Jenny Packham‘s collection this season was inspired by the most famous woman in the world. While waiting for the show to start I read an open letter Packham wrote to Marilyn Monroe on the depth of research and inspiration she based these designs on. I found it quite beautiful and thought I’d share so you can hear the designers thoughts directly on this collection that makes me so glad to be a woman:
Dear Marilyn,
I’ve read the book and listened to the recordings, visted your bungalow at the Beverly Hills and sat in your chair at the Max Factor building where you became a blonde, all the while challenging why you are still so relevant in this brace new world. I’ve held your ‘some like it hot’ LBD, looked inside your corsets and collected your images. I’ve tried to decipher whether your attraction is familiarity or something else.
A self-made woman and a brilliant actress who sewed buttons into her bra and affcted a walk and a giggle, enough to make armies of men fall at her feet. You were media savvy, a photographic phenomenon and the first woman to have her own production company. However, for me it’s that smile that makes you ever relevant and time enduring.
As a muse you’ve been inspiring: your style is definitive and your images have, with their technicolor intensity, created this season’s colour palette.
At first I was nervous, I tried to be clever with the way you influenced me but you handed me inspiration on a plate and I decided just to eat it up!
Thanks Marilyn.
