Culture
15 May 03

Leigh Tucker

“The stakes go up every season,” she reflects. “When I first sold to a Japanese store I was over the moon. I would have taken off my socks and shoes and sold them"

Leigh Tucker knew exactly what she was getting into when she decided to become a fashion designer. Her parents met while designing for Jimmy Heron and have been involved in the clothing industry since. Costume, in Castle Market, is a specialised boutique run by mother Billie and sister Tracy Tucker.

Leigh went from a postgraduate course in Ballyfermot College to Limerick and finally to NCAD, where she graduated in fashion design in ’97. After a short break in London, Leigh returned home to launch her collection.

“I went into design with a very realistic view of what it is like,” she states. “I had watched my parents’ business go bust twice in the ’80s. If you want to be a fantastic famous designer, pick something else to do. If you want fame and money, then don’t do clothes.”

Leigh’s collection is available in New York, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. Although based in Ireland, her work is shown at the small but eclectic and influential fashion show, ‘Tranio’, twice a year in Paris.

“The stakes go up every season,” she reflects. “When I first sold to a Japanese store I was over the moon. I would have taken off my socks and shoes and sold them. I just really wanted a Japanese outlet. I couldn’t make a living on the Irish market alone; it is necessary to adapt your collections to appeal to other markets.”

The combination of lace with masculine fabrics gives Leigh’s collection a feminine appeal, but with a more tailored, edgier undertone.

“I don’t like shoving people into structured things,”Leigh says. “I prefer the clothes fitting you, as opposed to you fitting into them. It’s very much about how the fabrics drape over the body. I like curvaceous women who will fill the clothes.”

Music has always been closely intertwined with fashion, inspiring designers and in turn influencing their collections.

“At the beginning of a new season I buy a load of CDs and listen to them incessantly,” Leigh says. “Last season I listened to Purple Rain for four months solid. I went through another phase of watching Xanadu – it’s a stupid ’80s movie with Olivia Newton-John on roller skates!

“I have recently gotten into Depeche Mode, which is a bit worrying. I hope I don’t begin to get too dark.”