PRINCIPLES AND PROCESS
Pam Hogg's designs are the antithesis of high fashion, provocative and original, brimming with humour and audacity. She wears her heart on her sleeve and her principles on her wrists, tattoos self drawn in black capitals declaring ‘honour’ on the left, ‘justice’ on the right. Today’s young revere Pam for the ethics she designs and lives by, her belief in the strength of women, her advocacy for gay rights and the rights of all oppressed, and the imperative of individualism in the face of pressure to conform. Her motto is to surprise, “to give them what they don’t know they want”.
As her work encompasses many fields, Pam sees herself more of a creator. The root is passion, the discovery of a gem born from the collision of all of her loves. “I capture these fragments that float around my head, tiny shards that collide and eventually fall into place like a jigsaw.” She has been described as hilariously funny, a wonderful raconteur, and a bold and fierce romantic with a paradoxical blend of fragility and strength.
Winter Palace Vienna / Vulgar exhibition 2017
PORTRAIT
Pam Hogg’s career was forged in London’s mid-80s post-punk scene. She credits her father for “inspiring me to use every inch of my imagination”, altering her clothes aged six and self-tailoring desired imaginary garments by the age of fourteen.
A multi award-winning graduate from Glasgow, hitting London at a time when fashion embraced the bold, she won over the notoriously non impressable doorman Steve Strange at his infamous Blitz Club, the legendary New Romantic haunt. There she danced with David Bowie, turned heads with outfits she created, and within weeks had grabbed clubland by the scruff of its neck with her mini collections requested by world-renowned stores. Her early offerings were stocked at Harrods and Harvey Nichols and further afield in Bloomingdales NY, plus boutiques Paris, Italy and Tokyo, while her unit in the infamous Kensington Hyper Hyper emporium secured her first catwalk show in 1985. Over the next five years she launched her own boutique in the heart of Soho, seconds from Carnaby Street, while designing and producing a further six catwalk shows, cementing her status as a star of the London scene. In 1990 she was invited to appear live on the Wogan show. Wearing black PVC leggings which he remarked looked uncomfortable, she replied “are they?”, and proceeded to slide onto his lap.
Pam Hogg with “Prophecy”
Sarah Lucas "Big Women” exhibition 2023
Pam cites music as her biggest influence and the place that she’s formed her deepest friendships. In 1980 her first band Rubbish supported the Pogues on a weekly basis, but she was soon to begin her fashion career, leaving it all behind. Ten years later in 1990, invited on tour with the industrial band Pigface, she was unexpectedly lured on stage in Nashville. Subsequently impressed, Chris Connolly declared she was now a member of the band until her departure home. It was a mind changing moment that revived a lust for treading the boards, and so began the machinations. The following year, fashion for now had ended, she had closed up shop, and started writing. The ‘90s saw her forming and fronting two groups, Doll and Hoggdoll.
In 1993, having only 5 days to muster a band together and teach them the 5 songs she'd just written, there was no band name for the first of three dates opening for Blondie. Asked backstage at the Birmingham Symphony Hall, in a split second flash "Doll" was born. A year later in 1994, they opened for seminal band The Raincoats.
Although still not returned to the fashion business, Pam continued to make clothes for herself. They were admired by Anita Pallenberg who constantly encouraged her to make a fashion film. “Accelerator” eventually became the first, where she cast Anita and her longtime friend Patti Palladin to star alongside her in a faux Rock n Roll band which also included Pam and Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie.
In 2005 the Spanish curator Xabier Arakistain commissioned her to produce three films combining her music and fashion for his projection based 'Switch on the Power' exhibition in Bilbao. Modelled by a star-studded cast of friends including Siouxsie Sioux and Alison Mosshart the videos hit the mainstream, unwittingly propelling her fashion career back to the fore.
"Will There Be A Morning" show finale
13 Hand painted Trophies for the Brit Awards
Pam Hogg's studio 2015
In 2015 Pam Hogg joined the elite list of British icons asked to design the Brit Awards Winner’s Trophy 2016, alongside the likes of Vivienne Westwood, Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin. She broke from convention and designed 13 individual statuettes for each of the winners that night. Her ongoing London Fashion Week shows are a fixture of the season’s calendar, revered for their obstinate pursuit of imagination and integrity. Pam single-handedly creates, directs, produces and styles these collections, performed to front-row regulars including Nick Cave, Siouxsie Sioux, Bobby Gillespie, Ray and Jaime Winstone, Stephen Jones, Nick Rhodes, and many more. In 2016 Pam delivered a TED talk for TEDxGlasgow titled Divine Disorder, and unconnected, a month later was awarded an honorary doctorate from Glasgow University and the Glasgow School of Art.
