{{Short description|English fashion designer and television presenter}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox fashion designer | name = Esme Young | image = | alt = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Emma A. Young | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1949}} | birth_place = Bedford, Bedfordshire, England | other_names = | education = Central St Martins | label_name = Swanky Modes | awards = | known_for = | occupation = Fashion designer | spouse = | children = | parents = Brian Pashley Young {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CB|CBE}}, Patricia Cole | relatives = | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Esme Young''' (born 1949) is an English fashion designer and television presenter.<ref name="RT" /><ref name=":0" /> Since 2016, she has been a judge on the BBC reality series ''The Great British Sewing Bee''.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |title=The Great British Sewing Bee: Judges |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/3tVTzJgzx96cFg5WlwK0ZkP/judges |website=BBC |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Emma Young was born in 1949 at Bedford Hospital,<ref name=":3" /> the second of five children.<ref name="fatherobit">{{cite news |title=Obituaries |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=29 July 1992 |page=18}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Her sister Fiona Espenhahn is also a textile artist.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Youde |first=Kate |date=2023-03-27 |title=Sewing Bee’s Esme Young on a lifetime of statement necklaces |url=https://www.ft.com/content/5eface0b-c353-47a1-b90f-0558401f4400 |access-date=2025-12-27 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> Her brother Jeremy is a documentary film producer.<ref name=":4" />
Her father, Air Vice Marshal Brian Pashley Young {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CB|CBE}} (1918–1992), was born in Natal, South Africa,<ref>{{cite news |title=Up and Down the World |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004722/19610316/002/0002 |access-date= |work=Nottingham Guardian |date=16 March 1961|page=2 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> and was a career officer in the RAF.<ref name="fatherobit" /> He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1944,<ref>{{London Gazette |date=2 June 1944 |issue=36544 | page=2582 |endpage= |supp=y}}</ref> a Commander of the same order in 1960,<ref>{{London Gazette |date=3 June 1960 |issue=42051 | page=3981 |endpage= |supp=y}}</ref> and a Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1972.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=23 May 1972 |issue=45678 | page=6257 |endpage= |supp=y}}</ref> In Series 8 of ''The Great British Sewing Bee'', Young revealed that her father was captain of Wasps RFC in the 1950/51 season. Her mother, Patricia Josephine Cole, was a secretary who worked as a nurse during the Second World War.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Flight Lieutenant Married |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000750/19420213/157/0006 |access-date= |work= Bedfordshire Times and Independent |date=13 February 1942 |page=6 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Young has told interviewers she was "partially deaf" as a child due to otitis media, which affected her reading development and still impacts her life.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Weir |first=Georgia |date=2025-08-26 |title=Great British Sewing Bee star Esme Young's health 'problem' that still impacts her aged 76 |url=https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/852198/great-british-sewing-bee-star-esme-young-hidden-childhood-condition/ |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=Hello! |language=en}}</ref>
Young began attending boarding school at age five.<ref name=":3" /> She attended the Convent of the Holy Ghost, Bedford, where she learnt to draw and to sew.<ref name="Gathered">{{cite web |last1=Dunn |first1=Karen |title=Meet The Great British Sewing Bee's Esme Young |url=https://www.gathered.how/sewing-and-quilting/sewing/simply-sewing-meets-the-great-british-sewing-bees-esme-young/ |website=Gathered |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref> She went on to Saint Martins School of Art.<ref name="Gathered" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Esme |title=Behind the seams : my life in creativity, friendship and adventure |date=2022 |isbn=978-1-78870-462-5 |location=London |oclc=1294284520}}</ref> When a tutor mispronounced her name as Esme, she began using that instead.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2022-05-09 |title=Chapters In My Life: Esme Young {{!}} SheerLuxe |url=https://sheerluxe.com/life/chapters-my-life-esme-young |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=sheerluxe.com |language=en-gb}}</ref>
==Career== ===Swanky Modes=== In 1972, Young, along with fellow fashion designers Judy Dewsbury, Melanie Herberfield, and Willie Walters, founded a shop in Camden Town called Swanky Modes.<ref name="V&A">{{cite web |title=Amorphous |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72706/amorphous-dress-swanky-modes/ |website=V&A |date=18 August 1977 |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="SMA">{{cite web |title=History |url=https://cargocollective.com/swankymodes/History |website=Swanky Modes Archive |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="RT">{{cite web |title=The Great British Sewing Bee is back with a new judge – the woman who made Bridget Jones' bunny costume |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-05-16/the-great-british-sewing-bee-is-back-with-a-new-judge-the-woman-who-made-bridget-jones-bunny-costume/ |website=Radio Times |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref> Young told an interviewer the group opened the shop because they "couldn't buy anything we wanted to wear in shops, so we made whatever we wanted to wear".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Imogen |date=2024-07-19 |title=Esme Young reveals why she founded her iconic fashion brand, Swanky Modes |url=https://www.prima.co.uk/leisure/tv-and-film/a61643720/sewing-bee-esme-young-swanky-modes/ |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=Prima.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref>
