lewis chong

JOSEPH’s Creative Director Louise Trotter is a very busy woman. Especially of late. As well as presenting her spring-summer 2018 collection at London Fashion Week, it was announced that she has been included into the BoF 500 – Business of Fashion’s hallowed index of individuals shaping fashion globally. We sat down with Louise to hear her own thoughts, and reflections, on this important occasion.

ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT

“It’s an incredible honour, humbling really. And it came as a real surprise. Not just the accolade, but to be considered amongst such an incredible class of people. The award isn’t mine alone. It’s a testament to what everyone around me is doing. A tribute to the dedication and ingenuity of all the people who work with me at JOSEPH, what we’ve collectively created so far.”

ON BRAND HISTORY

“I’m from Sunderland but I grew up in London, really, in the 90s. JOSEPH was the brand that I grew up with, the brand I respected most. For everyone of that era with an interest in fashion, JOSEPH 77 Fulham Road was the place. I was always there, looking at the window displays and to see [founder] Joseph Ettedgui’s curation of designers, as well as his architectural decisions and latest collaborations. His character and persona was very much evident in the stores at that time. There was always a whiff of his cigar in the building. He was very much part of the experience.”

ON DEFINING MOMENTS

“Saving up for your first pair of JOSEPH trousers was a rite of passage. I loved mine so much that I saved up again to buy them in a different colour. You felt like you had reached a point in your life when you could afford, and wear, your first pair of JOSEPH trousers. It was a uniform. A uniform that we all wanted to wear.”

ON CONCEPT

“JOSEPH offers a real solution. It has a very authentic place in fashion, founded on qualities that I respect and respond to: excellence, classicism and relevance. It’s honest. And puts a huge importance on fabric, fit and finish. I admire the fact that JOSEPH has a very loyal following who respect our philosophies. JOSEPH feels solid. Clothes that men and women want to wear every day. And, in that way, it’s a collection that liberates.”

ON MOVING FORWARD

“What I find interesting is how things change. Sometimes a garment changes in a revolutionary way, but often it’s about studying nuances to make something feel relevant. Or what feels right for today. I also like to study people, and their needs. How to make someone’s life that bit easier, and richer, through a wardrobe. That’s probably because I’m quite a curious person. But on a personal level, I hate buying something that doesn’t function. Or doesn’t work. And in the end it’s wasted. The older I get, the less tolerant I am of superfluous design.”

ON THE FINER DETAILS

“How to improve, and learn, and make better. That’s what I find interesting. We have the runway collection that poses different ideas to dressing, still based on the uniform. But then there are the luxury essentials. The building blocks of a decent wardrobe. And you have to be quite nerdy with those. What are the subtle, almost imperceptible, details that make a pant so great that you want wear it every day? How something hangs from the body. How it feels when you put your hand in a pocket. All of those qualities, they are a pursuit, the pursuit to elevate the everyday. That’s what I find most interesting.”

ON INSTINCT

“A lot of what I do is intuition. And allowing yourself to follow those intuitions. I’ve said this before, but we’re not all so original or unique, and if you’re thinking something then you can be pretty sure that other people are thinking that too. I couldn’t do my job if I didn’t trust in what feels right, or wrong.”