A tribute to Melanie Ward

Taken from the winter 25 issue of THE FACE. Get your copy here.

In October, the fashion world mourned the loss of legendary stylist, Melanie Ward. One of the early pioneers of fashion’s grunge movement, Melanie made an inimitable, rebellious mark on the industry. For the legendary 3^rd Summer of Love issue of THE FACE in July 1990, Melanie introduced a then-16-year-old Kate Moss to the world in a photoshoot by Corinne Day. ​“The cover of Kate wearing the crown embodies a seminal, defining moment in fashion and the music scene, the zeitgeist of the ​’90s. Everything changed,” Melanie told THE FACE. ​“There was a new democratic freedom to express yourself, be different and also be true to yourself.” Melanie went on to be senior fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar for more than a decade and worked with brands such as Dior Homme, Louis Vuitton, Helmut Lang, Hermès and Calvin Klein. She viewed her collaborators as ​“family”. Our thoughts are with them and all who loved her. Rest in peace, Melanie.

My memories of Melanie will always hold a special place in my heart – whether hanging out at THE FACE offices in the late ​’80s and early ​’90s, talking through fashion stories in progress with her photographer collaborators Nigel [Shafran], David [Sims], Corinne [Day] and Donald [Christie] as they were all starting out, or the times we were out having fun together socially back in the day. I loved spending time with Melanie. She was a rare and genuine talent, an inspirational stylist whose pared back aesthetic changed the course of fashion. But much more than that, she was a very special, authentic person, cherished by her collaborators and friends. The outpouring of love at the news of her passing is testament to what a beautiful soul she was.

Dear world. A few words about the magical Melanie Ward. Of course, I knew about her long before I got to work with her. The whole London world she was a part of influenced my ideas of clothing and freedom in the ​’90s. I worked with her only once but I felt like I saw her whole being and way of taking in possibilities and then breathing life into every one of them. I was with Holli [Smith – hair stylist] and Dick [Page – make-up artist] who knew Mel. Knew that she would want to stay till 4am! I knew that I couldn’t but I also knew if I had to there wouldn’t have been a better companion than Melanie Ward. Truly magical. Missed by all of you and myself.

Lemony Worm, Sylvia the Snake Lady (because of a funny-weird dance she once did) and La Hideosa: these were my pet names over the years for our sweet Mel. She was a magically kind person. Very clever, but it was a kind of cleverness that was light and generous. She was warm in person and at work, and you felt how important collaboration was to her. She knew that no single person was the architect of a photograph or fashion show – that we made all these things together. She was glad to share the spotlight and the joy of making things and being with other people. She was magically, wonderfully kind.

Melanie! Wow, I met her for the first time working for THE FACE with Corinne Day and Kate Moss on a story called [The Daisy Age for The 3^rd Summer of Love issue, July 1990]. We went to Camber Sands and did a beautiful story. It was a special time for all of us, right at the beginning of grunge. Melanie, throughout the years I’ve known her, was always such a beautiful, gentle, caring, creative, giving soul. She had an amazing creative vision and pushed boundaries from the very beginning. Massive love and respect, Melanie.

The first time Melanie’s name popped onto my radar was with Nigel Shafran’s ​“spaceman” story for THE FACE [Lost In Space, July 1989], and I thought, ​“What the hell is this brilliant madness?” If you want to find the spark that triggered grunge, that was it. Later, I met Mel in THE FACE office – around ​’92, I guess. She was with Kate [Moss] and Corinne [Day]. She looked like a cooler version of the girls I went to school with, so I just mooched over to introduce myself. And I was right – she was exactly like the girls I went to school with. We started laughing right away and carried on like that for the next 30 years. But her style iconography wasn’t her strongest feature.
Fashion’s worst personality trait is its unspoken hierarchy – the industry is addicted to it – but Mel would have nothing to do with that. She was a fashion socialist and treated everyone, from top to bottom, with great warmth and dignity.

Mel was one of the very first people I worked with. She was so smart, funny and always very, bloody kind. There are so many tales of our adventures. I distinctly remember being on a bridge in Wales in the middle of winter, wearing not very much as a lorry drove past and they just fell about laughing, because they were definitely not expecting to see us lot on their rural road. As I say, there are so many stories. We travelled around in crappy cars with bags of clothes (zero production) but so much fun – most of the time! I will miss her calm and I will miss our chats.

My fondest memories of Mel were when we were both starting out and she would turn up to work in an Afghan coat and a pair of Birkenstocks. Her disinterest in labels at that time forged the foundation of her approach to go on and achieve all she did.

Melanie was one of my biggest inspirations from the moment I first got into fashion. I look at her work constantly, pulling inspiration from everything she touched, from the Helmut Lang shows to THE FACE editorials. Getting to actually work with her on a shoot with Mert and Marcus was one of the most meaningful experiences of my career. She was so kind and cool and creative – exactly the kind of person you hope your heroes will be. I’ll always cherish those photos and the memory of that day. Her work will keep inspiring me forever. I just hope I can carry even a fraction of her magic with me.

We were just a team back then. Melanie was on most of the jobs that I look back on now and think, ​“Fuck, how did we make that happen?” ​’Cause we were all young and in it to say something different to what we were seeing around us. Melanie was super sweet and unassuming, so could push things further than people around her realised. She was quietly subversive, a perfectionist, stupidly clever with clothes but mostly she was a really lovely person. She made a huge impact. I hope she knew it.

Our first conversations were in 2004, via a good friend Jorge Garcia, as we were going to do some work together but couldn’t get the times to line up. When we met it was like meeting an old friend and we spent about two hours laughing our heads off over all sorts of things – that was it. There are so many [favourite memories]. Lots of silliness. We would drive everyone mad – we would get so distracted and start lots of side conversations and Lucy [Beeden, design director of Kim Jones Studio] would tell us off. We travelled all over the world together and were normally just locked in rooms doing shoots or shows. It was her precision, her knowledge and just how she would look at everything [that made her such a force to work with]. Unknowingly as a teenager, virtually every image I liked was something Mel had been part of. Whether you know her name or not, I’m sure every fashion fan or student will have her work as a reference.