obtained directly from the designers or sources from specialist vintage stores, but he did not use the model’s facial features, to allow the designs to speak for themselves.
The ten designers featured in the designers stamps are: Hardy Amies, Norman Hartnell, Granny Takes a Trip, Ossie Clark, Tommy Nutter, Jean Muir, Zandra Rhodes, Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith and Alexander McQueen.
Philip Parker, Royal Mail Stamps spokesperson, said: “Britain is famous around the world for the creative vision of its fashion designers, from the glamour and sophistication of Norman Hartnell, the punk influence of Vivienne Westwood, through to the world-class designs of Alexander McQueen.
“British fashion has grown to become a major national industry. It employs about a million people and contributes directly some £21 billion to the UK economy. So it is an honour to be able to pay homage to some of the designers who made the industry what it is today.”
Royal Mail has produced a presentation pack of all the stamps, which comes with an illustrated history of British fashion design, written by the London College of Fashion's Professor Amy de la Haye, priced £5.10, and the Great British Fashion Stamps are available from all Post Office branches, online at www.royalmail.com/stamps, and from the Royal Mail eBay shop.