In the 51 years since the British designer founded her brand, she has stayed away from trends and designed clothes that transcend age, shape and gender

Designing clothes with the ease of Margaret Howell requires a degree of restraint, the ability to know when a dress is truly finished before complicating it with decorative accessories or tedious details. Her namesake brand is a British business beloved around the world.

In the 51 years since she founded the company, as a designer, she has never suddenly changed her aesthetic style depending on the season. Instead, she constantly tweaks her outfits to keep up with The Times while keeping her original style.

She pays special attention to the choice of color and fabric. So today her loyal customers can walk into one of her stores in the UK, Europe, Korea or Japan and buy something similar to their favourite shirts from the 1970s, arguably timeless.

Though her design references are often less obvious, they are stylistically consistent, as are her craft, from the aprons sculptures of the artist Barbara Hepworth to the many creative disciplines brought together by the influential Bauhaus art school, To the style of actress Katharine Hepburn's pants. Ms. Howell has pondered and researched half a century of fashion while launching her latest collection.

Do you have any specific references for the Fall/Winter 2021 collection?

Our clothes are a unified continuum: they are real and come from the same piece, and then we make adjustments to the color and the fabric. When I go back and look at the records, they were all designed in the same direction.

We'll tweak it, overhaul it, even redesign it. For example, the shoulders may sag there; Knitwear is cut with high-waisted trousers, or jackets that are longer than the standard length. It's all about intuitive design.

What do you personally want your clothes to reflect?

A relaxed feeling that makes people feel comfortable and looks casual. I hope to have an active lifestyle through clothing design. I've always loved walking and swimming, and have often drawn inspiration from sportswear, especially the baggy trousers of the 1930s.

In addition, I want to design gender-neutral clothes, because throughout my life, men's clothes have always been more practical than women's. Every time I go to a formal occasion, I feel very uncomfortable; When people go to a wedding, they usually look very stiff, and when they put on more casual clothes, they relax a lot.

What first sparked your interest in costume making?

I enjoyed being a teenager in the 1960s. My sketchbook at school was filled with shoes and hairstyles from the fashion pages of magazines.

But when it comes to my own clothes, I'm very conservative. The short skirt is above the knee, but nowhere near a real mini skirt. I also saved up for a Shetland sweater and a Burberry coat.

How do you see the significance of Margaret Howell's creation? How has it evolved over the years?

It's always been the same. When I first started, I had just graduated from art school and wanted to make a living by creating. I wasn't cut out to be a painter, but I've always loved making things. I started with small accessories and sold them in small shops that were emerging at the time, such as Browns.

I was interested in product and quality, and then I became obsessed with making shirts. Joseph Ettedgui once said to me, "The day you design a whole men's outfit, I'll open a store for you." Then there was the original store on South Molton Street.

When did women become interested in your clothes?

They didn't like my clothes at first because they looked like men's shirts. In the late 1970s, more women began to wear pants and blouses rather than women's blouses and skirts. So we set up a workshop and hired some sewing workers, so that we could control the design, after all, we had too few, not enough for the factory.

Where do you source most of your fabrics?

Fabric show in Italy. Some of the manufacturers of fabrics, such as corduroy, Harris tweed, Irish tweed and Irish linen, are still many of the same ones I worked with when I started out in the 1970s. I like the texture of the old loom, but it looks a little uneven. I don't like absolute perfection.

Do you go to a particular place for inspiration?

Photography exhibition, social documentary material, film. Don McCullin's [2019 Tate Britain retrospective] is brilliant, but some of the pictures are so horrifying I can't even look at them. Sometimes a leisurely walk in the countryside, undisturbed by others, can inspire me. I'm comfortable when I'm outside.

With your enduring style, is it important, so to speak, to go beyond size, gender and trends?

Yes, of course it matters. Shouldn't that be the case? Clothing must embody its intended use and function, and it needs to be durable and timeless. These principles apply to anything well designed. People do talk about how to keep our clothes, how to wear them again, how to put them together. Our clothes are very adaptable.

Does environmental sustainability have an impact on your tendency to stay away from trends?

The nature of my work is sustainable. It always has been. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I was born after World War II. My parents have three children including me. From childhood, they taught us to take care of furniture, because furniture needs to be used for a long time; We used to mend socks and make our own clothes. They also love the countryside, keeping us away from people and business. That's why I started with natural fibers.

What would you most like to change about the fashion industry?

"The fashion industry has its place. I don't like mass-produced things that people can just throw away. I hope this period of restriction will make people realize that they don't need much and should pay more attention to quality."