Helen Anderson

Helen Anderson was born in Liverpool in the 1940s. She drew and painted from the age of three and by age twelve was making her own clothes. Helen is a true hands-on creative and highly visual. This enables her to switch comfortably between artistic disciplines and to combine them professionally, inevitably in fresh and interesting ways.

Trained in fine art at Liverpool College of Art (alongside John Lennon and his future wife Cynthia) and - later - the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, Helen originally enjoyed an exciting career as a portrait painter in Italy and the UK: she numbers a great number of celebrities, aristocrats and dignitaries among her clients.

From the early 1960s, Helen became a successful fashion designer, creating twice-yearly collections from her design and production base in Lancashire. She was always a genuine British innovator, pioneering a trend for hand-cut (i.e. before the laser age!), hand-painted couture leather and suede pieces, as well as hand-painted wedding and evening gowns - to the UK market, again dressing many celebrities along the way.

Her iconic design for John Lennon's cap - which has featured in so many photoshoots and videos - saw a revival in 2017 on the occasion of his birthday. And that resulted in the 'return of the cap'!

Retail aficionados of her designs included specialist boutiques and department stores in the UK, US and Europe, among them Harrods, Henri Bendel, Neiman Marcus, Sak’s Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s.