James "Jimmy" Wedge (born 1939) is a British

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

, milliner and fashion photographer.

Early life and education

Wedge was born into a poor working-class family. Having little education and never having taken an exam, he joined the British Navy. Whilst there, he took a drawing correspondence course and was eventually admitted to Walthamstow College of Art, entering the fashion department. Wedge describes hat design as being "like sculpture". Wedge then did a two-year course at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

.Interview with James Wedge, February 2006.

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.

Hat designer

At the first end of year show, he did all the hats and drew the attention of the designer Ronald Paterson, who asked him if we would like to do hats for his collections. As they were all couture hats, Wedge designed extreme creations to showcase his talents and garner publicity. Liberty of London offered him a free workshop if they could have first choice of what to sell in his shop, although he was allowed to sell the rest elsewhere. Working out of a small house at 4 Ganton Street starting in about 1962, his staff grew to seven people. He was also able to help his art school friends Sally Tuffin and

Marion Foale Marion A Foale (born 13 March 1939 in Edmonton, London) is an English artist and fashion designer. With Sally Tuffin, she formed one half of the design team behind the 1960s fashion label Foale and Tuffin. Born in London, Foale attended Valenti ...

start as designers.

Top Gear and Countdown

Together with Pat Booth, he set up the boutique

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...

on the

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He also set up Countdown, also on the King's Road, where the rents were low. Wedge preferred the area to

Carnaby Street Carnaby Street is a Pedestrian zone, pedestrianised shopping street in Soho in the City of Westminster, Central London. Close to Oxford Street and Regent Street, it is home to fashion and lifestyle retailers, including many independent fashion ...

where he didn't appreciate the fashion. They bought their stock in very short runs from local craftwork suppliers. According to Wedge,

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

's famous white frock, worn at 1969's Stones in the Park free concert in London's Hyde Park came from Countdown.

Influence

Wedge helped

and Sally Tuffin become established as designers and retailers. According to Tuffin, to make their clothes, they "worked on the billiards table in Jimmy Wedge's flat". According to Foale, Wedge had his offices in Ganton Street and told them about a place round the corner in Marlborough Court with a low rent. Soon, they needed more space, so Wedge found space for them above him, and when he moved out, they took over 4 Ganton Street in its entirety.Interview with Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin, April 2006.

, 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.

Photography

By 1970, Wedge and Booth both believed that the King's Road scene was over and Wedge moved into photography, as did Booth soon after. Wedge was already friendly with

David Bailey David Royston Bailey (born 2 January 1938) is an English photographer and director, most widely known for his fashion photography and portraiture, and role in shaping the image of the Swinging Sixties. Bailey has also directed several televisio ...

and especially Terence Donovan, and was persuaded by Donovan's lifestyle – driving a Rolls-Royce, with a model on his arm – to change career in the late 1960s. Wedge had become friends with an actress who purchased her clothes from his Top Gear boutique, and she had bought her husband a camera that he did not want, so Wedge bought it from her. For four years during the mid-1980s, Wedge lived together with actress

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...

, as her boyfriend, and took a suite of erotic photographs with Mirren throughout their cohabitation. The pair had previously worked together during the 1970s, including a cover photo for the ''Observer'' magazine for 11 July 1971.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wedge, James Living people 1939 births Photographers from London British milliners Alumni of Walthamstow College of Art