What makes Pam Hogg one of Scotland's Icons of Style

Scottish designer Pam Hogg has her moment in the spotlight as an icon of Scottish style in Kirsty Wark’s new BBC Scotland documentary in which she travels from Shetland to Selkirk to explore the impact of our designers, celebrities and influencers on the way we dress.

In Icons of Style Wark travels across the country, from croft to catwalk in two 60-minute episodes and meets a host of homegrown faces including Pam Hogg, Alan Cumming, Sharleen Spiteri, Eve Graham, Christopher Kane, as well as the skilled craftswomen and men who have helped put Scottish style on the global stage, influencing everyone from Chanel to Dior.

From her childhood customising hand-me-downs to her first collection in 1990, from clubbing to catwalk, through winning the Scottish Style Award in 1989 and working with Vivienne Westwood, Rihanna, Kylie, Debbie Harry and Beth Ditto, Hogg creates ‘the clothes people don’t know that they want’, and always in her own inimitable style.

We caught up with the Scottish designer, musician, film-maker for her take on a life spent creating original and imaginative collections and how a girl from Paisley made her dreams come true.

What does it mean to be included in Icons of Style?

Sadly, the word Icon is bandied about so readily today it loses its original potency, but it of course still means a lot to know you're seen and appreciated, and I thank them for that.

You are a Scottish style icon - why do you think that is?

I was lucky enough to catch the eye of important magazines who interviewed me from the moment I started, and I spoke my mind, so I guess that was refreshing in a conformist sea of "pleasing and pretend". I'm also self-taught, and fought many barriers over the years so I think it's given others inspiration, a feeling of connection at least.

Who are your Scottish style icons?

I don’t really think in terms of icons, but when I was a teenager, I saw a yellow dress by Jean Muir that I dreamed to have, probably the first piece of clothing I truly admired.

Why is Scottish style always in vogue?

I think it's the people, the natural style, just the love of looking good without trying too hard.

What is unique about Scottish textiles and clothing?

The kilt is a brilliant piece of "engineering", so simple but perfect, I feel the term iconic is relevant here. The cut alone, how could you perfect that, how it sits, and everyone can wear it. Then there's the glorious tartan, again simple in its complexity, the way the colours work together, so classy and classic. I've always wanted to collaborate with a finely woven Scottish tartan manufacturer, I think it would be the perfect match, I hope they read this :)

You’ve designed clothes for everyone - Rihanna, Kylie, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Siouxsie Sioux, Debbie Harry, Björk, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, as well as doing the costumes for the National Theatre of Scotland’s Cyrano De Bergerac in 2018. How do you approach designing for your varied clients and friends?

I actually don't design for anyone; they come to me to borrow or buy something they've seen. I often adjust to fit, or select other colours I'd feel more suitable, which also gives them a more individual look.

With Cyrano, it started with a completely unexpected resonance. The Citizens Theatre director came to London for a meeting. I'd immediately visualised my starting point if he were to take me on board and had a reference point on my phone to show him. The meeting went well, then I tentatively presented him with a photograph of two models wearing matching outfits on my catwalk. They weren’t anything at all like images I'd seen normally associated with the play, but to me they felt right. He then produced a photograph he'd wanted to share, a reference to his immediate thoughts when selecting me for the project. Incredibly we were exchanging the exact same photograph.

Which one was the biggest thrill or most fun?

It was crazy with Rihanna, as we'd never met apart from sitting together on the front row at a show in Paris one fashion week in the early 2000s. When she discovered I had some pieces of my latest collection nearby in a press POPUP, she asked if I'd bring some to her hotel. Immediately stripping off, she threw herself onto the bed to manoeuvre into catsuit after catsuit, all the while exclaiming with each and every one "I want to get married in this!".

Again, in Paris, this time with Beth Ditto who I'd never met before, it was a fully naked encounter. As she stood on her bed, I fitted and designed the half-made garment around her, while at the same time she was nonchalantly being interviewed by a French magazine. Then there was Debbie Harry, in London, who jokingly locked me out of my own shop, cementing a fantastic friendship. Sorry, that's three! There's so many good stories.

As well as clothes designer, you’re an artist, singer, film maker, what else do you do with your talents?

Ha, well there's not much time left for more than that, as I've made 90% of all my collections myself, plus I direct the shows and the music and cast the models etc, so it's a hefty affair. The music, I write the lyrics and collaborate on the sounds. With film I'm hands on there too, being director, part of the camera crew, and part editor.

Which of these has brought you most success?

I'm mostly known for my fashion, but for me success is measured in different ways. It's still a beautiful surprise when I'm stopped in the street, from kids whose eyes speak even more that the words they say, that always takes me aback. That to me is everything. Also, people who used to save up to travel to my shop when there was only physical shopping before the internet. Often, they stop to say it's their children who now step out in the clothes they used to club in all through the Eighties. Sometimes it's my songs they mention, so that's pretty crazy as I was never interested in signing a deal, just performing, therefore very little is out there for them to take notice.

Who is your favourite person to design for?

I actually design for myself; I visualise what I'd like to wear, or I create a fantasy and let it take me to its conclusion when eventually a chosen model steps into it days before a show.

Who do you have in your head as a model when you’re designing?

While I'm creating the collection I generally don’t have any one model in my head, each piece relates to each other in some way but when they're complete, I start to imagine who would fit and suit each one best.

Alice Dellal is my longstanding and brilliantly supportive model and friend, so I generally have her in mind as the collection starts to show itself, when the puzzle becomes clear. That's when I see where each will be placed on the catwalk, so in that sense it's Alice who's most forward in my mind.

You started making clothes when you were a child, altering your dolls’ outfits and hand-me downs. What spurred you to do that?

