“My Friend Amy”

Naomi Parry is the author of Amy Winehouse: Beyond Black, a beautiful project celebrating Amy Winehouse’s life and impact. She was also a Special Advisor of the successful Amy: Beyond the Stage exhibition at The Design Museum, which presented Winehouse’s notes and early lyrics, as well as her clothes and performances. “I was just tired of the narrative always focusing on the tragedy” Parry explains of her decision to share the Amy she knew through a positive and creative process. “She achieved so much, and no one talks about it, or no one listens. I really wanted a place or an object, something that everybody could refer back to, to comfort them in a way, or comfort myself actually. I thought the best way to remind people of what Amy achieved was to create a beautiful art book that showed her in her best light. If you put it all in one place, and you have all these lovely, warm stories from people that genuinely cared and loved her, then it creates a more accurate and more positive portrait of somebody that we all loved and cared about.”

The curated book is a testament to the undeniable power of Winehouse- her iconic style references and of course, her original music in albums Frank, Back to Black and Lioness: Hidden Treasures in 2011. A tome laced with love and appreciation, Amy Winehouse: Beyond Black curated by Parry, a stylist, costume designer, art director and overall creative, takes readers through memories and achievements, beauty, loss and respect for a musician whose impact will remain forever.

With both the exhibition and specifically the book, Parry has had to dive deep into the past, and though that has brought up some difficult times, it also brought together Amy Winehouse’s loved ones. Parry talks about the contributors to the book such as friend Catriona Gourlay, the owner of The Hawley Arms Douglas Charles-Ridler, and others who shared her love of music such as Winehouse’s backing singer Adeleye Omotayo, DJ Bioux and more. She is deeply touched by their words: “I thought about who is going to write this with the love and care of Amy, and do it where it’s about Amy and not about them, because I didn’t want this book to be about other people rewriting history to suit their own narrative. I wanted it to be people that really wanted to pay homage to Amy. And that’s what I got. Some of them I haven’t spoken to since Amy died, so it was so lovely to sit and have a chat with them and remember the funny times. It brought her back to being my friend Amy and not Amy Winehouse. Now I’m able to remember her as my mate that I ran around Camden with, and that we had this odd little relationship because we started working together when we were both kids.”

“I think we all recognized something in one another.” - Naomi Parry

Naomi Parry and Amy Winehouse met at a bar in 2004 when Parry’s friend sent over a drink. Though she had heard the name Amy Winehouse previously, Parry did not recognize the singer, “they just seemed quite feisty, quite confident. She had a really interesting look. Her hair was massive and backcombed. We got on so well, chatting away and ended up spending the whole night together.” However, not everything went smoothly that night and soon enough, Parry recalls a certain incident. “Amy got really drunk. I was trying to get her into the car, and I crouched down because she was sat on the floor. I was like, Amy we’re just trying to get you home safe. And she pushed me, on my bum, in the middle of Soho. I stood up and just walked off. The next day I got a phone call from the guy that we were with saying, Amy wanted to say that she’s really sorry, she’s really embarrassed, and she hopes you’re okay and she didn’t mean it. And then that was it. We all became really close. I think we all recognized something in one another. When she apologised, I thought that was lovely. She didn’t really know me, she didn’t have to do that, but she did. I thought that said a lot about her” Parry reminisces.

During that eventful summer, Parry was between studying at Camberwell College of Arts and London College of Fashion. Winehouse fell in love with Camden through mutual friend Catriona (who contributed to both the exhibition and book), who worked at the vintage store Rokit in Camden. Parry remembers the group’s adventures and experiences: “I was very much an East London girl. They sort of dragged me over to The Good Mixer. It was when you could still smoke in bars, and it smelled of cigarettes and leather and sweat. I remember walking in and loads of people sat on the pool table. They were punks, market traders, rockabillies, all these different subcultures- musical and fashion subcultures all in this one room. That was the main place that we hung out in before The Hawley [Arms] had taken off.”

Parry describes Camden in full glory. A bustling music scene that felt safe and intimate, filled with bands and musicians interacting with one another, without the paparazzi or today’s tourism spots interfering. Between playing pool and nights on the town at The Hawley Arms, KOKO and the Dublin Castle, Parry looks back fondly on the Camden she and her friends knew, “Everyone knew each other, it was a community. Everybody felt quite safe there. It was only really when Amy blew up and became internationally renowned that we started getting more tourists, and paps camping outside. That’s when it became hard just to hang out like we used to. It would always consist of me and Amy badgering Catriona and Tyler [James] until we could get her to leave work or sitting in The Mixer and waiting for her to finish work. The rest of the evening would descend into chaos basically and running around.”