The house was known for "raunchy body-con dresses".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crosbie |first=Eve |date=2024-06-18 |title=The Great British Sewing Bee's Esme Young: All you need to know |url=https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/20220615143052/great-british-sewing-bee-meet-judge-esme-young/ |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=Hello! |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gordon |first=Naomi |title=Who is Esme Young? Meet The Great British Sewing Bee judge {{!}} Radio Times |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/entertainment/esme-young-great-british-sewing-bee-judge/ |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=Radio Times |language=en-GB}}</ref> A transparent macintosh that was one of the company's early designs was photographed by Helmut Newton for ''Nova''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leszkiewicz |first=Anna |date=2022-11-20 |title=The Sewing Bee’s Esme Young: “Now I'm older, I think – whatever! Go for it!” |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/tv/2022/11/esme-young-interview-great-british-sewing-bee |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}</ref> Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Swanky Modes clothing appeared in ''Vogue'', ''Honey'' and ''The Face''.<ref name="BBC" /> Their clothing was also photographed by David Bailey, Nick Knight, and John Swannell.<ref name="BBC" /> Clients included Grace Jones, Julie Christie, and Cher.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Nicky |date=2024-12-19 |title=The Great British Sewing Bee star Esme Young's private life off-screen: from big family to job away from show |url=https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/736918/great-british-sewing-bee-esme-young-private-life-off-screen/ |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=Hello! |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fearn |first=Rebecca |date=2019-02-19 |title=Who Is Esme Young? The 'Great British Sewing Bee' Judge Once Designed An Iconic 'Bridget Jones' Costume |url=https://www.bustle.com/p/who-is-esme-young-the-great-british-sewing-bee-judge-once-designed-iconic-bridget-jones-costume-15962402 |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=Bustle |language=en}}</ref> The company's lycra Amorphous dress is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.<ref name=":4" />
===Film and television=== Young has made costumes for many films including ''The Beach'', ''Bridget Jones's Diary'', ''Romeo & Juliet'' and ''Trainspotting''.<ref name="Gathered" /><ref name="UA">{{cite web |title=Esme Young |url=https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/esme-young-0 |website=United Agents |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref> She designed the bunny costume worn by Renee Zellweger in ''Bridget Jones's Diary''.<ref name=":1" />
Since 2016, Young has been a judge on ''The Great British Sewing Bee''.<ref name="BBC" /> One of Young's most famous designs was the 'Amorphous Dress' worn by Linda Kozlowski in the 1986 movie ''Crocodile Dundee''; a dress that is now in the V&A Collection.<ref name="Gathered" />
In December 2022, she was a contestant on ''Richard Osman’s House of Games''.<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC Two - Richard Osman's House of Games, Series 6, Week 14: Thursday |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001fyxq |website=BBC |access-date=11 December 2022}}</ref>
===Academic career=== She teaches at Central Saint Martins and is involved in a project called "Exploding Fashion" which highlights the importance of pattern cutting.<ref name="UA" /><ref name="EF">{{cite web |title=Team |url=http://explodingfashion.arts.ac.uk/ |website=Exploding Fashion |publisher=Central St Martins |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref>
==Writing==
Young published her autobiography in 2022: ''Behind the Seams: My Life in Creativity, Friendship and Adventure from the star of the Great British Sewing Bee''.<ref name="Herald">{{cite news |last1=Stephenson |first1=Hannah |title=The Great British Sewing Bee's Esme Young on partying with David Bowie |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/20076837.great-british-sewing-bees-esme-young-partying-david-bowie |access-date=22 September 2022 |work=The Herald Scotland |date=23 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="Scotsman">{{cite news |last1=Christie |first1=Janet |title=Esme Young, star of The Great British Sewing Bee goes behind the seams with her new book |url=https://www.scotsman.com/must-read/esme-young-star-of-the-great-british-sewing-bee-goes-behind-the-seams-with-her-new-book-3719734 |access-date=22 September 2022 |work=The Scotsman |date=11 June 2022}}</ref>
== Personal life == In the 1970s Young squatted in a West London terrace. Young lives in Islington in a rent-controlled Peabody flat she started renting in 1983.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Avery |first=Rachel |date=2024-12-19 |title=Esme Young shares unexpected admission about 'rest of life' London living situation |url=https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/736953/esme-young-surprising-home-confession/ |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=Hello! |language=en}}</ref> She owns a beach hut in Kent.<ref name=":2" />
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == *[https://www.instagram.com/miss_esme_young/ Instagram account (@miss_esme_young)]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Esme}} Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:English women fashion designers Category:English women television presenters Category:English television presenters Category:Alumni of Central Saint Martins Category:English fashion designers Category:21st-century British autobiographers Category:English women autobiographers Category:Academics of Central Saint Martins Category:People from Bedford