Ever Evolving - Lorna Holder
“Seen it all, done it all” is a phrase that can be reserved for those whose life experiences and insights expand the wider breadths that most. And this is the case with our FACE Community guest speaker, Lorna Holder. With experience extending across contents, cultures and creative practices, Ruth Jacobs reports on the life of a driven woman.
Lorna moved to the UK some years are her parent’s own arrival from Kingston Jamaica during the Windrush in the 1950s. With the wise words of her grandmother ringing in her ears, ‘Always be proud of who you are’ and ‘never be fearful’ a life full of new adventures began to unfold in many ways.
Living with her mother and stepfather, Lorna was both shielded from the racial tensions that were all too familiar for those arrivals into the UK for people from the Caribbean in the 1950s and 1960s but also exposed her to diversity of Black culture and societies from America, such as music from James Brown, Nina Simone and The Supremes as well as the words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Angela Davis.
Lorna Holder Style Polymath
Born in Jamaica, and raised in Nottingham, in 1975 Lorna Holder became the first Black student to graduate with a BA Honours in Fashion & Textiles from Trent Polytechnic Nottingham, now Nottingham Trent University. Lorna’s CV confirms her tenacity and drive with a career spanning posts in the Middle East, New York, and London.
Lorna has collaborated with the V&A, British Museum, Rich Mix, BFI, Museum of London, Theatre Royal Nottingham, and London Metropolitan Archives.
In 2018, Lorna launched her book Style in My DNA at the V&A. The book documents 70 years of Caribbean influence on British Fashion and swiftly became a must-have resource for fashion students, historians, researchers and film/TV costume departments.
Lorna is also the Managing Director of Full Spectrum Productions and Tuareg Productions.
Style in My DNA culminates 70 years of Caribbean influence on British Fashion is a publication, used also as a significant point of inspiration for the critically acclaimed BBC anthology directed by Steve McQueen, which acted as a source of insight about Jamaican culture, lifestyle and fashion.
Lorna’s book, Style in my DNA is available from the following retailers:
Tuareg Productions (www.tuaregproductions.com) and also from Amazon, Waterstones, Foyles and New Beacons Books.
Opportunities in the 1960s for a woman of colour were limited and creative careers weren’t at the forefront. Despite the calls of social norms, aspiration led Lorna to take bold steps into a career in fashion beginning with a Foundation degree at Darby Art College, followed by a degree in Trent Polytechnic. (now known as Nottingham Trent University.)
During a summer vacation in New York, her enthusiasm and curiosity about the fashion supply chain, led her to apply for work in Bloomingdales. The mixture of protective family concerns came to the fore. Relatives were keen warn of challenges Black women could face seeking a job at the aforementioned department store. Lorna’s determination kicked in, and with her grandmother’s wise words ringing in her ear she got the job along with more insight into the fashion industry.
Opportunities in the 1960s for a woman of colour were limited and creative careers weren’t at the forefront
After completing her studies and graduating, design jobs for Boutiques in London and Jamaica followed.
A closed door at the Royal College of Art for further studies led to an open door to work in Oman in the Middle East with her husband, who worked in television. There, she opened her Alibaba Boutique with the Finance Officer of Oman, traveling internationally to the Cyprus, Dubai, Bahrain, UK and US amongst other locales to import items for the shop.
Lorna Holder International Designer
Beauty Entrepreneur
Executive Producer of the Black Film & TV Awards
Playwright, Director, Author
Exhibition Curator
Back in the UK, amidst various design jobs, and working with the fabric of the moment Lycra as well as designing evening dresses Lorna next opened a small chain of hair and beauty shops in both Camden and Notting Hill Gate between the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.
Not having to choose between family or career, Lorna’s was now mother of three. The world of film beckoned. In the early 2000s, she developed a feature series called Actor’s Showcase, highlighting the profiles of British and American actors. By 2002 she was the executive producer of the Black Film & TV Awards.
Make it stand out
Keeping with the focus of film, Lorna wrote eight monologues, some of which were performed at the renowned museum, the V&A and has also directed plays, many of which have been exhibited internationally such as her Hanging Out project.
A further project titled ‘Jamaica Hidden Histories’ was also seen as a ground-breaking exhibition which featured at the Oxo Gallery.
Member comments
Thoughts from the attendees on the night rightly celebrated Horner’s experiences and expertise across different creative industries, as well as maintaining a family life outside industry experience.
Words of praise from attendees such as, “Definitely film and fashion are so intimately connected, they are both communicators and can one really thrive without the other? I love that you are a mother of three and accomplished so much.”
While another attendee noted that she never pigeon-holed herself but delved into a wide range of creative outputs and didn’t let closed doors stop her progress. Such accurate words spoken.