Bio
Morwenna Wilson is a chartered mechanical engineer and a Senior Projects Director at the developer Argent. She joined the firm in 2011 and is currently leading the design and delivery of several major construction projects at King’s Cross, including the refurbishment of two existing buildings in the heritage cluster. Wilson started her career at Arup as a mechanical building services engineer where she gained seven years’ experience working in building design teams. During this time, she was the lead mechanical engineer for the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge, designed by Stanton Williams architects, which in 2012 won the RIBA Stirling Prize. Recently, she led the team restoring and re-erecting the iconic Grade II-listed Gasholder No. 8, which helps define the skyline of King’s Cross. The project took a year to complete with complex structural engineering management and third party interfaces. Morwenna also led the design of a new public park located within the gasholder to be delivered in 2015.
Portrait courtesy of Argent
Q&A
How closely do you follow fashion?
Design Museum
I closely follow what the world of fashion is doing and saying, but I am happy to be part of the audience rather than one of its performers.
Morwenna Wilson
Do you read a fashion magazine on a regular basis? Do you consult fashion blogs?
Design Museum
Print still has a place in my world: as everyone remotely fashion-aware probably does, I have a subscription to Vogue. I follow my favourite fashion brands on Twitter and Instagram for the feeling of them ‘talking’ to me and pointing me down new avenues, and it can be really therapeutic to take 30 seconds out occasionally and immerse myself reading about beautiful and aspirational things. It’s my form of escapism.
Morwenna Wilson
When did you become aware of fashion?
Design Museum
Like many children, most of my life from a young age was spent in school uniform! So I had little opportunity to experiment with clothes. It was only when I got to University that I could start considering what to wear and how, through this choice, to ‘define’ myself. I then looked to the wider world for inspiration.
Morwenna Wilson
When did you develop your own ‘style’ - do you feel that you have one - what is your basic 'look'?
Design Museum
I have a particular ‘style’ at the moment, but am very open to developing and changing it as life moves forward. I find the need to evolve and develop my style in the future quite exciting, and something to look forward to. I believe it should take time to develop a style, in the same way it takes time for someone to learn a language; it’s not an overnight ability, and you have to practice communicating and even make mistakes to learn. I still make fashion ‘mistakes’, (not that I hope anyone else would notice them!) - by that I mean I choose an outfit that doesn’t make me feel 100% fabulous and confident, and which I theren know not to wear again. When it comes to clothes I am a creature of habit, a trait probably informed by my early school uniform days. I have therefore developed my own work ‘uniform’. There are primarily two options – dark trousers, a white top and a strong coloured or patterned jacket; or dark trousers a bright coloured or patterned top/shirt and a dark jacket. This means choosing an outfit, and shopping, is a fairly simple process, yet one with lots of different possible combinations to build. Clothes give you the opportunity to blend into the crowd or to stand out from the crowd. Jackets are very important to me because I am petite and a woman, yet one with responsibility and authority working in a male dominated industry, often with a team of people older than me. I feel that jackets give me an air of formality and maturity, make me feel like I have more physical presence (although as tempting as it is, I still don’t go for ones with massive 80s shoulder pads!) and give me the chance to be bold, through strong colours and prints. My aim, generally, is to stand out from the black, navy and grey-suited crowd. A bright pop of colour makes people notice and remember you, and when you have their visual ‘attention’ they can be more open to listening. I almost always select my outfit the night before because I have an early start and I don’t want to wake my fiancé by rooting around in the wardrobe! So I don’t have the luxury of seeing how I feel in the morning and picking my clothes to match my mood. That is why having such a staple set of ‘go-to’ outfits that make me feel confident and happy, on any given day, is so important. I often start the selection of the outfit with the jacket and I have them all lined up in my wardrobe in colour order to help to me choose. I amaze myself at how much delight I still get on a daily basis from opening my wardrobe and seeing all my beautiful jackets arranged like a rainbow waiting for me.
Morwenna Wilson
Do you have a preference for particular shapes, colours, fabrics or textures?
