TALK: Beyond the Runway

Priority booking for members opens 10am, Thursday 5 September
General sale opens 10am, Friday 6 September

Beyond the Runway: A discussion around the hidden side of fashion, from the eating disorders that Penelope experienced in the 60s and 70s and the acne that ruined her career to Lady Jean Campbell life long battle with chronic pain. 

Vogue cover model, face of the Swinging Sixties, and David Bailey’s muse, Penelope Tree was discovered aged 16 at Truman Capote’s legendary 1966 Black and White Ball and became one of the style icons of the decade, inspiring a generation of future models including Kate Moss.   

Now 74, Penelope has written her first novel, Piece Of My Heart (Moonflower Books, June 2024), an honest and strikingly moving exploration of what it takes to make it in the fashion industry, and a coming-of-age story peopled with larger than life characters from high society, fashion, music, and film.  This year’s Hideous Kinky, Penelope Tree’s autobiographical debut novel looks with brutal honesty at issues around eating disorders, drug addiction and unhealthy relationships, as well as the damaging and dizzying impact of sudden fame, and shares the inside scoop on ‘60s fashion and high society for the first time. 

Lady Jean Campbell is one of the UK’s top fashion models who has been the face of fashion houses including Burberry, Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton and Zara and graced the cover of magazines including Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire. The daughter of the Count & Countess of Cawdaw, lady Jean Campbel is a direct relation to Queen Camilla, and has suffered from Chronic Pain related to hip displacement since the age of 13 and in 2024 is launching a new Podcast about Chronic Pain called I’m Fine. It is estimated that about 34 per cent of adults in the UK live with chronic pain — in other words, pain that is persistent for more than three months despite medication or treatment — yet because it’s an invisible condition, many feel they need to suffer in silence.