Jill Kennington in Vogue 1676 by Elio Berhanyer, Vogue Pattern Book International, Winter 1966. Image: eBay.
British model-turned-photographer Jill Kennington turns 75 today.
Born and raised in Lincolnshire, Jill Kennington (b. 1943) moved to London at 18, working at Harrods and staying with her aunt, who was a buyer there. Scouted by Michael Whittaker, the founder of the Whittaker Enterprises agency, she was hired as a house model at Norman Hartnell before she could finish the agency course.
Vogue Pattern Book International, Summer 1966. Image: Vintage Chic.
Kennington was one of two models in John Cowan’s famous shoot in the Canadian Arctic. (See the full editorial at vogue.com.) You might recognize her from Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up. (Read her reminiscences in Vanity Fair.)
At Resolute Bay, Vogue, November 1964. Photo: John Cowan. Image: Pleasure Photo.Jill Kennington (left) in Blow-Up (1966) Image: Vanity Fair.
That’s Kennington in Emmanuelle Khanh’s dress pattern in Queen magazine. (Previously seen in my Butterick Young Designers post.)
Butterick 3718 by Emmanuelle Khanh, Queen, August 11, 1965. Image: Amazon.
Here she models some mod knitwear by Mary Quant:
Patons no. 9702 by Mary Quant (ca. 1966)
Kennington can be seen on some of Vogue’s earliest Givenchy patterns. This evening dress was also featured on the cover of the February retail catalogue:
Vogue 1698 by Givenchy (1967)
In Vogue 1707 by Fabiani:
FABIANI 1707: Vogue Patterns catalogue, April 1967. Image: Etsy.
More Vogue Paris Originals and Couturier patterns featuring Kennington:
Vogue 1725 by Marc Bohan for Christian Dior (1967) Image: eBay.Vogue 1737 by Laroche (1967) Image: Vintage Pattern Wiki.Vogue 1746 by Simonetta (1967) Image: Blue Gardenia.Vogue 1747 by Lanvin (1967) Image: eBay.
In a flight-themed British Vogue editorial, wearing Young Fashionables hooded jumpsuit Vogue 6376:
Vogue 6376 in British Vogue, February 1967. Photo: Ronald Traeger. Image: Youthquakers.
Happy birthday, Ms. Kennington!
Jill Kennington, 1964. Photo: Lichfield. Image: National Portrait Gallery.Is Paris dead? Jill Kennington in Pierre Cardin, Weekend Telegraph, September 3, 1965. Photo: William Klein. Image: eBay.Jill Kennington in Queen, January 5, 1966. Photo: Helmut Newton. Image: Pinterest.Jill Kennington on the cover of Queen‘s Christmas issue. Photo: David Montgomery. Image: eBay.
Tara Shannon wears Yves Saint Laurent’s V2337 in Vogue Patterns, November/December 1979, “Glow” editorial. Photo: Albert Watson.
Perfume: Opium, of course!
Yves Saint Laurent’s Chinese tunic got a lot of exposure during the 1979-80 holiday season. The cover of Vogue’s January 1980 retail catalogue also shows a version of this shot. (See Make Mine Vogue.) The pattern is Vogue 2337.
Detail, Gia Carangi in Vogue, July 1979. Photo: Alex Chatelain.
2017 is officially the year of Versace. To mark the 20th anniversary of her brother’s death, Donatella Versace has been returning to the house’s heritage, most notably with a surprise finale to her spring runway show. But if it’s that ’90s supermodel moment—glamazons lip-synching George Michael—that we remember best, let us not forget Versace’s equally glamorous beginnings.
Early in Gianni Versace’s career, Vogue magazine featured one of his Vogue patterns, as worn by the young Gia Carangi. The pleated blouse, pants, and cummerbund were shown in black and white silk taffeta.
Gia Carangi in Vogue 2025 by Gianni Versace. Vogue, July 1979. Photo: Alex Chatelain.
The pattern is a Genny design:
Vogue 2025 by Gianni Versace for Genny (1978) Model: Karen Bjornson.
Eugenia Silva wears Prada on the cover of Vogue Italia, March 1998. Photo: Steven Meisel. Editor: Bill Mullen. Image: The Fashion Spot.
Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve’s much-anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, opens today. Here’s a look at the fashion references and influence of the 1982 cult classic. (For Blade Runner’s influence on current fashion and an interview with costume designer Renée April, see Booth Moore, “‘Blade Runner 2049’ Already a Hit on the Fashion Runways.”)
Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Image: Stephen Vaughan/Warner Bros.Thierry Mugler “Angel” fragrance advertisement, 2003. Image: eBay.
Blade Runner’s BAFTA-winning costume designers, Charles Knode and Michael Kaplan, cite 1940s film noir, with its iconic characters like Humphrey Bogart’s Sam Spade and Rita Hayworth’s Gilda, as their main inspiration. For the replicant Rachael, they also looked to the 1930s and ’40s tailoring of Hollywood costume designer-turned-couturier Adrian. (Kaplan is still in the genre-film spotlight with the new Star Wars trilogy, while the Adrian label—the subject of a recent exhibit—is being revived as Adrian Original.)