“I think she was looking for somebody that she trusted. Her team were family to her. They weren’t just people that she worked with.” - Naomi Parry

Beyond sharing a close friendship, Parry and Winehouse also shared a professional relationship. As her stylist, Parry navigated being a friend and confidant with her job of styling a singer that was constantly in the public eye. Surprisingly, she mentions that they never spoke about styling or fashion before they worked together, except when Winehouse complimented her looks. Parry prefaces by revealing that she dressed differently to what became known as the Camden style, “I was working assisting a stylist at the time, but it was never something that I saw myself going into. I wanted to be a designer. It never entered my mind that I could work with her because I was a student, and she was out of my league. But she phoned my ex-boyfriend and said, do you think Naomi would work with me? That was bonkers. The next thing I knew I had a phone call from her manager, Raye [Cosbert]. I was suddenly at Universal Island having an interview. I was 19 and I winged it. I didn’t have a portfolio and I made up my rates.” Though this job offer came unexpectedly, Parry can now see why she was considered, “I think she was looking for somebody that she trusted. Her team were family to her. They weren’t just people that she worked with.”

“She’s become a fashion reference. There’s so much that you can draw inspiration from. Everything she did, she did it in her way.” - Naomi Parry

At such a young age and only three albums, Amy Winehouse left a rich musical legacy that combined jazz and a plethora of musical references, contemporary beats and hard-hitting lyrics. It is also her look that left a significant footprint on fashion and style, one that is still referenced on the runway to this day. “She’s solidified herself as an icon,” says Parry. “She’s become a fashion reference. There’s so much that you can draw inspiration from. Everything she did, she did it in her way. I was talking to a friend of mine, Pablo, who is a make-up artist and did the Amy [Illamasqua] collaboration and he said, I’d be doing Fashion Week and they would say, we want the Amy eyeliner and everyone knew what that was. Amy’s inspiration for that was Bridget Bardot or the sixties. But she took it and made it her own thing. I think that’s her legacy on the fashion industry for sure. It will be referenced throughout time.”

When Parry started styling Amy Winehouse, she mentions Winehouse wore Betsy Johnson, Moschino, Dolce and Gabbana and Lacoste. “She was the architect of her look, I just helped streamline it a little bit and introduced her to other brands,” Parry explains. “Getting a fitting with her was just impossible. I probably had maybe two or three fittings with her in the whole time I worked with her. I would bring a big rail of clothing so we would have lots of options and I would have one outfit in mind which is what I’d show her.” While this was a truly creative time period of experimentation for Parry filled with positive memories, it also had its fair share of difficulties backstage. “There were periods of time when she was really struggling, and her personal life affected this which made it absolute hell getting her ready. But if she was in a good mood, she was great. But then she also wanted to chat to everybody and find out how their families were doing, because they were her friends to her. So, we would always be on stage late. She was like a naughty child running around chatting to everybody, and I’m there following with the dress. We only ever had one fight, me and her. She never had a go at me, never shouted at me or anything like that because I think I was a calming influence. Obviously, it was difficult for me as a friend. There was a different, deeper level of concern, because I saw a lot more of what was going on than everybody else,” Parry remembers. With high highs and sometimes low lows, she reflects back on happy memories, for example their time in Copenhagen trying on clothes and Winehouse putting on quite a show for her friends on the tour bus with her unique humor and kindness.

“It was another creative outlet for her and something that she could be proud of. When you look at the rolled-up sleeves or the print, that was her.” - Naomi Parry

Following the tragic passing of her beloved Amy, Parry found it difficult to continue her creative work. “After Amy died, I continued styling, but I hated it. It was sort of tainted. When I decided I didn’t want to do it anymore, I had to phase it out and also at the same time, work out what the hell it was that I wanted to do. I’m making a move now into art direction and film and taking a step back from the hands-on styling.” A true creative at heart, Parry has since founded her own company, Future Archives, working with artist’s bodies of work. “One of the things about the exhibition that was really important was obviously a lot of people that go to see it are never going to see Amy preform ever again. And that was why it was so important that it was an immersive experience. It’s the whole idea of creating a space and having the essence of that person without that person being there. I think the whole Future Archive thing is like that idea and it’s across fashion, film, music.”

Reiterated by Parry, unfortunately there is already a generation that will never get to experience Amy’s talent live. She mentions that it was difficult for her to hear Amy Winehouse’s music in the years after she passed, “I’d walk out of a shop if her music came on because it used to make me feel angry, actually. Then about four years ago I started to be okay with it. It started to get to the point where Amy would come on in a shop and I was like she’s here! I found it quite comforting.”

Amy indeed hasn’t met her match. She will forever be unique; a trailblazer. Naomi Parry and those who loved Amy have honoured their friend through writing, art and creation. The things she loved and was so good at herself. Parry goes on to remark how much the world has changed since Winehouse was alive, and that sometimes she finds a new eyeliner or an article and wishes she could share it with her friend. When asked what she would like people to know or remember about Amy in the future, Parry answers: “What I’d love people to remember is how she paved the way for so many others. A lot of artists you see today might not be here without her. She started it. Adele talks about it so much, and I think that is one of her greatest achievements- she gave a platform to so many people. So many other artists that have gone on to be enormous superstars in their own right. I think that’s an amazing thing. I hope people remember that she wasn’t just this incredible artist, she paved the way for so many.”