All you need to know about Great British Sewing Bee judge Esme Young

The latest series of The Great British Sewing Bee is well underway with the new batch of amateur sewers hoping to impress the judges and earn a place in the semi-final.

But what do you know about judge Esme Young? Find out all about the diminutive and darling fashion designer here…

Esme has been a judge on the beloved BBC programme since 2016 but when she's not presenting the show, the 75-year-old is a teacher at prestigious London art school, Central Saint Martins - which is where she learnt the ropes of fashion design herself.

© James Stack

She began her career back in the 1970s, launching the designer collective Swanky Mode with three of her female friends, Judy Dewsbery, Melanie Langer and Jeanette Beckham, shortly after she graduated. 

© Photo: BBC

The label quickly rose to prominence thanks to superstars Grace Jones and Cher favouring their designs, which included raunchy body-con dresses. Thanks to its A-list clientele, their clothes appeared in fashion bibles Vogue and The Face, as well as the V&A Little Black Dress Book.

The TV star previously took to her Instagram account @miss_esme_young to share an incredible throwback photo of herself back in the '70s with her fellow founders wearing an incredible 80s get-up of a hot pink dress, a pair of gold sparkly tights, metallic heels and matching pink socks.

© Photo: Instagram

Viewers will be interested to learn that Esme has also made costumes for many films, including The Beach, Romeo & Juliet, Trainspotting and Bridget Jones' Diary. She revealed in a recent interview that Renee Zellweger's iconic Tarts and Vicars party bunny costume was one of her creations.

Explaining the thought process behind the incredibly skimpy outfit, she told RTE: "Renee wanted the bunny outfit to be tighter because her character wasn't skinny. She really wanted a cleavage, so the costume pushed her breasts up. She could hardly sit down in it because it was so tight."

© James Stack

More recently, Esme has released a memoir titled Behind the Seams: My Life in Creativity, Friendship and Adventure.