Exclusive Interview with Christine Bateman: Part II

The final section of my interview with the legendary Christine Bateman. If you haven't already read Part I, then click here.

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A: The lifestyle of the Blitz Kids is often romanticised - what are your thoughts and feelings on the era?

C: It was all about the night-out; being creative, self-expressive and outdoing everyone else. Everyone wanted to be the centre of attention. It was an extreme situation so there was some extreme behaviour. Drugs is regrettable, but it did encourage creativity.

The Blitz Kids lifestyle was groundbreaking. It was a one-for-all-all-for-one attitude; we lived in squats and it broke social and cultural barriers. We lived with whoever, whatever and it didn't matter to us. We had legendary parties that signaled a revolution. We reclaimed the British textile and fashion industry by bringing it back to Britain - it wasn't a great time under the Thatcher regime for jobs so we found a different avenue and created our own jobs. We introduced video culture; filmmakers, artists, singers, songwriters, designers, models ... we became a source of tourism and we became commercial.


A: What is your idea of the post-New Romantic cultures?

C: It was the next round of creativity; acid, carnival, rave, fetish... it all recycles, however. Look how big the 80s trend has been recently. We have reached a stage now where everything is an amalgamation of previous eras.



A: What was your favourite look of Worried About The Boy?

C: One we nick-named 'Chocolate Box' - Douglas [Booth, actor who played Boy George] has his hair up in a net and the look was all bronzes and a mix of light to dark browns - very beautiful and intricately applied. It was only briefly shown on the program, but was definitely my favourite look. It had a structured, geometric lip shape and pigments in golds, silvers, box shapes and plenty of structure on the face.


A: What are your favourite Illamasqua products, and why?

C: I love using the Cream Eye Shadows and the Pure Pigments on top. You just can't beat the density of Illamasqua make-up. I also love the Cream Foundations - the range of shades is fantastic and the pigmentation level is incredible. They are truly professional products.



A: Do you see Illamasqua as a groundbreaking make-up brand?

C: It's a brand that will attract consumers with the colours and variety of textures. Encouraging everyone on the High Street to explore make-up is not only great for the people but for the make-up industry in general. we need to reclaim the lost art of application and reclaim the self-expressive element of make-up.