Glamour and Amour: An Interview With Starwalk’s Royal Couple

As David Walter-Walters welcomes me to his Market Street flat he exudes what can only be described as an effortless charm. “Claire’s running a little late I think, she’s just doing some Starwalk Stuff. I don’t think she should be longer than ten minutes though.” He smiles warmly, a smile that I know I am not the first to think would look equally good on the runway as it does behind the scenes of Starwalk, St Andrews’ largest and oldest charity fashion show.

David offers me coffee (an artisanal Pervuian blend – delicious) and our talk in the fifteen minutes before his girlfriend, the lovely Claire Macaulay, arrives flows so easily that I hardly notice the time passing. We talk about his upbringing in rural Oxfordshire, his love of tennis (“I think we all remember where we were when Andy won”); he is engaging but wittily self-deprecating about his degree in International Relations which he says he has been passionate about “since even before 9/11” and of which he is also student president. Claire arrives looking as immaculate as ever, if blushing a little from both from rushing and the crisp January St Andrews air. She is gushingly apologetic about her lateness. “I’m so, so sorry, I was trying to get some graphic stuff finalised for our New York show and there were all these problems with the aspect ratios. Something to do with conversion between Macs and windows, techie stuff. Absolute nightmare!” Turning pointedly to me and then to his girlfriend, David says “You aren’t the most technologically-gifted soul are you darling?” Claire flicks her long blonde hair and reply coyly “Well perhaps not sweetheart, but I try. I do try.” They both begin to glow, spring-like.

Jackie Argyle: So, I hardly know where to begin between your relationship and your involvement with Starwalk but luckily I think we might be able to begin with both at once. Is that right?

David Water-Walters: (laughs) well yeah, I suppose it is hard to entangle them at this point. So back in first year I quickly made friends with a lot of people in 3rd and 4th year and heard them talking them talking about it and I inquired and heard a bit more about it and just thought “Yeah, that sounds amazing”. It was similar for Claire, I think.

CM: Oh definitely. You know, coming from Edinburgh, which you know isn’t London obviously, but it’s, you know, a big city and I was just, you know, concerned that… (pauses)

JA: Concerned that St Andrews would seem kind of small and boring comparatively?

CM: I mean yes, definitely. And so I heard about Starwalk and just thought it sounded like the best thing ever.

JA: Sure. So how did actually get involved in Starwalk and when did you first meet?

CM: Well we both applied for Starwalk, I think we both knew people on the committee already. I mean that sort of how it works isn’t it?

DW-W: I mean, it’s sort of how everything works. (shrugs)

CM: Yeah, so we both applied and, you know, right from the get go I knew I wanted to be involved in the women’s fashion side so I applied for Head of Maxi Dresses and Skirts and got it and Dave ended up in men’s fashion which was actually by accident wasn’t it?

DW-W: Yeah, I wanted to be Head of Stationery which is actually a big role for someone in first year but I’d interned at PWC the summer before which obviously saw me gain a lot of experience with stationery in a corporate environment. In the end, I didn’t get it, it went to a great guy called Hunter Schwanz who’d been head of Lamination the year before for Don’t Walk, but they said that they thought I was a really good candidate – they were impressed with the stuff from PWC and also I think some of the school-building I’d done in Mali during my gap year – and they actually hadn’t had anyone outstanding apply for Head of Cufflinks so did I want it? And yes I did want it and, well, the rest is history.

CM: Cufflinks and Maxi Dresses obviously are in the men’s and women’s fashion sub-teams but they both come under the wider fashion team so we met through that.

JA: How wonderful. And you’ve both risen up the ranks of Starwalk since then as well. Do you mind filling in our readers on that progession?

DW-W: Not at all. So I knew I wanted to go more into the corporate/organisational side so my second year I moved into sponsorship and then last year I became Head of Marketing and then this year I applied for it and was fortunate enough to get Event Director, which as you might imagine is a big role.

JA: And you Claire?

CM: Well I stayed in fashion, which is my first love, and became Head of Accessories and then made the jump to Head of Women’s Fashion and this year I’m Creative Director.

JA: So Event Director and Creative Director – and that’s what’s led people to call you ‘Starwalk’s Royal Couple’ right? (They both laugh)

CM: Oh god, well yeah. Starwalk’s ‘Royal Couple’, Kate and Wills, we get all of that.

DW-W: Kim and Kanye – that was my favourite.

CM: Oh babe, no. I thought the Kennedy’s was kind of funny, a little sinister maybe.

