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The news broke on her Instagram account: Melanie Ward, a visionary designer and iconic figure of the 90s, passed away after a long battle with the disease. Very quickly, tributes multiplied: creators, models, photographers, but also passionate and anonymous, all welcoming the woman who knew how to shake up the codes without being afraid to be different. Because Melanie Ward was not a fashion designer like the others. A discreet genius, a keen eye and a free spirit, she created, often in the shadows, a raw, sensual and resolutely modern aesthetic, whose influence is still felt today
The Signature Melanie Ward
Originally, nothing predestined her for a career in fashion. With a degree in languages and political science, the young British woman dreamed of being a diplomat. But since childhood, she liked to transform clothes, divert cuts, invent silhouettes. One evening, her creativity attracts attention: a men's jacket transformed into a mini-dress, and here she is propelled into the big picture by becoming a designer for a day.
After a year at Central Saint Martins, she joined a publication as a fashion editor, and quickly made her mark. We are in the early 90s, and Melanie Ward is sweeping aside the dictates of the time: no more overly perfect campaigns, no more slick and conventional covers. She breathes new life, raw, grunge, an instinctive and sincere aesthetic, alongside photographers such as David Sims, Corinne Day or Mario Sorrenti. In fact, it was she who designed the styling of the mythical cover of a publication revealing the raw beauty of Kate Moss in 1990.
La Tempest Ward
Her eye, her audacity, her intuition... very quickly, fashion swears by her. She collaborated with Calvin Klein, Jil Sander, and then, in 1992, became the muse and collaborator of the creator Helmut Lang. With him, she is shaping a new aesthetic: minimalist, conceptual, androgynous. A stylist but also the favorite model of the Austrian designer, she contributes to the construction of this refined and radical visual language, which has become a cult.
In 1995, Liz Tilberis called her to a publication in the US, where she worked as a senior fashion editor for fourteen years. Throughout her career, she collaborated with prestigious houses, from Chanel to Prada, via Hermès and Dior, and was a consultant for Karl Lagerfeld. She will sign her last campaign for Dior Men Fall/Winter 2025-2026, published last August. The ultimate reflection of his visionary eye and his remarkable career.