British fashion journalist and stylist
Kate Phelan (born 1964)[1] is a British fashion journalist and stylist. She is currently the creative director of Harvey Nichols.
Biography
Phelan grew up in Exeter, and studied fashion at Somerset College of Arts and Technology.[2] She then went on to study fashion communications at Central Saint Martins from 1984. In 1987 she took on a three-month internship with Sarajane Hoare at British Vogue which ultimately led to full-time employment as a fashion assistant.[1][3] In 1990, she left Vogue after three years to join Marie Claire as a senior fashion editor, but was asked back to British Vogue in 1993 by its new editor, Alexandra Shulman.[1] Until 2011, Phelan worked as a senior fashion director for Vogue, commissioning and directing some of the magazine's strongest photoshoots from the 1990s and 2000s.[2] Her favoured photographers included Paolo Roversi, Nick Knight, Tim Walker and Corinne Day.[2]
In June 2011, Phelan again left Vogue and joined Topshop as their creative director.[2][4][5] In 2013, she was asked to come back to Vogue in a part-time capacity.[1] In 2017 her job title at Vogue was senior contributing fashion editor.[4]
In 2017 Phelan was the fashion journalist selected to choose a defining look of 2016 for the Fashion Museum, Bath's Dress of the Year collection. She chose two male and female ensembles by JW Anderson,[6] a designer who had previously caught her attention in 2012 when he was awarded Topshop sponsorship for his Spring-Summer 2013 collection.[2]
She was appointed creative director of Harvey Nichols in 2024.[7]
References
