Feature Interview
Describing her personal style as “eclectic, eccentric and ridiculous,” and citing Stella McCartney’s ‘skate’ print, Prada’s ‘superhero colour checks’ and texture clashes as her favourite A/W trends, it becomes apparent that fashion for Burns is about fun and individuality.
“A new pair of shoes puts a smile on your face. Looking at magazines and beautiful images is a lovely escapism that I think is important. It shouldn’t be all doom and gloom, it’s good to hang on to aspirations,” she says, when I ask whether the current economic climate influences the mood of her work. “Vogue’s language is luxury. People want to see the Gucci dress, the Prada bag. But people can take the looks from our pages and interpret them at any price point.” Despite the high price tag of the clothes used in Vogue shoots, the images Burns creates are “based on the real woman and a girl that I’d like to be, or can relate to.” She’s a big advocate of home grown talent: “London is my favourite fashion week, definitely. There are so many brilliant ideas here, and people really come out from the heart.” In a shoot that was “chaos but really good fun”
for the February
2013 issue, Burns chose eight of Britain’s brightest young models, including Cara Delevingne, Edie Campbell and Charlotte Wiggins, to showcase the new season styles. “The energy was so great, we just didn’t stop. All the girls have gone on to do such massive things!”
But things register. Like if you see a certain colour coming up over and over again. You definitely have a feeling for the season by the time you get home. Once the ideas come off the runway, the way they’re interpreted in the magazines is a further expression of those ideas.”
“ My work is based on the
real woman and a girl that I’d like to be, or can relate to”
Back at Vogue HQ, the fashion department meet and discuss everything they’ve seen at the shows with fashion director Lucinda Chambers and editor Alexandra Shulman – “we all contribute what we feel and what’s important for the magazine to be focusing on for the coming season. Here at Vogue, we start with the clothes because it’s our responsibility to communicate the trends to our readers. We pitch our ideas on how we’d like to interpret those trends. It’s about finding the right girl, the right location for her to exist in, and really bringing the clothes to life.”
Long established as fashion’s most influential magazine, Vogue is frequently referred to as the industry ‘style bible’. But far from the aloof trends dictatorship one might envisage, Burns views fashion as an “emotional, sensitive, process.” Does Vogue dictate the trends? I ask. She ponders the question…“I feel like fashion has this big, almost collective consciousness, and all the magazines and designers feed into it, and it just evolves that way. It’s really quite amazing how everybody can be onto the same thing.” How do you process the multitude of designs you’ve seen after a month of shows? I ask her. “You’ve been so visually stimulated, at the end it’s all just swirling around like a dream.
Diplomatically, Burns cannot be persuaded to divulge a favourite photographer to work with: “I can’t answer that!” Nor a favourite shoot: “I love so many!” But she does recall how much she enjoyed visiting the north of England for a recent shoot with model Sam Robinson and actor Max Minghella - “the landscape is so beautiful up there and the people were really hospitable.” And she’s looking forward to visiting Manchester for Vogue Fashion’s Night Out on the 10th October - “I think it’s going to be brilliant! For us to be in a new city is really exciting and there are so many great shops up there, I can’t wait!” Will people have the opportunity to approach her for style advice? “Yeah, of course,” she says. “I’m going to be at Emporio Armani and DKNY.”
I wrap up our chat by asking for her top tip all women should follow to ensure great style? “Never try to be anything you’re not. Always trust your instincts, and if in doubt say no!” Following her own advice has worked out for Burns in both fashion and career terms. Just like the girls in her images, Burns embodies the right girl, in the right location, bringing the clothes to life.
Images by Sven Eselgroth 19
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