London boutique Browns gave Pam free rein to dress its five famous windows with the collection they had purchased, and in 2007 she designed Kylie’s infamous black mesh metal-studded catsuit for the video Two Hearts. Her much-anticipated 2009 catwalk return collection “Galaxy Warriors”, modelled by Alice Dellal, Daisy Lowe, Jaime Winstone, and Liberty Ross, was met with a standing ovation, showered with praise from the highest echelons of the fashion world. Her triumphant return was cemented by a slew of prizes including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Scottish Fashion Council and the Great Scott Award. Vivienne Westwood even made a surprise appearance at Pam’s Paris Debut collection 2012.
"LAWLESS" Studded Gown, 2016 Posters from the Brit Awards 2016
POLITICS AND PUSSY RIOT
Never shying from the political, a pivotal moment of her career came in February 2014 when Amnesty International approached three weeks before London Fashion Week, asking her to give a nod to the plight of Pussy Riot. Fashion week coincided with the Russian Winter Olympics that year, but due to ill health she hadn't planned to show, it was however a request Pam couldn’t refuse. Immediately visualising a collection, within seconds she named it Courage, and further secured a time slot on Valentine’s Day, to celebrate the struggle for gay rights in Russia and across the world. Pam’s models carried placards proclaiming “Love is a Human Right”, “This collection is not for sale”, “it's A Dedication to Pussy Riot”. Six months later Karl Lagerfeld followed her lead in his Spring Summer '15 collection with banners for Chanel.
"Courage" Tribute collection to Pussy Riot and Gay Culture in 2014 for Amnesty International.
PLAUDITS
In 2006 she was invited to exhibit at Switch on the Power alongside Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol and Kraftwerk. In 2014 her work was exhibited at the V&A alongside designers John Galliano, Christian Lacroix, Vivienne Westwood.
Pam was commissioned to design the Winner’s Trophy for the Brit Awards 2016.
In 2017 The Barbican opened The Vulgar exhibition, where 4 of her large catwalk pieces were shown amongst the biggest fashion houses including Chanel and Dior. It then travelled to The Winter Palace in Vienna.
Her solo exhibition ‘Divine Disorder’ presented during the Liverpool Biennale 2018 was a celebration of art, fashion and photography in collaboration with many of the UK’s top creatives. Also in 2018, Pam worked with the National Theatre of Scotland designing the costumes for their production of Cyrano de Bergerac.
Her prophetically titled 2020 catwalk show ‘Will There Be A Morning / Will There Be A Mourning’ featuring a finale of giant coffin headpieces, was staged just before lockdown and was to be her farewell to the catwalk for the foreseeable future. It transpired that it was actually the last physical fashion week for all, for some time to come.
In February 2023, the main coffin headpiece and gown was requested by highly respected artist Sarah Lucas for her “Big Women” exhibition. Titled “Prophesy” it was subsequently photographed by the Financial Times alongside a requested interview from Pam which was hastily conducted on the train to the grand opening in Colchester's Firstsite Art Gallery due to the scarcity of time as she was finishing her next collection due on the catwalk a week later.
For “The Horror Exhibition“at Somerset House in October 2022, Pam Hogg presented a large black latex couture piece titled “Exterminating Angel”.
Catsuit 2008 .. for “Galaxy Warriors” collection 2009
In 2023 the V&A Dundee exhibited 2 examples of Pam's work, while a few months later the V&A London requested a signature catsuit worn by Siouxsie Sioux for their "Diva" exhibition.
Pam’s work has been showcased in countless galleries and venues worldwide, including the Pompidou (Paris), Christie’s (New York), Kelvin Hall Galleries (Glasgow), the V&A London as part of their Club to Catwalk and Wedding Gown exhibitions, Tate St Ives, the Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture (Moscow), and Summerhall (Edinburgh) for a career retrospective.
During this time Pam was teaching in art schools around the country, Djing at events and clubs, many of her own, including “The Fantastic Fabulon” named after one of her collections. The monthly nights were circus like in atmosphere opening early with an underground movie and rollerskating beauties selling popcorn, followed immediately by forty five minutes of live band sets before the dance floor opened up.
AWARDS
Her early work was recognised with prizes and awards including the Newbury Medal of Distinction and the Frank Warner Memorial Medal, the Leverhulme Scholarship and the Royal Society of Arts Bursary. Her subsequent career has been lionised with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Scottish Fashion Council, the Great Scott Award alongside Trevor Sorbie and Andrew Marr, and the Award for Creative Excellence from the Scottish Fashion Council. Pam holds three more fashion awards from Scotland, an MA in Textiles from the Royal College of Art, and an Honorary Doctorate from The University of Glasgow and the Glasgow School of Art (2016).
FUTURE
Mid 2024, Scotland's renowned and recently revamped Paisley Museum, will open with a display of a specially commissioned piece by Pam for their permanent collection alongside selected archive material on loan.
Further exhibitions planned for 2024 are currently in conversation.