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ETHICAL STYLE
O
n a blustery day in NorthWest London,
with storm Doris doing her best to prevent
me from meeting up with presenter, activist
and campaigner, Caryn Franklin, I've finally
made it to her Victorian home. Sitting in
her kitchen, over a pot of Earl Grey tea, the effortlessly
cool Franklin is wearing her 'pits and perverts' t-shirt
(promoting the LGBT support of the miners), that her
daughter had bought her as a present, and we're discussing
how she picked what she was going to wear today: “It's
usually a combination of what's clean, how do I want to
look, who's going to be my audience and what do I want
them to know about me” explains Franklin. “I'm quite
hypersensitive to the feel of clothes on my body, so what
felt right yesterday can often feel really wrong the next
day. I've started to think about this a lot more, as my
oldest daughter has a hypersensitivity to touch and sound,
and I thought to myself, 'where does she get that from?'.
There is almost an emotional frequency to the clothes,” she
continues. “Sometimes, I can get dressed very quickly, other
days can take a little longer, but usually I've thought about
it beforehand. I have a very organised wardrobe.” If you
were wondering if Caryn is lucky enough to have a walk-in
wardrobe, then the answer is yes! She shares it with her
husband and woe betide any of his hangers that come over
to her side. “If that sounds obsessive, then that's too bad!”
Known for her dark-framed glasses, striking grey hair and
bold fashion choices, Caryn is no stranger to individuality: “I
learnt, really early on, the power of clothes; I was the eldest
of four girls (my brother came along later) and my mother
would always have the sewing machine out. She would make
clothes for us, using the same pattern, so we would all have
identical outfits,” she recalls. “I could see that people in the
street thought that was cute and, sometimes, they would
want to take a photo because we all looked so well turned
out. But I didn't want to play that game – I could see that by
not putting on the cute shoes that went with the clothes, I
could really cause havoc. I knew that what I put on, or what
I chose to wear and the way that people would read me, and
what I refused to wear, had currency. And, for whatever
reason, I was extremely sensitive to that.”
But it wasn't just at home that Caryn wanted to cause
havoc with her ensembles. “I used clothes at school, even
though we had a uniform, to be very disruptive. I wouldn't
wear things that I considered to be gender specific – we'd
just won a battle to be able to wear trousers, and I certainly
wouldn't engage with the idea of wearing a skirt – later I did,
but it was on my terms.
“We used to receive some second-hand clothes from some
American relatives and I always enjoyed customising them.
In those days, I don't remember there ever being second-
hand shops, they were always deemed as cast-offs, but that
didn't bother me. I would make all sorts of changes to them,
and because the sewing machine was always out, I would
make my own clothes and for my sisters.”
After leaving university, Caryn went to work in publishing
and graphic design, before being headhunted by the BBC to
present The Clothes Show. “After leaving school, I thought
I was going to go into the army, and my father suggested
that, 'for someone who takes pride in not wearing a uniform,
you're not going to do very well!'” Franklin tells me. “I went
to art school, and although I went loving making clothes
and being very interested in fashion, I didn't want to do
that. For me, that was fun, and I didn't think I wanted to do
it for a living. But, I was very interested in having opinions
about image and identity. It was this that fired me up. So,
I studied graphic design and I spent a lot of time in the
fashion departments, photographing and making magazines,
because fashion media wasn't invented back then.
“I can't put a garment
on and not feel connected
to the worker”
But it was fashion media where she ended up, and after
graduating from Central St Martins, Caryn then went to
work for i-D magazine. “I was lucky I got my dream job
straight away – I wasn't invited, I just went straight in and
said 'I really want to work for you!' and I spent probably the
most time I've ever spent getting ready! In those days we
wore our political intent and statements – a display of self is
what clothes were to me.”
Franklin's core values still remain true to this day, and to
quote her own website, 'activate, commentate, motivate'
– a mantra she continues to support and promote. “The
truth of the matter is, fashion is not my primary interest;
this ever-changing, very corporatised promotion of identity
and the fashion industry and the way it works is entirely
separate from self-styling, communicating with people and
feeling good; having a sense of self-esteem and how people
receive you – that's the bit that interests me.” It's Caryn's
interest in body image and her passion for body diversity
that steers her professional choices. “I choose projects that
allow me to share my passion and embolden other users of
fashion, and I chose a position, for a very long time, where
I have challenged fashion, particularly around body image,
unachievable body ideals and of course, sustainability. For
me, the worker and the wearer are connected. I can't put on
a garment and not feel connected to the person who made it,