Rachael costume sketches by Michael Kaplan for Blade Runner (1982). In Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design (Collins, 2007).
Kaplan used vintage fabrics for Rachael’s Adrian-inspired outfits: “I liked the idea of combining different shades of suiting fabrics to create patterns—something Adrian did. In this case I used amazing vintage suiting woollens in shades of grey and beige, with metallic threads that I was lucky enough to find, which created a subtle luminous quality.” (Source: AnOther mag.) This circa 1944 Butterick suit features Adrian-style piecing:
Butterick 6286 from 1944 (2015)
In the 1980s, Claude Montana was the go-to designer for the decade’s updated triangular silhouette. (Ridley Scott has acknowledged the decade’s ’40s revival as an important factor in the film’s aesthetic.) This Vogue Individualist design plays up the ’40s influence:
Vogue 1927 by Montana (1987)
In spring, 1997, Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut was one of the first movies to be released on DVD. The following spring, working with stylist Bill Mullen and set designer Jack Flanagan, Steven Meisel photographed a Blade Runner-homage cover and editorial for Vogue Italia’s March 1998 prêt-à-porter issue. Michael Kaplan recalls mistaking the cover for a film still. The editorial features text from Roy’s climactic monologue (“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…”) with clothes from Prada’s Spring 1998 collection, which paired natural materials with synthetics like latex and plexiglass.
Prada Spring ’98 in Vogue Italia, March 1998. Photo: Steven Meisel. Editor: Bill Mullen. Image: Vogue Italia Archive.
Meanwhile, in Paris, Alexander McQueen referenced Blade Runner in his Fall/Winter 1998 ready-to-wear collection for Givenchy. Visionaire’s Alexander McQueen memorial issue includes an image from Steven Meisel’s fall advertising campaign. (For more on this collection, see my McQueen series post.)
Two looks from Alexander McQueen’s Fall 1998 prêt-à-porter collection for Givenchy. Images: firstVIEW, Corbis.V2228 and V2248 (under jacket) on the runway – Alexander McQueen for Givenchy, Fall 1998 prêt-à-porter. Images: Corbis.Givenchy Fall 1998 by Alexander McQueen in Visionaire 58: Spirit (2010). Photo: Steven Meisel. Image: 1stdibs.
Sewists and Blade Runner devotees are fortunate to have two licensed patterns from this collection:
Vogue 2228 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (1998) Image: PatternVault shop.Vogue 2248 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (1999) Image: PatternVault shop.
The sleeveless version of the dress seems to have been shown with a jacket on the runway. (Click the image to read about my version, which I wore to TIFF’s Cronenberg exhibit.)
In V2248 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy at David Cronenberg: Evolution, 2014.
Rachael’s chevron-quilted synthetic fur coat gets the most screen time, but it’s her blue brocade coat with standing fur collar that appears to have been McQueen’s main reference for the fur-trimmed coats and jackets. As the pattern reveals, the collar stands with the help of boning.
Rachael (Sean Young) in her quilted faux-fur coat. Image: Vogue Italia.Rachael’s blue brocade coat. Images: Pinterest, Christies/BladeZone.Charles Knode fur-trimmed coat sketches for Blade Runner. Image: BladeZone.Blue leather coat with standing fur collar, Alexander McQueen for Givenchy, Fall 1998 prêt-à-porter collection. Images: eBay.
The weathered tones and textures of Mayan Revival—prominently seen in Deckard’s apartment, as played by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House—form a thread linking the first film, Meisel’s Givenchy campaign, and Villeneuve’s sequel. It was Kaplan’s vision of a dirty retrofuture, rather than glossy futurism, that won him the Blade Runner gig. It will be interesting to see what role revivals play in the new film.
Rachael (Sean Young) in Blade Runner (1982) Image: Restless Things.Givenchy Fall 1998 ad campaign featuring Alexander McQueen’s Blade Runner collection. Photos: Steven Meisel. Models: Erin O’Connor and Jade Parfitt.K (Ryan Gosling) in Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Image: Vogue Italia.
For more production images for the new film, see the Vogue Italiagallery.
Vogue 8206 and 8204 in Vogue Pattern Book, 1972. Photo: Horn/Griner.
Horn/Griner photographed this military-inspired ensemble for an early ’70s issue of Vogue Pattern Book: the shirt, Vogue 8206, in camo voile and the pleated skirt, Vogue 8204, in khaki gabardine. The vest was available as a knitting pattern in the magazine. (Printed voile by Aquarius Fabrics; Rosewood Fabrics double woven polyester gabardine.) The scene captures the late-summer mood.
This Labour Day weekend, from Thursday, August 31st through Monday, September 4th, customers will receive 15% off everything in the PatternVault shop as part of Etsy’s first Labour Day sale. No coupon required—the new system will show the discounted price. And if you’re new to Etsy, you can use the new guest checkout.
