See the article to read who they are and what they do

I hear a name. I write it down. Been doing it for years. Building a secret list. One by one. I move in different kinds of spaces and if a name fits it makes the list. Specifically, I track those who share a formative experience akin to my own: we were indoctrinated to believe we were anomalies, and that our stories belonged in the shadows.

I called a national newspaper to organise a photo led story about them. This was the plan all along. The Observer made it their cover story on 24th July 2022 and declared it a “historic portrait”. The photographer is Suki Dhanda and the venue was The Foundling Museum where I am Vice President .

In the photo are pop stars, lawyers, garlanded writers, Bafta winning comedians, chefs, Olivier winning actors, TV presenters, puppeteers and more. They have one thing in common. They were all either fostered or in childrens homes or adopted.

Group shots are difficult for photographers but Precedence was set by A Great Day in Harlem in 1958.

There is a notable number of people in my photograph who work in fashion. Barrie Sharpe founder of fashion brand Duffer of St George, and Loo How, representative for photographer Misan Harriman, Philip Sinden, photographer for Vogue, Harpers Bazaar etc and Bruce Oldfield of Bruce Oldfield Couture . There are more who are not in the photo such as Olivier Rousteing and Baz Bamigboye.

On Wednesday March 25 on the 2nd floor of Chanel in Mayfair by invite of Leena Nair the charismatic CEO of Chanel I attended a Salon with a handful of others. I sat between Elif and Claudia (Schiffer). I wore Wales Bonner as advised by my friend Liya Kebede a five times Vogue cover model and brilliant mind. I will tell you of Wales Bonner another time and Liya.

Ellen von Unwerth one of the most famous photographers in Fashion.

It was a no cameras night. So there are no photos. At an earlier point in the memorable evening I shared my story with Claudia. And Claudia recalled her friend, and early champion, photographer Ellen Von Unwerth.

This is the whole reason for this article: Ellen spent her childhood in foster care. I lit up. I took note. I came home after that beautiful evening I searched for her at midnight.

Here she is in all her fierce, compassionate, fun genius and beauty - Ellen Von Unwerth.

On my way home from Leo and Liesel’s I saw this leaflet on the pavement and took a shot.

A few nights later on Sunday 29th March I had dinner at the home of Leo Burley and Liesel Evans by invitation of my friend (and theirs), Angela Samata.

Liesel is executive producer of ‘In Vogue’, an award winning series which features exclusive interviews with Anna Wintour, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and …Claudia Schiffer.

I would call it a coincidence, as was seeing her photo on a flyer on the pavement on the rainy way home that night, but it isn’t coincidence. With fame ubiquity is normal. Here’s that small leaflet with free raindrops.

Leo Burley is a wild swimmer. Who knows if it means one who swims in the wild or a wild one who swims? Maybe it’s both. He told me he knew another wild swimmer: Philip Sinden: The photographer in the Observer photoshoot.

I helped Philip find his birth family about which he made a documentary called “A portrait of my Parents”. I texted Philip about Ellen Von Unwerth. He was already an admirer of her work but didn’t know she was fostered.

There are many more of us. The late Terry Jones of ID magazine sidled up to me once to introduce himself and to say that he was one of us.

Consider the fashion alumni who have been fostered adopted or in ‘orphanages’: Bruce Oldfield, Ellen Von Unwerth, Philip Sinden, Terry Jones, Olivier Rousteing, Loo How and finally Coco Chanel herself. ‘ Coco’ went into a children’s home at 12 and left at 18.

I had the same time in ‘orphanages’. Those years will have stayed with her throughout her life and in her dreams as it did too with Dickens. One of the first chores she will have learned was one of the first I learned: How to make ‘hospital corners’.

Claudia and I tried to swap numbers at the end of the evening because I wanted to know more and to even maybe contact Ellen, but our phones wouldn’t talk to each other. Never more have I wanted to revert to my Iphone days. Ahhh. Things happen as they should.

Below is a photograph which I took in November 2023 on a private tour of Gabrielle Bonheur ‘Coco’ Chanel’s home in Paris. Look at the room and you will see the Salvador Dali painting of a sheaf of wheat, but look again, the room is filled with literature. Chapter after chapter after chapter of the writen word. This pleases me.

I write my blog in lieu of family as a digital bookmark. I have no editor. Please forgive all grammatical terrors and speiling mistique. There are more on my my new website X

Crossing the Chanel with Claudia Schiffer.