During the past few days there has been an outpouring of love, respect, and admiration for a designer whose work and career was never in the global limelight. A creative force whose relationship with fashion was intensified by her work in the world of music and performance and her outspoken espousal of some controversial causes. What she was was special, a fully rounded person whose journey from a poor background to being a creative force in the world of style also offered contrasts which coloured her portrait in fashion terms in unexpected ways.
Born in Scotland, trained both in Glasgow and at the Royal College of Art in London, Pam Hogg ventured to stand up and stand out. Her music and clothes, her opinions and her beliefs were strong, based on deep integrity and humanity, on laughter and passion, on getting on with the job, and on being simply herself. If we are all unique in our own ways Pam Hogg was the strongest version of her own uniqueness, it’s possible to be. Where her punk attitude could in theory mean mayhem and mess, her clothes were immaculately constructed, if her subversive opinions declared her loud and shouty she had lifetime friends whose vociferous applause rang out at every show.
Being with Pam, be it simply bumping into her unexpectedly or at an arranged event, she breathed life and energy, a tumble or words and gestures. I often talked to her whilst she worked on a garment, declaring she would never be ready, it wasn’t right, and switching subjects in mid sentence. I think one of the reasons of the strong reaction to her death is so emotional is because she was loved for her depth of character, but also, she was so alive that her death seems unlikely.
Her appearance was superb, with her tumbling bright hair, her bold makeup, and her personality, she strove hard across decades to find her spot in the creative world balancing music, performance, fashion, and her shows as expressions of her creative persona. She performed her life, and her casting in shows wasn’t ever about top models, it was about personalities who could strut and stride in her clothes.
From brilliant coats to second skin rubber, from huge whirligig ball skirts to geometric body suits, from densest black to zinging metallics, Pam Hogg invested each piece with her heart and soul. Entire collections spring into being seemingly through sheer willpower, but in truth through her own endless night and day slog of making each piece herself. Reworking old patterns, repurposing another piece of fabric in a jigsaw of pattern cutting to make you weep. The studs marching down seams immaculately spaced and correct. Teddy boys, Punk, New Romantics, Victoriana, Space age and indeed anything she loved, were all mixed and matched into a collection. Sheer outrageous sexy fetishist, but then a wonderful interpretation of a timeless jacket, both conjured up from Pam Hogg’s imagination and fingers.
Taking her bow with a wonderful mixture of being centre stage but modest, as always someone who was multi faceted more complex than a single glance could ever reveal, and brilliant at being herself. Centre stage but with many details withheld, wild and public yet private about much of what remained and is still her private life.
So, I’m writing this because I want to celebrate Pam Hogg so much, to try and explain a little of why she mattered and will always matter. Her contribution to London, Scotland and British Fashion will be remembered, since her work opened a fresh attitude, an innovative pathway for many designers who came after. Not for her the reins of a luxury house in Paris or Milan, it would have tied her down, put her in a posh studio, and stopped her being herself. In the future her work will be seen on stage and glimpsed in music video, newsreel and googled on people like Lady Gaga, Debbie Harry or Siouxie Sioux. Those pieces made with her own hands will increase in value and scarcity, feature in auctions, in galleries and will be examined by students, as her legacy lives on. The plaudits, memories, tributes and, for many, the shock at the news of her death, has been deeply moving and indeed reveals how she affected people, both her close friends and family and those, like me, who only knew one portion of the many facets of her life.
I think in the end Pam Hogg was, like all great creatives, a rule breaker, a force, and a conundrum, and as I will always say, she was truly special.
Tony Glenville
