British Recruitment, Licensing Pioneer Vanessa Denza Dies Aged 84
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LONDON — Vanessa Denza, who helped to launch the careers of British designers such as Mary Quant and Ossie Clark, and who later recruited fashion talent for brands including Burberry, Calvin Klein and Bally, has died at 84.
She died on April 14 following a short bout of pneumonia, according to her daughter, Louisa Thomlinson.
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Denza was a savvy and compassionate businesswoman who took care of her own staff and nurtured and supported designers throughout their careers.
Passionate about the fashion business and doing deals, she continued to work as a consultant after selling Denza, the London-based, international recruitment firm that specializes in design and merchandising talent.
Denza began her career at Jacques Fath in Paris and Emilio Pucci in Italy and later worked as a fashion buyer in London, helping to launch the careers of designers such as Quant, Clarke and Jean Muir.
In 1971, she set up her own international buying office and consultancy, working with a host of North American companies, including Nordstrom. Over the years, she helped to fill the design studios of brands including Burberry, Mulberry, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Polo Ralph Lauren, Nike, Levi’s, Pucci and Bally.
In 1989, she cofounded Graduate Fashion Week, a charity that gives top student designers a chance to showcase their final year work to press, future employers and members of the industry. She also collaborated closely with the British Fashion Council and fashion colleges in the U.K., Europe and the Far East.
Denza was named a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in Queen Elizabeth’s 2004 Honors List for her outstanding contribution to the British fashion industry and education.
She also founded and ran Denza Licensing, a global consultancy that connected designers with retailers and manufacturers on either a royalty or licensing basis. Denza Licensing was behind Celia Birtwell’s collaboration with Uniqlo and Topshop.
Birtwell, the British textile designer whose bold prints and floral patterns were a defining feature of 1960s and ’70s London fashion, teamed with Uniqlo in 2013 on a capsule clothing collection filled with bright, graphic designs with names like Bird Song, Dilly Daydream and Cherry Pet Spot.
Emma Davidson, who worked closely with Denza and who purchased the business from her in 2015, said she could not have had a better mentor.
“She was fearless; she always fought for what she believed in. She never minced her words, and she always stuck up for the underdog,” said Davidson, adding that, over the years, Denza became a go-to agency for designers who’d recently graduated, and were just starting out.
Indeed, she had an intuitive understanding of designers, and their needs at various points in their careers.
In 2011, shortly after the dramatic ouster of John Galliano from Christian Dior following his racist, anti-Semitic rant, Denza told WWD that “designers need to be nurtured,” and drew a parallel between Galliano and Lee Alexander McQueen, who’d committed suicide the previous year.
“Both of them needed a break, an opportunity to wind down for a few months, but the nature of the business doesn’t allow them to do that because it is nonstop,” said Denza, who believed the onus was on brands and businesses to take care of their talent.
“The nature of big business is that it wants results, but companies need to watch and monitor these situations,” she said.
Davidson said Denza practiced what she preached: “She had very high standards, but she also looked after her team.”
Denza also knew how to have a good time: She was a lunch regular at Sotheby’s Café, the Royal Academy of Arts’ restaurant and Carluccio’s in London. She loved to socialize, entertain, and had a wicked sense of humor, according to those who knew her.
She is survived by her daughter Louisa and a son, Ben Thomlinson. Funeral arrangements have yet to be confirmed.
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