Uncompromising in finish, Wauchob’s made-in-France pieces have the malleable quality introduced to us by the Belgians. Namely where beautiful, pensive clothes become spectacular when integrated with the wearer’s personality, something heightened by the ability to tie a coat up in several ways or alter the drape of a piece depending on your mood. Her pieces are as sexy to the mind as they are to the eye, yet for all their ease they have a bulletproof tough-girl aura.

Dean Mayo Davies: First of all, I think we’re privileged to talk to you as you’ve never done much press. Would you say you prefer to let your work do the talking?

Sharon Wauchob: Yes, definitely. I’ve been able to concentrate on my work the last few  seasons and it’s worked out well that way, you know? It’s the way I’m the most comfortable.

DMD: I think it’s something that has allowed you to build a strong core of fans. You have a really strong foundation...

SW: It comes a lot through the product, yes, but also the customers themselves and the retailers that are buying the clothes. Some of the people we’re working with in the industry, like Lane Crawford in Hong Kong. These kind of shops have a great affinity.

DMD: I think Sarah Rutson, their Fashion Director, has a great attitude and is doing some incisive things...

SW: I think the store works really well, there’s not enough places like it...

DMD: Is that a growing market for you, the east; Asia?

SW: I don’t think so much geographically, if I’m honest. I’m not so aware of what country I’m in, it’s more about a feeling. One of the reasons I like Lane Crawford and these shops is that also I’m seeing everything through the eyes of the customer, seeing it through the eyes of a woman. Which sometimes when you’re in the industry you forget about - it’s great when you get a little reminder of this buzz, this reason why you started. [Laughs]

DMD: You have a really solid background, coming from Louis Vuitton. What was your role there?

SW: I was working on accessories, which was something I hadn’t had experience of before. It was an interesting place to learn about that, I was coming from a much more fashion background and I think that was the goal - to see the accessories through a fashion perspective, especially the core products like the monogram and the damier which hadn’t really been touched at that stage. It was great for me as I like to work with something that’s luxury, it was a really interesting time to be at Vuitton.

DMD: Did you work closely with Marc?

SW: No, I actually worked quite a lot on my own. Marc was setting up the prêt-à-porter at that’s stage and Yves Carcelle was telling us to ‘evolutionise not revolutionise’ the core product.

DMD: It was just starting to kick off...

SW: Exactly. And I hadn’t been in a corporate environment before so it was quite interesting. Coming from Saint Martins in London, the small scale, into this, the bigger scale, was probably what pushed me to do my own thing. These two extremes...

DMD: Do you think your time at Vuitton informed your aesthetic?

SW: I’m sure it did. The French, this whole quality, the ‘maisons’ - it gave me a perspective on the importance of quality. But also to look at things in a fresh way and experiment. That’s what I’ve strived to maintain. I still work with suppliers that work with LVMH on the prêt-à-porter production that I do. My mainline is all made in France, so I’ve kept that quality.

DMD: Which is the key to your label...

SW: It’s a harder way for sure. And to do it independently... but I think in the long term it’s the best. 

DMD: I think you’re pretty uncompromising as a person - it has to be your way or nothing and it has to be this fastidious vision...

SW: I suppose in the last few seasons the essence has become more clear in the design. There’s a femininity there which is important for me to keep, and it’s a different perspective on femininity maybe. I try to remain true to that but at the same time I want to keep an edge and not just become overtly ‘soft’. For me it’s about the garments feeling great but having that edge, they have to say more.

DMD: There’s tension...

SW: Yeah, it has to have tension. Because if I’m putting on something this is what I want, this something ‘extra’...

DMD: But because the lines are elegant and essentially what you do is pretty timeless your customers can build up a real wardrobe over the years...

SW: These are qualities that I like, things I would look for when buying clothes. When I was buying clothes! When I was starting off and you had people like Helmut this was something that was really important. Of course it’s important not to forget about humour and key points for the season but it’s a balance. This season we did a lot of guipure - or lace - that was handmade in Switzerland, and although it’s strong statement for the season the pieces should be timeless.

DMD: Can you talk us through the A/W 09 collection?

