Colin McDowell, Contributing Editor

Legendary fashion commentator Colin McDowell brings more than 30 years of fashion industry experience to the BoF team. In Colin’s Column, he provides us with an authoritative perspective on today’s fashion industry rooted in his unique historical knowledge and experience.

Colin spent 10 years as a designer, illustrator and publicist in the Italian fashion business of Pino Lancetti before going on to write for almost every top newspaper and magazine in Britain. For the last 15 years he has been a Sunday Times Style contributor and has written 16 books, including biographies of Ralph Lauren, Manolo Blahnik, and John Galliano, a former student of his at London’s Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design.

In 2004, in partnership with IMG, Colin set up Fashion Fringe, a talent search and award platform designed to support young fashion designers in Britain who combine strong aesthetic vision with practical intelligence. Past winners include Basso and Brooke, Erdem, Aminaka Wilmont and Eun Jeong.