In conversation with Brigitte MacGowan and Nigel Scott

Jun 14, 20223 min read

When two creatives come together, magic unfolds. Meeting in Soho, NYC, our Creative Director and Co-Founder, Brigitte MacGowan, and internationally-renowned Photographer and Artist, Nigel Scott, exchanged ideas and new perspectives on art, life and the beauty found in simplicity.

As they engage in conversation, we capture moments between Brigitte and Nigel whilst they discuss Nigel's body of work, 'The Blue Series', which has been reimagined into silhoutettes for our latest capsule collection.

Together they converse on the importance of artful collaboration and the emotions evoked when considering the colour blue.

“Working together makes it wonderful, beautiful. From one colour we have opened a door and friendship. There is so much to explore outside of the door.” – Nigel Scott

Nigel Scott:

"I had a show in 2012, ‘Conversation in Blue’, at Clear Gallery Tokyo in Japan for the curator Yoichi Nakamuta. This is when my first book was published to go along with the show. Later that year, I did a show in Paris at Colette, and Karl Lagerfeld came to see it. He bought the book and asked me to sign it for him.

For me, the colour blue is something that makes me smile. I think it makes everyone smile. Every day I wake up and say ‘thank you’ for this colour. When shooting in black and white, back when I was a fashion photographer, I loved the simplicity of it. This simplicity of blue, the colour knocks me off my feet.

Blue continues to inspire me: one colour that has opened all these doors and friendships. When we think of the environment, if more people connect to blue in the ocean and sky, we can communicate how important it is to keep them clean. We cannot keep throwing stuff in the ocean- as the ocean has to be blue, and so does the sky. We cannot have pollution. It is really that simple.

This collaboration is a harmonious outcome. This blue has brought State of Escape and I together. It has opened a door to something I would not normally do. Using the design of a product and my images is wonderful, and it is wonderful that this little colour, mixed in this way, can bring us together. The art pieces work beautifully with the purity of the collection's design. I am tripping right now and feel I really honoured.

My next exhibition will continue to feature blue. I am testing super large paintings and itching to do portraits. I am currently testing ideas in my studio in Toronto."

Brigitte MacGowan:

“From our point of view, to take a piece of art and be able to marry one of our designs with that artwork successfully, creating a beautiful outcome, is the sign of great partnership. One is not stronger than the other, the art makes the bag beautiful, and the bag makes the art beautiful. We have ended up making a harmonious creative outcome that is mutually important.

Creativity, whether it be on canvas or in another way, manifests itself in so many ways. I couldn’t stop taking photos this morning of New York, and the minute I hopped out of the cab, just the colour of the blue against all these other colours of the city, its greys and the silver of the pressed metal on the high-rise buildings, was heightening the blue in a breathtaking way. It looked like it was painted in. It was just beautiful this morning.

As Nigel said, blue makes him smile, and this morning as I looked up, I felt really happy."

Immerse yourself in blue and discover the State of Escape x Nigel Scott collection.

Follow Nigel at @nigelscott881

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In conversation with Brigitte MacGowan and Nigel Scott