Style supremo Julian Bennett: Liverpool has won me over

Oct 22 2009 by Emma Pinch, Liverpool Daily Post

The cream of new talent is being showcased at Liverpool Lifestyle Fashion Week. Emma Pinch talks to organiser Julian Bennett about why it means so much to him

STYLE supremo Julian Bennett’s Liverpool Lifestyle Fashion week is a heady cocktail of celebs, WAGs and super-cool designer names.

But when Julian peers into the audience from the bright lights of the catwalk, it’s a face unknown to the pages of Heat he’ll be seeking out.

Just six months ago, Julian met three brothers he never knew he had.

And David Miller, 21 has travelled up from Milton Keynes to see his famous new relative put on his first solo fashion week.

Says Julian: “I’m very proud to have them with me here and I want it to go perfectly.”

The 34-year-old former Queer Eye for the Straight Guy presenter, who now lives in Woolton, has had a whirlwind few months preparing for it.

The result is 21 catwalk shows at Circo, running every two hours over five days.

Among others, the likes of Lucy Gregory, Destina de Star and Repooc Couture, and Samantha Cole – winner of best new designer award at New York Fashion Week – will be parading their designs in front of a sea of famous names like Jennifers Saunders and Ellison, Alex Curran, Hollyoaks stars, plus Fashion TV. Sophie Anderton will model for Philip Armstrong when he closes the week tomorrow.

The other models strutting their stuff are from Julian’s modelling, talent and events company, John Alexander.

The new venture is his baby in more ways than one. John Alexander is the name Julian was given when he was born.

He found out when he tracked down his biological family via his adoption agency six months ago.

“My mother had already been a single mother at 21,” he explains. “She was a part-time hairdresser, and financially she just couldn’t do it.

“She held me for two minutes and said she wanted me to be called John Alexander.”

Meeting his three brothers Bobby, 40, a piano maker, David, 21, who is unemployed, and James, 19, who has special needs, was he says, a “huge” moment. His eyes glint with tears. “The funny thing is that David used to watch my TV shows. We’ve got a real bond. In fact, I want my mum and all my brothers to come and work for me.”

Being adopted, Julian believes, made him strive harder for success. He was working on the fashion pages of Marie Claire magazine when an email went round seeking a “gay fashion stylist” for a new TV show. Queer Eye was the result.