Design Museum
I have a passion for vintage jewellery and scarves and I wear one or both every day to liven up my work ‘uniform’. For me it’s about the rarity of the items I own: I know I won’t see them on anyone else, and they often provoke comment and questions. I search pieces out wherever I can, especially when I am on holiday; for example, I bought several pairs of early Chanel earrings and a 1960s Omega De Ville watch when I was in Tokyo earlier this year. I have what other people consider to be a “vast” collection of vintage silk scarfs by designers such as Gucci, Ferragamo, Hermes, Dior and Cartier. I love finding them at car boot sales and antique fairs and so I don’t pay anything like the price they are when new. But my real favourites are my vintage Varuna wool Liberty of London scarves, most of which are from the 1980s. They are huge, almost like picnic rugs, and I use them like a coat in spring and autumn to keep me warm when the temperature drops.
Morwenna Wilson
Who are your favourite designers and why (historical and contemporary)?
Design Museum
My two favourite contemporary designers both take real objects and apply them to fashion to create incredible prints. I adore the way Mary Katrantzou makes everyday objects (such as stamps, pencils, country scenery, road signs) look so glamorous in her very clever prints. I am also a huge fan of Richard Weston – he applies photographs of stones and minerals to large silk scarves and, as well as looking beautiful, they feel so luxurious. The patterns and colours are so varied that I often have to stop myself buying them ALL! Recently a friend and I have started creating some of our own silk scarves using photographs of places and events that mean something to us. It’s such a buzz wearing something that is unique, and that attracts questions and comments. I love being able to say “I designed it”. Perhaps one day this will develop into a creative sideline…
Morwenna Wilson
How much do you involve your partner in clothes buying?
Design Museum
He has a good eye (must be in the genes - his sister is a womenswear buyer for Harrods), but I like my clothes to reflect me, and I enjoy choosing them.
Morwenna Wilson
How many pairs of shoes or handbags do you have?
Design Museum
This isn’t the best measure of my passion for fashion! But if I ask how many jackets and scarves I have….probably about 70 and 150 respectively. How many pairs of vintage Chanel earrings? Probably 25 to 30.
Morwenna Wilson
How important is hair and make-up to you?
Design Museum
It is important, but it isn’t something I spend a lot of time or money on. I think I’m lucky that my hair is quite low maintenance: I wear a hard hat most days visiting construction sites, so I can’t be too precious about my hair.
Morwenna Wilson
Do you buy seasonally or when the need or mood dictates?
Design Museum
I buy when my mood dictates. I can go months without a purchase and then go for a weekend to Paris with a girlfriend and spend a fortune and struggle to carry it all back. The Paris sales are incredible, and visiting is well worth the price of the Eurostar ticket. My friend Bridget regularly says to me ‘You have to spend to save’ and that’s exactly what we do in Paris!
Morwenna Wilson
Is there a difference between your public and private wardrobe - if so, what are the reasons behind this?
Design Museum
I think some of my colleagues would be surprised to hear that there isn’t much difference between my work and weekend wardrobe. I still wear jackets at the weekend, even for very casual occasions, but I swap my formal black trousers for a pair of dark blue jeans and throw on a t-shirt. However you’ll never find me in ripped, scruffy jeans: they remind me of my teenage years.
Morwenna Wilson
How do you view fashion and clothes in relation to your professional standing?
Design Museum
I remember one of my teachers at school said to me ‘Dress for the job that you want, not the job that you have’. I always dress in something that I would feel confident walking into the Argent boardroom wearing, because you never know when you will unexpectedly be required to meet with influential people. My development management and project management job is all about leading people. Respect takes time to earn and in leading large teams I don’t always have the luxury of lots of time with each person. I also have to be realistic and honest with myself - I look fairly young for my age, and the majority of the people working for me are older than me and have more experience. Therefore I need to give myself the best chance of being taken seriously as quickly as possible and clothes are one of the tools that I use to achieve this.
Morwenna Wilson
To what extent does your professional role inform your fashion choices?
Design Museum
Managing building projects, I have to go onto construction sites in full swing nearly every day, to monitor progress and make decisions. This means a hard hat, high-visibility jacket and steel toe cap boots. I think of them like Heston Blumenthal’s chef whites – helps get you in the mental zone and keeps you protected, but doesn’t mean you’re no longer amazing at what you do. There’s a “no skirts and dresses” rule on site, for safety reasons, but that doesn’t bother me as I hardly ever feel the inclination to wear them anyway.
Morwenna Wilson
What does fashion in the future need to do to help women / to empower them?
Design Museum
The most empowering thing for anyone, male or female, is the ability to have a choice and to make their own decisions. Every day we make a personal decision about what to wear; it might sound trivial, but it gives us all, however small, a sense of empowerment.
Morwenna Wilson
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