On Her 80th Birthday, Grace Coddington Shares Her Greatest Memories (And Secrets) From A Lifetime In Vogue

‘Her prolific career has encompassed hundreds of photoshoots and yielded decade after decade of seminal fashion images. On the eve of her 80th birthday, fashion editor Grace Coddington recalls her life of fashion to BritishVogue… It’s a fabulous read !

“Did I expect to still be working as a fashion editor at 80? Of course not. I started as a model, and back in those days – before today’s too-fast churn of many models’ careers – that gave you a good few years. I remember holding a copy of the magazine featuring my first cover shot in August 1962 and feeling tremendous pride”

“The first time I walked into the British Vogue offices, it was spring 1959. The magazine was throwing a tea party for the runners-up of its modelling competition, of which I happened to be one. I was 18, had recently arrived in London from Anglesey in Wales, and was working in The Stockpot in Knightsbridge, my head full of fashion dreams from the copies of Vogue I’d grown up reading. Now I was here”.

“After 10 years as a model, 19 years as an editor at British Vogue, 30 at American Vogue, and now back contributing to the British edition again, it turned out to be a six-decade affair”.

“I really do believe this past year is a time that must always be remembered. Because it would amaze you what can be forgotte”.

“My first thought is always: what are the shoes going to be? Because the shoes literally root you and dictate the rest. I’ve worked with photographers who, when presented with a girl in an evening dress and high heels, want to stand her on the beach. “Don’t worry,” they say. “I’ll put a board under the sand and she won’t sink in.” “Yes,” I reply, “but she’s gonna look f**king stupid.”

“Though people seem to assume everything came easily to me, moving behind the camera was not a smooth transition. Suddenly, I had to make all these decisions, and my first call was a bad one. I decided that unisex was the thing of the moment – which it was – yet for reasons that still escape me, I chose to cast the artist Peter Blake and his then wife Jann Haworth. It was my first experience of dealing with a celebrity with their own opinions. I remember thinking: “Ooh, this is not for me.” It is not a coincidence that I’ve mostly worked with models in my career since”

“What advice would I like to give? To be patient, to be tolerant and to not fritter away your creativity by looking at a screen. A screen can open your eyes to a lot of wonderful things that you wouldn’t normally have access to, but mostly it’s not real. Look out of your window, because that is reality. When it comes to making an important photograph, reality is the greatest place to start.”