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Lucinda Chambers

Introduction Lucinda Chambers (born 1959) served as Fashion Director of British Vogue for 25 years. This followed a career spanning 36 years working with the publication, featuring a short term career with Elle amidst it’s UK launch in 1985. She has also been known to consult for high-fashion labels such as Marni, Prada and Jil Sander, among other various fashion styling and design work. Chambers most notable works include her role as Fashion Director in the 2012 GB Olympic Closing Ceremony and her cover featuring the Duchess of Cambridge for the Vogue centenary issue in June 2016 in conjunction with the National Portrait Gallery;  the first shoot for any publication featuring the royal.

Early Life Chambers was born in 1959 in Notting Hill where she spent most of her early life, moving frequently around the Kensington and Chelsea area of London with her mother Anne and her brother Rourden; 18 months her senior. She also has an older sister of 10 years. Her mother made a living renovating and selling houses, meaning the family had to relocate often during her childhood. “We moved every 18 months. Although always on page 58 of the A-Z,” she said in an interview with The Guardian. Growing up Chambers attended The Convent of the Sacred Heart Woldingham, a Roman Catholic independent school for girls in Surrey. Her interest in fashion came at a fairly young age, collecting fabrics from age 12. She was inspired to sew her own clothes by her mother as a child, among other creative encouragement. “First of all we made dollies' clothes; we made theatres out of cornflakes packets. My brother loved that as well. He could sew. My brother could do embroideries that were just sensational, like petit point,” she said in an interview with The Telegraph. Initially Chambers had low ambitions in life, looking to attend a local secretarial college. However, after her father left the family home they were left unable to fund this venture and so herself and her mother decided to follow artistic educational routes as they could apply for a grant. Her mother, Anne, attended the London College of Printing studying book binding “She went on to become the foremost expert in marbling and decorative papers, wrote 10 books for Thames & Hudson, and lectured all over the world,”  her daughter said. Lucinda enrolled at the Hornsey College of Art studying a foundation course. “We spent our entire time making “marks” on paper, and my interest in fashion was frowned upon as being too frivolous, too mundane, too... fashiony”. During this period, Lucinda spent most of her time in the plastics department making perspex jewelry to sell to her friends and at various markets. Chambers knew she had wanted to pursue fashion throughout her time at the London College of Art, working making costumes for the Edinburgh Film Festival and at various fashion retail stores including Topshop immediately after leaving in 1979.

Career After a pair of her earrings were printed in a magazine, Chambers was inspired to find work in the fashion magazine industry. “ I couldn’t believe it. Magazines were so otherworldly, so removed, so not part of my life - yet I had reached them.” She said, bravely making the decision to call Vogue and enquire about any job opportunities. “I phoned Vogue to see if there were any jobs. I didn’t even know who to ask for, but by sheer luck I was put through to the head of personnel,” she said in an interview with The Business of Fashion. Chambers found herself working in accounts as a cash payment secretary typing out cash receipts for a Ms.Davies before a “chance encounter” with the editor’s personal assistant in March 1980 landed her an interview with Beatrix miller; the editor-in-chief of the publication at the time. This lead to Chambers working as Miller's assistant for the following 3 years. After her time working directly under Miller, in 1983, Chambers became assistant to Grace Coddington, Vogue's Fashion Director and Junior Editor at the time. “I wasn’t ready for it. But then, nobody is ready to be Grace Coddington’s assistant. She’s a total genius. It was an amazing privilege to work with her, but it was very much a baptism of fire. I cried when I was in the fashion department. But in between the tears, Grace taught me everything,” she said. Here she began working with Felicity Clark, the Beauty Editor, where she was allowed to conduct entire shoots for the beauty pages, flying out to New York regularly to work with various models and photographers. “Beauty is a hard thing.I'm really grateful for that. I'm not a make-up wearer myself but I love make-up and I loved doing beauty shoots - it was such good training.” she said in an interview with The Telegraph. With the launch of Elle UK in 1985 Chambers was offered a job as Fashion Director beneath Editor-in-Chief Sally Brampton, an ex-colleague and friend of hers from Vogue UK. The decision to move publication came after Beatrix Millers announcement that she was leaving the magazine that year and to be replaced by Anna Wintour; whom Chambers knew she would not work as well under. “She had a very clear vision of what Vogue was going to be like so we scooped up a lot of its old photographers,” she said. In 1987 Anna Wintour left the magazine to work for its flagship publication, American Vogue, passing on the torch as Editor-in-Chief to Liz Tilberis. "My staff are respectful rather than frightened" Tilberis said in regards to her predecessor. Having worked with Chambers at the publication in previous years, Tilberis asked Chambers to come back and work for Vogue as the Fashion Editor. “'I have a huge sense of responsibility to who I work for - I'll do anything for them. But I don't feel ambitious. I don't feel I have to be up there - and I don't feel I am.” said Chambers in an interview with The Telegraph. In 1992 Alexandra Shulman took over as editor at Vogue UK, offering chambers a position as fashion director. Chambers continued to work in this role up until the summer of 2017 when she decided to depart following a career spanning 36 years at the publication. The announcement of her departure came five months after Shulman publicised her plans to step down as Editor-in-Chief. “I adore British Vogue and am so very proud to have been a part of it for so long," Chambers said.

Current Life Chambers lives in Shepherds Bush with her husband, BBC Radio producer Simon Crowe with whom she has two sons; Theo (27) and Gabriel (22). She also has a third eldest son from her first marriage with Kim Knott, Toby (32). Following on from her career at Vogue, in May 2018 Chambers teamed up with Marni alumnae designers Molly Molloy and Kristin Forss to collaborate on a sustainable fashion label called Colville as their Stylist. This came after Chambers styled for the “beloved and highly individualistic Italian label’s collections” with the pair for over two decades. “Colville is the antithesis of fast fashion. It’s about identity, honesty and—with a focus on our love of self-expression, color, texture—we want to create things that will have longevity.” the trio said in a statement to Vogue. In Autumn 2019 Chambers launched fashion platform Collagerie with ex-colleague and friend Serena Hood; the pair met at Vogue whilst Chambers was working as Fashion Director and Hood as Executive Fashion Editor. Through various collaborations, the unique website offers curated content and styling advice for its users, aiming to create custom-made fashion, podcasts and events for its customers."We will find the one thing over everything in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle. We will connect you to the best from the high street to luxury, and everything in between," Chambers said in a comment to Diary Directory. In 2016 Chambers was featured in a BBC Two documentary titled Absolutely Fashion: Inside British Vogue. The documentary was significant in that it was the first time external journalists had been given unprecedented access to senior members of staff at Vogue and documented what goes on behind the scenes at the publication. “[Chambers] is arguably the most important person on the magazine after Shulman, with responsibility for choosing which clothes from the catwalks to feature in forthcoming pages of the magazine,” said the journalist behind the documentary in an article.