Poplar designer to the stars launches clothing accessory

Lawrence Goldberg and Lorna Onabanjo at the Clustar launch (Image: Archant)

The answer lies here in Poplar with designer Lawrence Goldberg who has designed clothes for the pop superstar and has had his items modelled by the choreographer when he was a child.

But Lawrence, who splits his time between his flat in Morant Street and his studio in Thailand, insists that he likes nothing better than designing for “normal people”, many of whom he has worked with for decades.

“I have become like a family designer and I now make clothes for the children of clients that I have worked with for years,” he said. “My clients are like friends and family and it’s almost like I’m a hairdresser because people talk to me and you build up such a rapport.”

Lawrence was speaking at the launch of a collaboration between his brand Corblimey and accessory brand CluStar, founded by his friend Lorna Onabanjo, who he has helped to develop a band which can be attached to clothes to customise them.

Fashion comes easily to the 62-year-old who has been working in the industry since he left school as a teenager.

After studying at the London College of Fashion, he initially worked at Polly Peck as an assistant pattern cutter, before joining a bridalwear company - and then decided to go it alone as a freelance designer in the Eighties.

“I felt like I had completed the whole circle of fashion, from making skirts to creating wedding dresses which was great,” he said. “I thought then that the time had come to start out on my own.”

Since then his clothing has gone from strength to strength, with highlights inclduing HRH Princess Soamsawali of Thailand presenting him with a designer of the year award at a charity gala last year.

For more information about the CluStar band visit clustar.co.uk