Janey

Derided by the traditional fashion establishment for declaring Mick Jagger 'stylish', Janey Ironside's career in the fashion industry was inseparable from her identity. As Professor of Fashion Design at the Royal College of Art from 1956 to 1968 she played a role in the sixties revolution that turned Britain's rag trade into a high-turnover mass-market industry targeting a new generation of cash-rich youth. Working behind the scenes, she trained a cohort of bright young designers including Ossie Clark, Bill Gibb, Zandra Rhodes, Sally Tuffin and Marion Foale.

Ironside's autobiography begins with a vivid account of childhood in India, followed by working life in WWII Britain, the beginnings of a small couture business and her appointment as Professor of Fashion Design.