ImagesMagUK_April_2021

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS www.images-magazine.com 76 images APRIL 2021 You know the name, now get to know the person. Nikki Jackson, creative director at Banana Moon Clothing, talks about her talent for sewing, visiting Vermont in the US, and always wanting to be a costumier UPCLOSE AND PERSONAL How did you start your career in the industry? In 1989, a friend who worked for our chairman Paul Grace mentioned that they were looking for someone to cover maternity leave and asked if I was interested. I got the job running a 12-head Tajima embroidery machine and absolutely loved it. Six months later there was an opening for an in-house digitiser, and it was offered to me. Back then we used the Stitchbuilder system, drafting up the design to six times the required size and plotting the detail stitching one stitch at a time! In 1993, Paul and his wife Jackie began Banana Moon, and asked me to help start up the business with them. The rest is history! What’s the best thing to ever happen to you at work? I think it would be when Paul saw the potential in me that I didn’t see myself, and offered me an amazing opportunity to be so involved with Banana Moon. Nikki Jackson Fry’s Turkish Delight – naughty! What’s your guilty pleasure? Fry’s Turkish Delight. Is there another job that you’ve always wanted to do? I would love to be a costumier. I think in TV, film and theatre, the costumes are always overlooked somewhat, but they’re often the main thing that sets the feel of a production. What is the best place you’ve ever visited? Vermont in the US, which was our last holiday as a couple – I was pregnant with my daughter at the time, and it just felt like such a special holiday in a beautiful area. Which gadget or app couldn’t you live without? My Kindle, as I love to read. If you could ask one person (living or dead) one question, what would you ask? I would ask the Hollywood costume designer Edith Head, of all the beautiful costumes you designed, which is your favourite and why? I personally love the dress for Audrey Hepburn from Sabrina, and the beautiful periwinkle blue dress for Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief! Andrew recorded at Phil Manzanera’s studio in the 90s Nikki’s hidden talents are sewing, dressmaking and quilting — she would love to be a costumier Grace Kelly and her periwinkle blue dress in To Catch a Thief Which three words would your friends use to describe your personality? Creative, witty and sensible. What’s your favourite word or phrase? “It is what it is!” Salt and vinegar or cheese and onion? Cheese and onion, no competition! Which tune can’t you get out of your head at the moment? Impossible by Nothing But Thieves. What’s your hidden talent? I sew, and also do dressmaking and quilting – if I can sew two pieces of fabric together, I will! What’s your greatest ambition? To raise two well-rounded, independent children who become successful in their adult lives – we’re almost there! Vermont in ‘the fall’ Nikki would be lost without her Kindle