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Those looking for an example of how to laugh in the face of adversity will surely be hard pressed to find anything better than to point to acclaimed fashion designer Julien Macdonald.
His eponymous company went into liquidation in July 2023, as I revealed at the time, leaving dozens of creditors – many of them highly skilled self-employed men and women – thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
Just over a year on, Macdonald, once crowned British Fashion Designer of the Year, has been delighting fans by posting holiday snaps on social media showing him and his pals on the party island of Mykonos.
It’s a display of bravery that suggests Macdonald’s mischievous spirit remains intact – the same spirit that helped propel him from humble beginnings in his hometown of Merthyr Tydfil to a stellar roster of clients, including Catherine Zeta-Jones and supermodel Bella Hadid, all willing to pay up to £40,000 a time for his creations.
But is the happy-go-lucky 53-year-old Macdonald tempting fate? I ask because, buried in the first annual report produced by the liquidators investigating the collapse of Julien Macdonald Ltd, is a stark warning that an unnamed director is likely to face legal action. Optimise, a law firm specialising in insolvency litigation, has paid £5,000 for the rights to pursue “any potential claims against the company’s former directors”.
Those looking for an example of how to laugh in the face of adversity will surely be hard pressed to do better than point to acclaimed fashion designer Julien Macdonald.
Julien Macdonald attends VIP screening of ‘Mary Quant’ at Victoria & Albert Museum with Queen Camilla
The report added: “The details of this transaction and the legal claim against the director must remain confidential at this stage.”
Optimise CEO Mark Goodwin is equally discreet: “It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to comment on this at this time,” he tells me.
Macdonald’s many creditors are not so inhibited. They are owed a total of £524,000, much of it related to work done on his triumphant London Fashion Week show, organised in collaboration with one of his wealthiest clients, the Mexican socialite Gabriela Gonzalez, who keeps a white tiger called Max in her garden.
“If it went to court, I would love it,” one of them tells me. “I would be there every day.”
Macdonald, whose mother worked in a light bulb factory, set up two new companies last year. One, Glitz and Sparkles, was quickly renamed Julien Macdonald 2023 Ltd; the other, JM Sparkles Ltd, is behind schedule with Companies House. Is it about to blow up?
Macdonald declined to comment, but industry sources say he is about to celebrate the relaunch of one of his brands, Star by Julien Macdonald.
The smart ones are talking about… Sir Benjy heads down the rabbit hole for a rave party
This year at Glastonbury, the festival was missing its infamous burrow, where the likes of Brad Pitt and Kate Moss have revelled in Alice in Wonderland-themed surroundings in previous years. But a very unexpected figure has brought it back to another venue in Somerset.
This weekend, 78-year-old Sir Benjamin Slade will host The Rabbit Hole at his 2,000-acre Maunsel House estate, with Bryan Ferry’s son Isaac among the DJs.
Sir Benjy, an expert marksman who has 80 firearms on display in the pub, tells me: “I hope to meet some of my friends’ sons.” The eccentric baronet adds: “I’ve got earplugs for the noise. I’ll be hanging around the bonfires.”
Beware! Sir Benjy has a two-year-old daughter with his ex-girlfriend Sahara Sunday Spain, a poet and composer 46 years his junior.
This weekend, 78-year-old Sir Benjamin Slade will host The Rabbit Hole at his 2,000-acre Maunsel House estate.
Ben Fogle is more famous than the heir to the throne and his brother, at least in some parts of the world. “I was once filming in Botswana, with Princes William and Harry, when a local guide saw us and excitedly ran over,” the TV star says. “Ignoring William and Harry, he turned to me and said, ‘Ben Fogle? I’m a huge fan. ’ He then added, ‘I love you in Cash in the Attic,’ slightly overshadowing my moment of glory.”
The war hero flies again, and receives a welcome from Witchell
Ahead of tomorrow’s Westminster Abbey service to mark Battle of Britain Day, one of our bravest pilots has taken to the skies once again.
At the age of 103, former Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC set off for France across the English Channel in a single-engined Piper, sitting next to the pilot and with his friend Randolph Churchill, Winston’s great-grandson, in the back. Colin was keen to see Britain’s new Normandy memorial at Gold Beach, so they landed nearby.
On arrival, they found the memorial’s founding trustee, Nicholas Witchell, dressed in a chef’s jacket. The former BBC royal correspondent now runs the memorial, including its cafe.
“I’ve made 2,000 sandwiches in the last two months,” Witchell tells me. “So it was an honour to make ham and cheese baguettes for a Churchill and a DFC.”
Leave my Joel’s dance alone
Joel Dommett, who hosted the National Television Awards this week, was heavily criticised for his song-and-dance routine at the start of the ceremony, broadcast on ITV.
Now his wife, Hannah Cooper-Dommett, 35, has hit back at his critics from her armchair. “It’s unfair,” the Dutch model tells me at Soho’s Little Scarlet Door, where she has been mixing cocktails to celebrate the relaunch of the Warehouse brand by Debenhams.com. “He did a great job and I’m so proud of him. He had dance rehearsals and singing lessons.”
Hannah Cooper-Dommett, 35, has responded to her critics from her armchair
Sir Cliff Richard wasn’t on hand to sing “Congratulations”, but I can reveal that the Bachelor’s old friend Bruce Welch tied the knot for the third time on Thursday.
The 82-year-old guitarist, a founding member of Sir Cliff’s backing band The Shadows, exchanged vows with Jilly Hamilton, 66, a fashion buyer, at a registry office in Richmond, south-west London. Welch, who was once engaged to Grease star Olivia Newton-John, tells me: “We met in a coffee shop. I didn’t want a show wedding, just family. It was great fun and really lovely.”
The musician, who co-wrote some of Cliff’s biggest hits, added: “We’re off to the south of France for our honeymoon.” Let’s hope they enjoy their (belated) summer break.
(Very) modern manners
Although she is a vegetarian, Kate Winslet insists on cutting the Sunday roast, even at other people’s houses.
“I recently watched a man cut up a chicken and he clearly didn’t know what he was doing,” the Titanic star, 48, gasps on the Table Manners podcast. “He was literally tearing off pieces with his fingers. I said, ‘Next time I come to your house, I’ll tell you how to cut up a chicken,’ and the next time I went, I said, ‘I’m going to teach you how to do this.'”
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