SW: It started off, for me, with the way I was feeling. When I saw the guipure and the first experiments with it I knew - which you don’t find happens every season. It’s a process that isn’t new but to find something so traditional that hadn’t been done in a modern, geometric way was exciting. And you’re not to sure what it’s about when you see it - some people thought it was leather. It’s a traditional technique of embroidering on paper and then you take the paper away. We did it all as little squares that were joined together and to take something old and give it a new angle is interesting. We also did trousers with leather, leather jodhpurs - which are actually a bestseller this season. That was an idea I had at the beginning and that I put to bed but, as it is, it seemed right again at the end. For me it’s bringing a soft, couturey edge with something tougher. And the tailoring is important - it’s a foundation, it’s not a flash or trend but something I’d like to continue, maybe even into the Summer.

DMD: When you’re working on a collection do you have a flash ahead to the next one? Whether you will evolve or start afresh?

SW: I think some should evolve and some need to be a clean break. With my own collection I don’t follow any rules. I think I have a licence to be able to do it this way...

DMD: Which is such a precious thing. Your independence affords a lot.

DMD: How is your relationship with your customer, the woman that wears your clothes? I ask because what you do doesn’t fit to a scene, it’s more transcendental than that...

SW: I listen a lot to my customer, which I have a lot more contact with than I used to. We’re in the showroom after the show, the technicians are there too and we’re listening to the comments and feedback - I think it’s quite important. to get that ‘feeling’. And it was great this season because that feeling was good. It helps! [Laughs].

DMD: That’s quite unusual for a designer to take things on board so readily...

SW: It happened by accident to be honest. It wasn’t a company strategy. We decided to sell very quickly and we needed the whole team in there to help. And we found it very valuable throughout the season. Yes, it’s important not to go blindly, following every comment but you can at least listen and analyse. Other people might do it through having a shop... there’s different ways.

DMD: Would you like a store?

SW: Yeah. But I feel at the moment that retail is changing so much. People are already looking at new approaches to projects. To be honest I’m glad I haven’t done it yet as I think there’s going to be quite interesting things coming out of all this doom and gloom. I’m sure interesting things will happen.

DMD: Are you your own muse? You’re quite unique being a woman at the helm of her own independent house, making womenswear. And that’s before we even consider the fact you’re doing all this in Paris...

SW: I’ve never ever thought of myself as my own muse! But I do try everything on. When I’m designing I really need to push things, so I don’t think about this at all when I start a collection. It’s only when further on when it comes to the crux - ‘does this piece work?’ - I like to try it on myself and maybe two or three others in the studio.

DMD: Do you think you’d make menswear?

SW: Did you speak to Olivier?! [Laughs]. It’s something that’s cropping up more and more. But it would have to be the right collaboration, especially as I produce everything in France, which is much more suited to womenswear. I’d have to think in a slightly different way, there’s different factors that are important to men.

DMD: How is Paris at the moment?

SW: I’m based here with a really international team and I haven’t really gone in to any ‘slot’. I’ve kept my own path, which I’m sure has been harder in some regards. Maybe easier in others. The great thing about Paris is that it gives you a certain freedom in terms of design and in terms of the product. Though in terms of business I think everywhere’s the same right now...

DMD: Yes. It’s exciting though - meaningful things are going to be born out of this time, new foundations, propositions and ideals for the future...

SW: It doesn’t scare me at all. In fact in some regards it’s been really positive for us as people in the last season have looked at the product a lot.

DMD: A focus on integrity...

SW: Integrity is something takes time, it’s something you can’t just get, it has to be built up.

DMD: You mentioned your time at Central Saint Martins earlier, which you left in 1993. Do you think you fitted in?

SW: Probably not. [Laughs]. I’m from the north-west of Ireland and an unusual fit for Saint Martin’s I’d say. Mind you, it’s a pretty wide spectrum of people - I was able to slip in and no-one noticed. Undeniably it was an interesting year - you had Hussein and Katie Grand; everyone’s kept their own individuality, which is quite unusual. Antonio Berardi went to Italy, Hussein was more London, I went to France. Everyone then was much more inspired to do their own thing than to join a big group, I think. I think that was more a reflection of that moment.

DMD: What do you have coming up? Are there any new projects you’re working on you can tell us about?

SW: It’s early days but there are ideas brewing in different directions. I think that’s interesting. The guys who work with me selling the collection have said ‘whatever you do, make sure it’s sincere’. That’s crucial.

DMD