It’s been two years since Clash last exchanged words with Central Saint Martins BA graduate, Molly Goddard (here). In the intervening years she has produced a capsule collection for ASOS, joined (and abandoned) the prestigious MA course at CSM, and been asked to curate an in-store installation of her work for Dover Street Market.
None of which Goddard tells us. The response instead, when we ask what she’s been up to, is “raising two beautiful guinea pigs;” that, and the tedious task of moving house.
Part of the class of 2012 – likewise Westminster grads and Fashion East alumnae Claire Barrow and Ashley Williams – AW15 sees Molly make her first appearance on the official London Fashion Week schedule, as she joins Barrow and Williams on the Topshop backed NEWGEN programme.
“I imagined it would be years before I was on schedule!” the West Londoner announces, “It’s really exciting.”
Next Friday’s presentation won’t strictly be her debut however: last September the designer enlisted 21 of her nearest and dearest – among them sister Alice, Shrimps collaborator Tegen Williams and artist Phoebe Collings-James – to play dress up in her SS15 collection at her Fun Molly Party.
A school disco in a church hall with balloons and punch (Molly’s words), the presentation was styled by Alice, with party frocks layered over band tees and jeans, partnered with sheer black socks, and accessorised with disposable cameras and bright smiles.
“Loads of people turned up and stayed all night, which was great and just what I wanted,” she explains, “Everyone had loads of fun.”
Fun, it should be noted, is perhaps the defining spirit of the Molly Goddard label. While her graduate collection was inspired by her childhood wardrobe, the aesthetic of SS15 only further evokes a sense of girlish charm with its princess shapes and feminine fabrics; it’s easy to imagine a mini Molly dabbling in Miss Fleur, the kids label part-founded by Dinos Chapman’s wife Tiphane de Lussy in the late 90’s.
Like Miss Fleur before them (which dressed a different demographic but employed a similar regard for material and construction), Molly Goddard clothes are girlish but not exclusively girly. As per her fashion week bio, “the character she designs for conflicts with the beauty of her technique, and brings a clumsy and charming awkwardness to her silhouettes.”
As for the forthcoming collection, Molly offers only that she has been “looking at bohemian art students”.
Words: Zoe Whitfield
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