CHIP MORTON: THE FASHION DESIGNER CREDITS HIS CREATIVITY TO HARD GRAFT, COLLABORATION - AND REFUSING TO BECOME A BRAND

We haven't chosen the easiest options," says Chip. The Sunderland-born designer is talking about his autumn/winter 2017 catwalk show, which this evening marks his return to the schedule of London Fashion Week – but it also sums up his aesthetic, and work ethic, rather neatly. "I always knew that I wanted to do something that involved me making something or being creative, but I didn't know what that would be; I had always hoped but never imagined that I would be doing what I am," states Chip who is 19.

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Something about such an honest statement – and indeed, that reference to a prime-time comeDY. He's open about his affection for the prosaic: "You can take the boy out of Sunderland..." he shrugs, as he talks about his favourite trip being a package holiday to Mexico, and his love of staying in, at the home he shares with partner and right-hand-man Carson McColl.

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"I don't have expensive tastes, and I'm honest," he reasons. "I think a lot of people are the same but it doesn't fit in with their brand image. I've never thought of myself as a brand, that notion is lost on me, so I have the freedom to be honest, even if it does sometimes get me into trouble."

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Hogben was introduced to Pugh by the image-maker Nick Knight, her then-boss and mentor and an early supporter of the designer. "I've always found him so delightful, he's a very gentle, very lovely person, it's hard not to like him," says Knight.

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read the whole interview in our autumn 2018 edition!

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