An ode to Pam Hogg
Born on the outskirts of Glasgow, in a town called Paisley, Pamela Elizabeth Hogg would end up becoming one of the United Kingdom’s most driving rebellious fashion forces. Making clothes from age five out of wealthier neighbours’ hand-me-downs, the skill developed early on, the ability to create identity out of whatever was available to her. Pam Hogg treated fashion as an act entirely based around self-definition. Studying at the Glasgow School of Art, gaining a Master of Arts degree at the Royal College of Art London, and winning several awards, gave her the tools to match her unique vision with precision and confidence.
Image Credit : BBC
By the time she launched her first collection in 1981, London was in the midst of a blossoming counter cultural, punky, rebellious scene. Alongside Bodymap, Pam Hogg emerged as part of this new wave that rejected polish and commercial palatability. She refused to “sell out” to the mainstream, consistently choosing independence over dilution. Her work resonated deeply with Tracey Neuls, affirming and inspiring a belief that true artistic expression can only exist when it is made on one’s own terms.
Her collections were unapologetic, humorous, confrontational, and deeply feminine without ever being soft or adhering to conventional beauty standards. Hogg dressed women as warriors, outsiders, future beings, never muses or objects for the male gaze. Additionally, music pulsed through every artistic phase. A musician since the late 70s herself, Pam dressed and collaborated with cultural disruptors through her career such as Ian Astbury, Marie Helvin, and Debbie Harry. Her work sat comfortably on those who understood style as attitude and expression. In 2004 she designed the costumes for post-punk legend Siouxsie Sioux’s World Tour.
Tracey met Pam while showing alongside her at the Art Car Boot Fair, a moment which felt surreal, literally meeting one of her heroes. Pam was an icon Tracey had admired for decades: uncompromising, instinctive, and entirely herself. Working outside the conventional fashion system, Pam and Tracey value self-expression over conformity, and instinct over market logic and trends. Naming our newest wedge platform after Pam is a way of honouring that shared ethos as well as her life and career as one of the most singular voices in fashion and counterculture.
The Pam shoe carries her lineage forward. It is body-led rather than decorative, shaped around the reality of the foot via the heart-shaped toe. There is provocation here, but it is intelligent and intentional. With a touch of nostalgic rockabilly attitude and a strong sense of stage presence, the shoe stands out WITH the outfit. It declares itself. Not as an imitation, but as an ode: a shared mindset rendered in leather and form, for those who dress with conviction rather than consensus.
Written by Jason Cassar for Tracey Neuls Online.