This interview can be found on: http://brittlintner.com/realwomen/17/.
Anne Wiggins is a big mind with a big heart. Armed with a PhD from the London School of Economics, she went on to consult for a number of UN and international organisations. She recently founded her own ethical silk loungewear label.
Who are you?
Whilst working in museums and galleries in New York, Sydney and London, I completed my undergraduate degree in History & Medieval Studies at the University of Sydney, a masters degree in Computer Applications for the History of Art at Birkbeck, and pursued further post-graduate studies in medieval history at the University of New England.
Whilst studying for my masters, I founded a London-based internet design and online strategy consulting company. Its main clients were museums, galleries, design agencies and luxury goods companies. In parallel, I completed a doctorate at the London School of Economics, researching e-business and innovation policies for entrepreneurs and SMEs. My PhD research resulted in a number of publications, culminating in my recent book and a separate consulting and academic career, for UNCTAD (the United Nations trade and development policy thinktank), the International Labour Organization and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.
However, throughout this period, I was increasingly drawn back to my passion for design: from childhood onwards, I have designed my clothes, and either made them myself or had them tailored to my specifications. I am now winding down my other commitments in order to concentrate on building my ethical silk nightwear and loungewear label, Anne Wiggins London. Free from the obligation to produce in large quantities, I painstakingly sourced the very finest raw materials and the best craftsman using traditional artisan techniques that cannot be replicated in mass-produced garments. All without compromising my beliefs. Of course, at no stage in the production process are people exploited, but it was also very important to me that even the silkworms not suffer. The fabric in my garments is not coated in softeners, elastomers, synthetic resins, nor has it been subject to chemical treatments that are toxic and contain suspected carcinogens. I insist on quality controls greater than the ISO standards and those set by the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments.
Quality is crucial to every choice I make. I feel that producing objects of a high quality that will last for many years amounts to a fundamental contribution to the environment: to manufacture clothing that will be disposed of after a few years of use – no matter how green the process of their manufacture and disposal – misses the point. Ethics and quality should go hand-in-hand... I believe that this issue is essential to our future.
How do you keep it real?
I am fortunate to have a solid base of wonderful, amazing friends, some of whom have been in my life since childhood. I speak with a core of them every day, no matter where I am or what I’m doing. I think there’s something so beautiful and magical about friendship: people coming into your life andchoosing to love and support you. I’ve had my share of heartache, injury and loss, and my family – of course – and friends have enabled me to come out the other side. I never forget how precious the gift of their presence in my life is. I also love hiking and cooking for the people I love.
What's the most memorable occasion on which you've been wearing a Britt Lintner dress?
Last November, I flew from Geneva to Nice for what was to be a day of meetings in Monaco. That evening, Geneva airport was snowed in, and I was stranded. As even trains back to Geneva from Nice weren’t getting through, the next night I flew to Paris, caught the train back to Geneva the following morning, and went straight to another meeting. By that stage, I had been wearing the same dress for three straight days! However, because of its quality and beautiful cut, it looked pristine, and I appeared unruffled… I can’t think of any clothes in my wardrobe other than Britt’s that would have held up under such pressure – high praise indeed!
Do you have any fun fashion tips?
I think underwear and sleepwear are incredibly important, even if no-one else sees them. Beauty, quality and luxury - even in the smallest details of our lives - have the ability to calm, reassure, uplift and inspire us.
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