1000 Ideas by 100 Fashion Designers

Jane McMillan/Mac Millan 143

042

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The company was

founded in 1997 by its

designer Jane McMillan

to carve a niche in

the fashion universe

with her unique vision

of color and texture.

Jane was born in the

small sea-side town of

Stranraer which has

been a major source

of inspiration for her

print designs. She

moved to London to

study womenswear at

the London College

of Fashion where she

won many awards for

design including one

from the British Council

presented by Lady

Diana. She has been

a visiting lecturer at

Central Saint Martins

College and, rather than

work at international

fashion house Jill

Sander, launched her

 rst collection stocked

by the London boutique

Koh Samui. Jane is

a consultant for the

governments sector

advisory board for

design and in 2007 was

nominated for Scottish

Designer of the Year.

Jane McMillan/Mac Millan

www.mac-millan.com

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411 INSPIRATION. Using a theme helps

to focus my ideas. It also makes it easier for

public relations to promote collections to the

press.

412 W

ORKPLACE. My studio was designed

to make maximum use of space and light,

with skylight windows, a large cutting

table, sewing table, and mannequin for

draping. Cupboards are  lled to the brim

with brightly colored trimmings, threads,

and rolls of fabric, and on the wall there is an

enormous mood board with sketches of the

current collection. I keep referring to this

throughout the design and sampling process

in order to remain true to the collection

theme.

413 C

OLORS. Color is very important

for my designs and is one of the most

fundamental elements in projecting the

mood of a collection.

414 T

RADITIONAL MANUFACTURING VS.

EXPERIMENTATION. It is important to

experiment with new techniques, however

new developments should only be a fairly

small percentage of the collection. It is

essential to retain signature styles that have

already proven themselves in the market.

415 B

RAND VA L U E S . The Mac Millan

brand name is inspirational, stylish,

luxurious, and colorful.

144 1,000 Ideas by 100 Fashion Designers

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Jane McMillan/Mac Millan 145

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420

A

DVICE. John Galliano’s  rst backer said:

“There are three ways to succeed in this

industry: 1. work, 2. hard work,

and 3. harder work.”

416 COMMUNICATION. Good

communication is important to all areas

of the business, whether it is conveying

the new collection to press and buyers,

explaining ideas to the studio team, or

communicating with other creatives as well

as factories.

417 S

TREET FASHION VS. FASH ION

DESIGNER. Fashion is a melting pot of

ideas between the street and the designers.

Sometimes the street is in uenced by

designers and at times designers are

in uenced by the street.

418 A

CKNOWLEDGEMENT. The best praise

I have ever received for my work was to

be nominated for Scottish Designer of the

year. This was particularly signi cant since

the judges included the highly respected

Kate Phelan, fashion director of British

Vogue, and Hilary Alexander of The Daily

Telegraph.

419 S

TYLE. The styles evolve each

season retaining Mac Millan’s signature

look of femininity, colorful prints, and

quality. Details and shapes change

depending on the desired look for each

collection.

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