intheLOOK
intheLOOK
Barbara Wilson
Fashion Advisor of UK Trade & Investment
Barbara Wilson, the Fashion Advisor of UK Trade & Investment, focused on raising the profile
of fashion within UKTI throughout her 10 years there. Her job requires her to be in touch with
luxury designer brands and lesser-known ones likewise. Here, Barbara shares more about
Digital Fashion Week and the brands she fancy.
Q: How do you find Singapore?
A: I love Singapore. It’s my third visit; my first
time was when I was 22, so it has changed a bit.
It’s an exciting city, and it’s very fashionable so I
love it. I’m very happy to be here.
Q: Any cuisine that has captured your fancy
here?
A: I like chilli crab and prawns, Chinese fried
prawns, and lots of other dishes. There are a lot
of different cuisines and it’s very exciting. The
food is wonderful.
Q: What shows have you watched so far at
DFW?
A: Yesterday I saw Thomas Wee and Topshop
and I thought they were both great. And I saw
Max Tan who is very striking, so I actually saw
quite a lot of clothes that I would like to order
though I’m not sure if sizes in Singapore are
good for Western people. I might be doing
some shopping for the next few days!
Q: Any shows you’re looking forward to
watch?
A: Yes, I’m looking forward to Nokia today, and
I’m very much looking forward to Holly Fulton
because I know her and I watched her develop
and it’s great to have her in Singapore. I think we
will love to watch her work and she’ll also feel
our support.
Q: What do you think of digital fashion?
A: I think it’s very interesting because digital
fashion reaches a much wider audience all
around the world and it also reaches a much
younger audience. London Fashion Week is now
streaming live around the world so it’s something we’re all going to do and we’d like to make
fashion more global—it’s exciting.
Far rig ht: Barbara Wilson
Photo by: DFW Creative PR
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Q: As a Fashion Trade Advisor, what is your
scope of work?
A: I work with the government to decide how
we should support fashion. I look at various
initiatives around the world and recommend
how we advocate our market. I work with British
Fashion Council and also with the UK Fashion
Textiles. We give grants to the companies who
are going to trade with us. I work very hard to
get as much money as I can for the fashion industry. That’s very important.
Q: What is your favourite part of the job?
A: I think my favourite part is meeting designers
and developing new markets overseas. Looking
into which markets are suitable can also be interesting.
Q: How do you spend your weekends?
A: I like to get up later; about an hour and a half
later, not too long. I go to the gym on Saturday
mornings and sometimes I go shopping on Saturday afternoons. If I’m lucky, my husband takes
me out for dinner. If I’m not lucky then I cook
dinner. I cook some stirfrys, which is Asian style. I
also cook roast dinners, English style.
Q: Where do you like to shop?
A: I like to shop at boutiques, something a little
interesting. We don’t have many shopping malls
in England, we have more streets and boutiques.
I used to work for Selfridges and I love Selfridges.
Q: Could you run us through your weekday
routine?
A: I get up early and look at my emails from Asia,
because I can still reply to them. I do that, and
then I usually have breakfast after. Then I go to
my office or I attend meetings—I have a lot of
meetings outside my office. I have meetings
with British Fashion Council, with the trade association, and with various designers. Then I have a
quick lunch in the afternoon before working on
emails, reports, or sometimes have a meeting
with a designer. I love designers. I keep In touch
with about 30 brands and people like Alexander
McQueen, Stella McCartney, Mary Katrantzou, or
lesser known brands. It’s a very exciting job and
I’m lucky to have it.
67 Weekendin