Hamish Bowles

Hamish Bowles was a British fashion editor, journalist and sometimes actor who was best known for being the European editor-at-large for the American edition of the iconic fashion magazine Vogue, a role he began in 1995. Born and raised in London, Bowles grew up in a creatively fertile household. His father worked in academia as a vice-provost of University College, London, while his mother enjoyed photography and going to antique shops. Needless to say, Bowles was draw to art and artists at a very young age, and was encouraged by his parents to nurture his creative side. At the age of 6 he accompanied his parents on a road trip across North Africa in a Volkswagen. While in Morocco, Bowles began sketching women's clothes-his first foray into the world of fashion. By the age of 9 he was rummaging through thrift stores and antique shops throughout London, where he began buying and collecting clothes. By 14, Bowles was so well attuned to the fashion world that he entered and won a drawing and writing contest put on by the British edition of Vogue. Already on the fast track to a career in fashion journalism, at the age of 19 Bowles was hired by the magazine Harpers & Queen to work on its teenage issue. During this time Bowles was attending St. Martin's School of Art in London. He graduated in the early 1980s and shortly after earning his degree Bowles was hired by Harpers Bazaar UK as a fashion editor. Bowles spent the remainder of the 1980s working for the publication, and eventually worked his way up to become its style director. In 1992 Bowles left Harpers to join Vogue. He was made the magazine's European editor-at-large three years later in 1995. In addition to his work in the fashion world, Bowles has also dabbled in acting. He played the English artist David Hockney in the 1998 film "Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon," and 20 years later played himself in the female-driven crime comedy "Ocean's Eight" (2018).