Andrew Groves is a British professor of fashion design, currently based at the University of Westminster, where he is the course director for BA Fashion Design. His former students include Ashley Williams, Claire Barrow, Liam Hodges, Roberta Einer.
Design career
Groves is remembered for his controversial catwalk shows during the late 1990s, when he designed under the label 'Jimmy Jumble'. The confrontational themes of his collections at London Fashion Week ensured that he caught people's attention and enhanced his notoriety. His first scheduled show at LFW in February 1998 was titled "Ourselves Alone" and referred to The Troubles in Ireland, combining the colours of the rival factions of Irish unionists and Irish republicans. The models wore orange sashes, grey suits, and charred green taffeta, with one model setting herself on fire during the show. Erected outside the show, were 30-foot burning crucifixes. His following show in September 1998 "Cocaine Nights", had the models walking on a catwalk spread with sugar-like cocaine with a model wearing a dress made of razor blades. At the time, Bill Clinton, then President of the USA, had condemned the fashion industry for glamorising drug use, so this was seen as a deliberate provocation. Before Groves launched his eponymous label, he worked as the head assistant to Alexander McQueen for several years. In addition to his runway collections, Groves created costumes for Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, Suede, and The Spice Girls. He has worked freelance as a creative consultant for fashion design companies in the UK and Japan, and as a design consultant for companies such as Nokia, Wedgwood, and The Coca-Cola Company. The National Collection of Textiles and Fashion at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and at the Fashion Museum in Bath both hold examples of Groves designs.
Academic career
Groves has been the course director for BA Fashion Design at the University of Westminster since 2003. Alumni of the course include Christopher Bailey, Stuart Vevers, Markus Lupfer, Liam Hodges, Ashley Williams, Claire Barrow, and Roberta Einer. He is the director of the Westminster Menswear Archive, which he launched in 2015, which holds an extensive collection of British menswear including examples of Craig Green, Liam Hodges, Kim Jones, Aitor Throup, Vivienne Westwood, Nigel Cabourn, and Meadham Kirchhoff. In 2016 he developed the MA Menswear programme, the world’s first and only two-year menswear course which shows at London Fashion Week Mens. In 2018 the University of Westminster BA Fashion Design course became the first undergraduate course to show on schedule at London Fashion Week. Groves sits on the steering committee of the British Fashion Council's Colleges Council, which advises the British Fashion Council on education issues.
