GROWING up in Giffnock, Dylan Joel always dreamed of dressing Kylie Minogue.
“She was the first concert I ever went to,” he told the Sunday National.
“My dad took me when I was nine years old. It’s where I fell in love with fashion.”
Now – after years honing his craft as a designer in London – the 27-year-old is finally dressing her.
“I couldn’t believe how small her measurements were. She’s tiny!”
A decade ago, Joel was a fashion student at Glasgow Clyde College.
After two years of learning the basics, he applied to London College of Fashion (LCF) – widely regarded as one of the best design schools in the world.
“Somehow, I got in and moved to London when I was 19,” he said.
During his time as a student he worked for Gareth Pugh, the English designer known for dressing pop stars like Lady Gaga and Beyonce.
However, he knew he wanted to work for himself and follow Pugh as a designer to the stars.
“As soon as I graduated, I started my own brand.
“To begin with, I was dressing a lot of drag queens. I dressed Divina de Campo on the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and it’s just snowballed ever since.
“From there it’s quite an easy leap to doing pop stars, which is what I’ve ended up doing quite a lot of.
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“It’s the kind of clothing I grew up idolising, watching Kylie Minogue and Lady Gaga tour DVDs and obsessing about what they were wearing."
Joel’s designs are entirely lacking in inhibition.
They embody the loudest and most confident parts of the performers who wear them, which is why his work has become so popular among pop stars.
“Bjork’s bought a couple of things,” he said. “I’ve done the Steps tour, S Club 7 are wearing my stuff on their tour right now, and I’ve done Melanie C a few times, and Becky Hill.
“It sounds terrible but they kind of blend into one because I’ve just kept saying yes and not taken a break for five years.”
Kylie, though, was different.
“I cried when I found out I’d be dressing her," Joel said.
"Because her and Gaga are really the reason I started doing this in the first place.
“It was such a big moment. She’s not even worn the outfit yet but I can’t wait to see what it looks like on stage.”
After years spent building his brand in London, Joel is moving back to Scotland to open his own studio in the heart of Glasgow’s Merchant City.
He said: “This is where it all started.
“I was going to gay clubs like AXM when I was 17 years old. Long before I moved to London and started working in the fashion industry.”
Accordingly, Joel plays with the well-worn ground of the fashion designer and his muse.
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Only instead of models he uses drag queens and pop stars, particularly those within the LGBT+ community or crowned as gay icons.
“I always want to have LGBT+ people as part of my brand,” he said.
“I never want to shy away from that, even if it costs me.
“In London, I had some people try to push me towards doing ‘straight’ presenting work that would be more appealing commercially.
“Obviously, I have to make money and I used to do a lot more ready-to-wear items.
“But what I love doing is commissions and performance-based pieces, that’s when I feel at my most creative.”
Indeed, Joel’s clothes aren’t the kind of thing suitable for a quick jaunt to the shops.
They’re colourful, dramatic and, at times, otherworldly.
“I’m inspired by superheroes, people like Spider-Man or Superman," he explained.
“I think it’s because as a young gay boy that’s how I viewed people like Kylie – I still do.”
Asked whether he has any anxiety over moving away from the cultural scene of London and all the work that comes with it, Joel said Glasgow has plenty of opportunities of its own.
He added: “I’m busier than ever and fully booked until January.
“That’s why I’m opening my studio, I need to have my wee team working away on all the projects I’ve got lined up”.
Joel’s studio will also feature a shop, marking the first time his brand has ever had a permanent location for people to buy his pieces.
Still, as exciting as the move to Glasgow is, his eyes are very much set on the future – and on one Lady in particular.
“I would like to do Gaga’s next tour. That’s one of my goals. It just hasn’t been my time yet.”
With any luck, the best days are yet to come for one of Scotland’s most successful young designers.
Dylan Joel's Glasgow studio is set to open in the second week of November.
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