Julien Macdonald OBE (born 19 March 1971) is a Welsh fashion designer.
Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Macdonald attended Cyfarthfa High School in Merthyr Tydfil. Macdonald was taught knitting by his mother, and soon became interested in design. He was also interested in a career as a dancer, but instead studied textiles at The Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Brighton, then went on to the Royal College of Art, where he gained a Master's Degree. Soon after graduation, Karl Lagerfeld recruited him to work for Chanel. He also worked freelance creating knitwear for Alexander McQueen.
In 2000, he was appointed as successor to Alexander McQueen as chief designer at the Paris Haute Couture house of Givenchy, and in 2001, he was named British Fashion Designer of the Year. His creations have been worn by stars such as Joely Richardson, Dannii Minogue, Geri Halliwell, Dame Shirley Bassey, Carmen Electra, Naomi Campbell, Beyoncé Knowles, and Selena Gomez [1]. He was also selected by British Airways to redesign their flight attendants' uniforms. He also acted as a judge on the British version of Project Runway, known as Project Catwalk, which was broadcast on Sky One. In June 2006, he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to fashion.
On 19 February MacDonald was unveiled as a new judge on Britain's Next Top Model along side new host Elle Macpherson.[1]
Macdonald has attracted much criticism for his extensive use of fur, including one incident in which he and Paris Hilton were flour-bombed.[2] He has stated that fur provides the majority of his revenue and that his label would collapse were he not to use it.[2] In February 2007, Macdonald was again criticised for the prominent use of fur in his autumn collection, causing further outrage when he claimed that "People who don't like fur can piss off. I love fur. It's a beautiful natural product from animals."[3]
Macdonald is the designer of the current British Airways uniform worn by all customer facing and operations staff
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