It was out of necessity at first as I was given bags full of clothes which more wealthy neighbours dropped off. As I got older, I started to envisage what I wanted to wear to make from scratch, buying fabrics and altering bought vogue patterns.

Who inspired you first to start creating clothes?

The first catwalk show I ever went to was Vivienne Westwood's. It completely changed the way I used to view fashion, i.e. as dictatorial. I was blown away at how irreverent it was, completely individual, no compromise, just a pouring out of idea after idea. I felt that if something like this is what could happen in fashion, I'd readily become part of it. Before that in 1979/80 I'd started making clothes again specifically to get past the scrutiny of Steve Strange on the door of the Blitz Club. There was nothing in the shops I wanted to wear, so I started making my own, not ever thinking of being a fashion designer.

What was your style when you were young?

I dressed like a boy; I was only interested in what guys in bands wore. I perfected a trouser pattern that even the boys at school wanted me to make a pair for them.

How would you describe it now?

Pretty much the same, I'm not a frock kind of gal, but I design certain ones I feel I could wear even though I mainly resort to wearing trousers.

What was it like working with Vivienne Westwood?

I never worked with Vivienne as such, I would support by going to every fashion show I could, both here and in Paris.

The only job I was given was to DJ at her parties, always in return for my favourite choice of clothing which was generally her fantastic Westwood boots.

What’s the feedback you most like to get about your style and clothes?

I've had incredible magazine coverage, but again, it's getting stopped in the street by all sorts of people, some who recognise me as a designer, others just because they like my look. That happens even when I feel I've left the flat like a mess, throwing things on in a rush.

What’s your mantra for life?

Honour and Justice are tattooed onto my wrists.

What other tattoos do you have and why?

I've a heart on one forearm and a lucky horseshoe on the other with ‘obey’ written in block letters above.

What can you tell us about your work with the revamp of Paisley Museum?

The Paisley team called me up to Scotland to discuss their plans, I wasn't at all sure why at the time, but as they were showing me diagrams of the external layout, and turned to the next page, the inside plans showed cabinets accurately drawn out with line images of mannequins wearing one of my collections. When they saw how taken aback, I was they said, well would you like something like this. They hadn't known it at the time, but I'd actually just created a fabric print for my upcoming 'Best in Show' collection. I'd designed a pattern with lots of colourful poodles and needed a motif to gel it all together. I'd been thinking of shapes not unlike the paisley motif, so as soon as I told them that, they commissioned the finale' piece that I'd just drafted a pattern for, and it will be the main focus. They further commissioned me to make a short film in my studio, about the construction of it, where you see my process. Other chosen pieces from my archive will also be on display along with one of the original 13 statues I'd hand painted as trials when asked to design one for the Brit Awards in 2016.

What’s your inspiration?

It comes in all forms, but always with a feeling of the now. It could be something that sits in the present but is actually a past or future vision. After each show I'm still buzzing so new ideas are even then beginning to formulate, feeding into my imagination, sparking off something new.

What are your favourite items of clothing?

Shades and shoes.

What advice would you give to young designers starting out?

Never give up, no matter how many times you're knocked down, use that as a strength to get back up and prove to yourself that you can fulfil that dream, fight for it.

When and where are you happiest?

In my studio starting or completing a collection, or making music, or travelling, meeting great friends.

You did fine art at art school; do you still draw and paint?

Only in my mind and in deep repeating dreams where I enter a room and there are all these magnificent paintings that don't exist. Sometimes I'm let into other rooms, but I always wake at this point with just a fraction of a glimpse. It's like a tease of a porthole to another world. When I'm creating my more sculptural pieces though, it's like painting onto a 3D canvas. Each move I make is like a brush stroke, then I stand back and imagine the next. It can take days to put that final mark on, just moving one colour a fraction till it finds the exact spot.

You’ve achieved so much, what else would you like to do?

To be able to continue to do what I love unhindered by the lack of finances. Having zero as a starting point for almost everything I've ever done has been a challenge. I can't imagine what it must be like to have no barriers, but I'm now visualising the extreme wonder of it as I speak.

What would you say to your younger self?

Good on you. You survived all the bullying teachers you had from the age of 6 to 9 who told me I'd amount to nothing as all I did was daydream.

Who is or was the love of your life?

I've been lucky to have had a few, and the best are still my closest friends.

You said to me, talking about style and clothing - ‘your greatest gift is your individuality, why would you want to look like someone else? find what is really you and build on that. you are this one person and that is glorious.’ So if you had to choose what is the favourite item in your wardrobe?

It really just depends on how I'm feeling on any given day. My second-hand man's suit that I customized about 15 years ago is what I wear most often. I had a few I used to wear on stage, but they somehow disappeared.

What is the most important element of style?

It's what's inside. It's no use trying to fake it by buying clothes you've seen on someone else which you think will get you noticed. If you copy and don’t feel it, it's a disaster. Being yourself and being comfortable in that, is style.

What was it like supporting The Pogues in your first band, Rubbish?

Being in a band supporting the Pogues in their infancy as Pogue Mahone (kiss my ass), every Thursday night in a pub in King’s Cross where we all lived, was a brilliant craic. We were like a big family.

Music is an important part of your catwalk shows, why is it so important?

Music connects. Fashion does too, but this is more direct. Everyone I've really resonated with in a strong way has mainly been through music. When I'm making my collections, I'm always thinking of the accompanying music, as for me it's essential. While I'm cutting and sewing, I'm thinking of the mood, the pace and the energy my models will walk to.

Who would you most like to dress that you haven’t yet?

It's awesome to dress people I admire, but I'd never ask. I'm not one to send pieces out in the hope they'll choose something, I was brought up to wait to be asked, I'm waiting to be surprised.

Icons of Style: Sunday 16 March, 9pm, and 23 March, BBC iPlayer, BBC Scotland.