Staffordshire Bull Terrier Tracksuits

Q+A | Posted August 09, 2010 | Comments / 17


Photo by Alex Milsom

Last month I was flown to ITS, a Diesel-sponsored international talent contest in northern Italy. I got to enjoy the usual bribes of a nice hotel room, free food and gallons of booze, probably in the hope that I'd write about it. But being a talent contest the most interesting thing was the talent, so interviewing 24-year-old RCA graduate, Courtney McWilliams—even though she didn't win anything—seemed like a far better idea than reviewing the event. Her Staffordshire bull terrier-print tracksuits, printed denim and t-shirt-heavy collection might not have won any of the prizes, but they looked brilliant and Courtney's hair, a sort of shaved head with a ponytail, made it seem like Courtney deserved some sort of recognition anyway.


Photo and all following photos by Michael Mayren

Vice: You're a girl, why menswear?
Courtney: Realizing I was into menswear was a revelation, designing for men is so much more comfortable for me than working on that Barbie doll women’s figure. I think it’s because I wear a lot of menswear.

What sort of guys is your stuff aimed at?
An ASBO lad (NB: In the UK, ASBO stands for Anti Social Behavior Order). I did a lot of research into the average boy and how he dresses. I know the chav thing nearly destroyed Burberry, but I would absolutely love it if that sort of guy wore my stuff. I don't understand why some designers think they're above that. I love that Yohji Yamamoto has Y-3, which is a chav staple. It's just genius!

You do a lot of quite cheap t-shirts, why's that?
That was a conscious decision. I knew that people loved the Staffordshire bull terrier print, so I put it on t-shirts and polo shirts because it was important that the sort of guys who inspired the collection would be able to buy something from it.

But some of your stuff is really expensive, right?
Yeah, I went a bit over-budget on fabrics, so it’s all pricey. The most expensive pieces are the cashmere and hand-illustrated printed silk tailored tracksuit, the boned wool jacket, and the two-tone red wool and duchess satin parka.

You're massively into prints on tracksuits. Weird combo.
I think print on print looks bloody amazing and I love tracksuits. When I was 11, on my first day at boarding school, I turned up in an adidas tracksuit, looking like Sporty Spice, and my friends still haven’t forgotten. Drawing prints is a great way of venting as well; I'm not very confrontational, but I designed the prints when I was a bit pissed off and wrote a couple of cryptic messages on it too. That print was actually inspired by some tribal tattoos I'd seen. I replaced the animals and text with chavs and song lyrics. My family always takes the piss out of my clothes, and don't understand that printed trousers don't equal pajamas, so printed tracksuits make me giggle.

It's all quite British, isn't it?
I'm not particularly patriotic, but I love the fact the British are such a rowdy, aggressive, and annoying nation.

By the way, this boy is really hot.
But was fucking annoying, and was trying to steal my Staffordshire bull terrier-print tracksuit. But he works in Nike Town on Oxford Street if you want to perv.

PHOTOS: MICHAEL MAYREN AND ALEX MILSOM
TEXT: DARYOUSH HAJ-NAJAFI

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