Artist Info
Andrew Groves
Andrew Groves (born 27 February 1968) graduated from MA Fashion at Central Saint Martins in 1997.
Before that he worked as the head assistant to Alexander McQueen for several years. In addition to his runway collections, Groves has created costumes for Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, Suede, and The Spice Girls.
His controversial catwalk shows during the late 1990s, when he designed under the label 'Jimmy Jumble', are remembered for their confrontational themes. Examples include his first scheduled show at London Fashion Week in February 1998, which was titled "Ourselves Alone" (translated from the Gaelic "Sinn Féin") and referred to The Troubles in Ireland, combining the colours of the rival factions of Irish unionists and Irish republicans. His following show in September 1998 "Cocaine Nights", (named after J.G. Ballard's novel) had the models walking on a catwalk spread with sugar-like cocaine.
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.
Professor Andrew 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.
