Molly Parkin is London's True Treasure
by Veselina Tsankova
Molly Parkin is a welsh painter and a fashion icon famous for her impeccable style and vibrant personality.
Her significant body of work includes novels, painting and her work in the fashion sector for quite some time for publications like Nova magazine and Harpers & Queen as a fashion editor.
Named Fashion Editor of the Year in 1971, her vision and fast forward-thinking in regards of clothing and what women could wear was radical at the time and wasn’t left unnoticed. Molly has been pushing the boundaries between gender and silhouettes ever since.
In regards to personal style, her choices are just as bold to this day. She was one of Andy Warhol’s contemporaries in New York City and formed a part of the ‘swinging 60s’ London movement. Molly remains in Chelsea to this day in her vibrant art studio where once you walk in you feel like you have entered another world, where there are no limits to colour combinations, shapes or forms. She has created her own little universe where the walls have been painted in magenta (her favourite colour that she also uses frequently in her works) and have been covered in her paintings and variety of objects.
Molly’s sense of humour and recognisable wittiness hasn’t changed at 88-years-old and says she never felt better.
For Molly the older she got the more grounded and freer she felt. Most days are spent in her garden or in the studio painting and making her own clothing and accessories. Creativity for her has no limitations and she has been producing more work than ever.
The Queen has even recognised Molly for her longstanding services to the arts, she was awarded the Civil List Pension. Molly’s past works have been exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery, New York Art Galleries and Liberty’s window London, over the years. Her new collection is exclusive to the 508 Gallery.
Molly Parkin is undeniably a national treasure that would leave behind an irreplaceable mark.
*Photos by Veselina Tsankova
*Veselina Tsankova is a London based photographer and host of the 508 Gallery podcast.