JA: So what can you tell me about the growth of Starwalk in that time?

CM: It just been massive hasn’t it?

DW-W: It’s been exponential. It was big when arrived here but it really has gone from strength to strength. It’s become so much more than just the event itself in St Andrews. We already had the Edinburgh show of course and then in our first year we did the London show which was just huge. Then last year we did New York for the first time.

CM: That was amazing. Just…wow, like a dream.

DW-W: It was totally unbelievable. I flew out there for two weeks, I thought I was going to get thrown out of the university for missing so much stuff but once I got back and was able to explain more fully that it was Starwalk’s first show in New York and just what a big deal it was obviously everything was fine.

CM: I mean at times like that, if you are in one of the major positions like we both are it is almost like a full time job. It’s a huge responsibility.

DW-W: It can be hard to convey to people just how big it is now. Particularly people outside St Andrews in contexts like a job interview. They’re like ‘So it’s a fashion show is it?’ and you’re there just thinking ‘well yes, but how can I explain just what a huge deal it is?’. So by way of example, this year for the first time we’ve got someone on the committee whose role is Internal Accessories.

JA: What does that entail?

DW-W: So that’s like someone whose role is just sorting out Starwalk accessories for the people on the Starwalk comittee. So that’s like key chains, beanies, caps, lifting gloves for when our models hit the gym, all that kind of stuff which is so important for the Starwalk brand and projecting that Starwalk lifestyle that people aspire to. Before we had just a Head of Internal Merchandise who was sorting out all that stuff as well the t-shirts and the hoodies and the jackets and everything else and they were just getting so snowed under.

JA: I can imagine. So how many people are on the committee now?

DW-W: 164

JA: Wow, that is a lot.

DW-W: Yeah, I mean it might seem excessive to the outside world. Like ‘164? What are those people all doing?’ but seriously that’s just a reality of how big Starwalk is now. I reckon in 3 years time it could be 200 and who knows where else we’ll be having charity shows. The Middle East maybe?

JA: And with Starwalk getting so big and just being such an ‘event’ now and so much more than just a fashion show do you worry that it is getting detached from that fashion element?

CM: No, not at all. I think that if anything it’s just given us both that impetus to be even more visionary. We can go out there and approach so many people we couldn’t five years ago, particularly younger designers. I think St Andrews is becoming a real place to break for young designers now.

DW-W: I think a big part of the reason we changed the standard table price from £80 to £100 last year was about bring it back again to that fashion element. I mean, ultimately, it is first and foremost a fashion show and that decision was about saying ‘Look, this isn’t just about status and FOMO and money but absolutely about fashion.’ Starwalk is for lovers of fashion above anything else and that’s reflected in the price. Fashion isn’t a cheap business.

CM: I have to agree.

DW-W: One caveat to that though, at £150 VIP clearly is something of an extravagance. It’s more about just giving people a chance to live that VIP experience, to be their heroes for a night, and yes that comes at a premium. To people who are critical of that price, I honestly think we could raise that price by £20 or £30 more and some people would get more enjoyment out of it because it costs that bit more. (pauses) You see, for a lot of people in St Andrews, Starwalk is so much more than just a fashion show. It’s about a way of being that refuses to accept the ordinary and the prosaic. It’s an aspiration.

CM: It’s a lifestyle.

JA: I’m not about to disagree. Claire, can you tell me you which designer you’re most excited about showing this year?

CM: I actually think all of our designers are professional level this year but I’m most excited about a designer called Mårkŏ Ümmāţ who’s of half-Norwegian, half-Ghanaian descent. His work is very influenced by child soldiers. Camouflage, use of baggy, over-seized uniforms, often in rags and tatters, lots of war paint which is a big challenge for our makeup department. I think it’s both shockingly revealing and revealing shocking.

JA: Sounds intriguing. One final question, will there be a return of the famed ‘lingerie section’ in this years show?

CM: Oh not this all over again! (David laughs) But as it happens yes the lingerie section is back. (David Cheers, Claire exaggeratedly-sighs). I think it’s going to be very tasteful though, sophisticated yet sexy.

DW-W: I think the lingerie section is important to Starwalk as well, not just because it’s a flesh-fest, but because of how little material is needed to make those pieces which also aligns with our environmental philosophy. I’m pleased we’ve bought it back. It highlights how fashion is about so much more than just clothing.

 

Images courtesy of msutoday.msu.edu