February 8, 2008

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Profiles

Light Bright

James Millar's kaleidoscope of knits wakes up the season. By Meredith Fisher

While New York Fashion Week was abuzz with Jonathan Saunders' first Big Apple showing, we couldn't help but get excited about another Scottish designer who was also crossing the pond—James Millar. Unfortunately, you won't get invited to his presentation, or see his clothes at Barneys, because the young Celt was here working with Saunders, not showing his radical collection of knits…yet. "I have learned so much from working with Jonathan," says Millar. "I've learned that talent is not enough, and that fashion is always seeking something new…it takes great resilience to achieve longevity."

These are fighting words for the 25-year-old designer who grew up outside of Glasgow, knitting with his mother. "I remember my mum teaching me to hand knit when I was nine—just squares to make a patchwork quilt," recalls Millar. "But I only really embraced the medium during my MA; that's also when I started playing with the fair-isle genre." That "play" is what eventually led to his riotously wild 2008 collection, inspired by seemingly disparate elements, whose only relation is their contagious energy and hedonistic bias. Obvious references to Ziggy Stardust and glam rock are evident in the androgynous quality of his sweaters, though the unisex element isn't always intentional. "It was more an evolution of my ideas," explains Millar. "Some I know are for one particular sex, but others become assigned to a sex when they're complete depending on what looks best." This outlook is also a result of his time spent in the fashion department of Dazed & Confused magazine. "I'm very style 'led' and don't view myself as a true designer, more a hybrid designer-stylist."

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