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Leaders and Sequins

Introducing the Karen Savage a/w 2004 collection inspired by Margaret Thatcher.

Words, design and styling by Karen Savage. Photos by Oz Lubling.

All the pieces are vintage. Maggie Thatcher is the icon. I have always wanted to do something on her - she's a really big part of my growing up and I just think that the time is right to now re-look at her. I remember being 12 when she was elected and my Grandfather telling me it was brilliant, he really thought she was wonderful. I was really aware that she was the first woman Prime Minister, but I disagreed with a lot of the things she did, she didn't really have a heart. I feel an ambivalence: part of me is really attracted to her power and determination, there's no doubt her power was a major achievement. Love her or hate her, she's a strong woman.

The response has been interesting - some people smile say 'thanks for reminding me', others are confused about it being a fashion statement.

It started from a photocopy of an old black and white postcard - I blew the print up and embellished it. I didn't use archives at all. Myself and an assistant let ourselves loose in a few of my favourite Oxfam shops - we were literally shouting at each other across the shop as we rummaged through the clothes..We took pieces home and it was exciting just trying them and trying different things out - so in the moment.

The Election Suit is from Oxfam, I had a sequin transfer which is dead haphazard.. The campaign jacket is an 80s boxy shape and made from crimpoline. I turned it inside out and added sequins.

Then I made a giant rosette out of an old dress I had. The power skirt started as a prim and proper Jaegar skirt (I've kept all the original labels in and just sewn mine over them). I already had some brilliant ties and 30's buckles made braces out of them. The Victory dress me in my own world imagining what she might wear...I find Maggie's style such a mix of masculine and feminine.

I met up with an old friend and photographer Oz Lubling we wanted to do something together and he liked the collection so we had a brainstorm and went for it. I modelled and did all the hair and make-up, we shot half a day inside and then I got dressed up and got on the tube (forget cabs). I stood right in front of the houses of Parliament and took off my coat, then off we went to Number 10.

I didn't get permission to use her image but Thatcher encouraged us all to be entrepreneurial so I am. Each piece in the collection is one-off vintage which I have reworked. You can either buy the originals, or commission me to make something in this style. There's also a spring/summer range of Leaders and Sequins T-shirts available now - pictured right - Thatcher Sequinned, Sequinned Police and Never Rush A Lady chintz print priced Ł45.

For orders/further information, email .

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Oz Lubling is a fine-art photographer based in New York City. His work has been published in Photo District News (PDN) and exhibited at the International Center of Photography. Born in Israel, Oz left while in his teens and grew up in the New York area. He has traveled extensively and is often inspired by foreign cultures. The Daily Telegraph has called his pictures "intensely moving, capturing rarely seen moments of everyday life." Previously Oz worked as a technology consultant and was heavily involved with new media art.

His latest photographic series, 'Male Narratives', is characteristically intimate and somber depiction of men in withdrawn states of contemplation. About his subjects Lubling says, "Isolated in their environment, these men inhabit a private emotional space in which they are alone in their thoughts. It is in this space and particular moment of reflection that they allow their vulnerability to seep out. In a world with less clearly defined roles for them, these men are trying to understand themselves, connect to their environment and locate their place in modern society."

"I'm interested in narratives based on human psychology, human interaction as well as the relationship between architecture and people. I draw my inspiration mostly from my own life experience. I don't have a particular working methodology. My work tends to be very inspired by the locations in which I'm working. I try to feed off of my environment as much as possible."

"The shoot with Karen was a great experience for me because there was so much to work from. With my own work, I typically start from a blank 'canvas'. For the 'Leaders..' shoot, Karen's themes were already established and they were quite strong."

"Karen and I met at her flat and she showed me the clothes. There was a sense of excitement and purpose to what we were doing. For me, the idea behind the shoot was to create a classic sense of drama and show the clothes in the best possible way. We shot the pictures digitally, which allowed us to work quite fast and edit the work very quickly. Just like the rest of my work, the locations were key. I scouted various locations around Westminster, The City and The Strand. A sense of a narrative and visual language was developed through the collection of locations. The shoot itself was completely improvised. We raced around London by tube. In each location, we worked with the particular strengths of the space and then just let things happen. Photography is all about the moment. It's important to create a strong framework while at the same time allowing things to unfold on their own."

www.ozlubling.com

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