Fashion innovators in running to appear on new £20

Four fashion innovators have made the long list to appear on the new £20 note after the Bank of England launched a public vote in the spring.

The late Alexander McQueen, Catherine Walker, Jean Muir and Laura Ashley all received nominations from the public and now sit on a long list of almost 600 candidates to replace Scottish economist Adam Smith on the note, which is expected to go into circulation in 2020.

The public were asked to nominate figures in the field of visual arts who must be neither living nor fictional, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph, and the final decision on who will appear on the new note rests with Bank of England governor Mark Carney and a panel including artist John Akomfrah, design writer Alice Rawsthorn, and critic Andrew Graham-Dixon. They will announce their decision next year.

Alexander McQueen, whose work is currently being celebrated with a retrospective at the Victoria & Albert Museum (pictured above), passed away aged just 40 in 2010. He had a reputation for rebellion and extreme silhouettes but he was a highly skilled tailor and craftsman, having trained on Savile Row.

Following his untimely death, his house has gone on to achieve great success under creative director Sarah Burton, who had been McQueen’s right-hand woman. Burton was thrust into the public eye when it was revealed she had designed the wedding dress of the Duchess of Cambridge.

Laura Ashley made her name in the 1970s with her long floral dresses, which were a reaction against the mini-skirts of the 1960s.

Born in Wales, she moved to London as a child and it was from a London flat where she later launched her business making hand-made printed scarves and napkins. With her husband Bernard Ashley, she went on to build a fashion empire.

Ashley passed away aged 60 in 1985. Her brand lives on today in the homewares sector.

Jean Muir was dubbed “Britain’s Coco Chanel” thanks to her minimal elegant designs. She began her career at iconic British businesses Liberty and Jaeger before establishing her own label in 1965.

Craftmanship was at the heart of her collections, which while simple in aesthetic, were often complex constructions, so much so that she often referred to herself as an engineer, rather than a designer.

She passed away in 1998.

Catherine Walker’s reputation was sealed when she became the dress maker of choice for Diana, Princess of Wales, who was buried in a Walker dress following her death in 1997.

She had established her own business in 1976 but, flew in the face of convention, by keeping a very low profile throughout her career and refusing to show her designs on the catwalk.

Walker passed away in 2010 following a battle with breast cancer but her label lives on.