Move over Sienna Miller: Thea Porter is the mother of bohemian fashion
If you think that boho fashion is all about Sienna Miller in a kaftan in
2005, you need to make your way to London’s Fashion & Textile Museum this
month for its new exhibition on Thea Porter. Though she’s no longer a household
name, Porter basically owned the boho look from the late 60s onwards, and this
retrospective is a long-overdue celebration of her impact on fashion then and
now. Here are five things to know about her.
1. Growing up in the Middle East had a lasting influence on her designs
2. She started out with interiors, and menswear followed
Her first shop, on Soho’s Greek Street, is being reconstructed for the
exhibition and sounds like quite the hangout. It opened in 1966, and sold
Porter’s ornate, colourful furnishings, including wall hangings and curtains.
The Beatles snapped them up to decorate their short-lived Apple Boutique. Rock
royalty liked her menswear designs, too. Elton John was an early fan and Pink
Floyd wore her embroidered jackets and vibrant shirts on the cover of their
appropriately trippy debut album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn in 1967. Floral cotton voile dress, 1969.Photograph: Courtesy of the Venetia Porter
collection/V&A Photographic Studio
3. She also excelled at womenswear
Porter fitted into the floaty, feminine mood of the time that other designers
– Bill Gibb, Ossie Clark, Laura Ashley – were also exploring, but made it her
own with several signatures. Along with the aghabani shirtdress, her so-called
“gipsy” dress – layers of vibrantly printed chiffon, with a tight bodice and
flowing sleeves – had the requisite wild romanticism, especially when worn with
swashbuckling boots. For those who fancy trying to recreate the look now, East,
the high street store sponsoring the Fashion & Textile Museum show, has
produced a capsule collection in homage. Thea Porter in her workroom at the back of the
Greek Street shop.Photograph: Patrick
Hunt
4. She had a good business brain on her chiffon-clad shoulders
A regular in the pages of British Vogue – where luminaries including Lauren
Hutton, Penelope Tree and Rudolf Nureyev modelled her clothes – the likes of
Barbra Streisand and Faye Dunaway were clients in the Greek Street store and
Elsa Peretti modelled in her shows. While Porter’s name faded into obscurity in
the 1980s and 90s, it’s since become a cult favourite on the vintage scene, with
original pieces fetching more than £1,000 on eBay. Kate Moss, Nicole Richie and
the Olsen twins – all very fond of the modern-boho look – are latterday fans.
One look around this exhibition, and we bet you will be too.
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