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Welcome
Thank you for visiting my site. Please get in touch to discuss your projects - I’m available for all types of commissions.

Bio

From a young age, Phil Buckingham knew he wanted to work in fashion and design. His first work experience was as a pattern cutter at a local dressmakers.

He pursued his dream and it has taken him from his British Chinese family home in the Yorkshire Dales, to London, where he studied Visual Communication at Middlesex University, on to a career that spans 20 years and has seen him travel worldwide - providing art direction for commercial and editorial clients covering fashion, music, film and design.

Phil is known for his super collaborative approach. His creative, kind and caring nature is well-loved by his clients and peers. His expertise in art directing authentic, compelling, and relevant imagery is stand out. Phil proactively seeks to elevate the voices of a wide-ranging and diverse group of artists through his work.

He is very experienced at leading teams on commercial and editorial film and photography sets - simultaneously capturing stills and motion, in studios and on location, working with adult and child actors, models, dancers and celebrities.

Services
Creative and Art direction for fashion, music and beauty in stills and motion
Editorial and branded content art direction and design
Branding, design and artworking
Creative
Creative strategising
Lecturing, talks and workshops
Concepting
E-commerce refresh / art direction
Art buying
Creative production
Assembling and managing creative teams
Mood and story boarding, scamps
Model casting
Location sourcing
Movement direction
Editing and overseeing retouching/grading
Digital and Print management


Skills
Professional - 5 years management experience (team size 1-5). Highly experienced in client-facing and presentation work
Technical - Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Bridge, Acrobat, Capture One, Figma, Canva

Education
Middlesex University Visual Communication BA Hons - 2:1 (2000)

Teaching
University of the Arts, London - Creative Direction for Fashion (2025)
University for the Creative Arts -  Fashion Imaging and Styling (2023-24)
Brighton University, Industry speaker
Conde Nast College of Fashion, Industry speaker
Barking and Dagenham, Industry speaker
Newman College, Industry speaker

Mentorships
Soho House mentorship programme 2024, Mentor

    Commercial clients
    Net-a-porter
    Mr Porter
    CNX Agency
    John Lewis and partners
    M&S
    The White Company
    Boden
    Primark
    Radley
    Amazon Fashion
    Selfridges
    Sony Music
    Red Bull
    Wrap London
    Berghaus
    Speedo
    Barbour

    Branded Content
    Alaïa
    Audemars Piguet
    Balmain
    Bottega Veneta 
    Brunello Cucinelli
    Carolina Herrera
    Dries Van Noten
    Gabriella Hearst 
    Gucci
    Lemaire
    Loewe
    The Row
    Ralph Lauren
    Saint Laurent
    Stella McCartney
    Valentino
    Versace

    Editorial clients
    British Vogue (Art Director)
    Beauty Projects (Art Director)
    Lula (Art Director)
    The Face (Designer)
    Dazed (Art Director)
    i-D (Designer)
    Jocks & Nerds (Art Director)
    Arena (Art Director)
    Arena Homme Plus (Designer)
    Pop (Designer)
    Elle (Art Director)
    Elle Collections (Art Director)
    Wallpaper* (Designer)
    GQ (Designer)
    Red Bulletin (Art Director)

    Celebrities
    Kim Kardashian
    Eva Herzigova
    Phoebe Bridgers
    Jamie Redknapp
    Simone Biles
    Sienna Miller
    Amber Valletta
    Donatella Versace
    Virgil Abloh
    Hailey Bieber
    Letitia Wright
    Rita Ora
    Dua Lipa
    Jonathan Anderson
    Claire Waight-Keller
    Sydney Sweeney
    Cindy Crawford
    Goldie Hawn
    Cate Blanchett
    Gillian Andersen
    Lea Seydoux
    Carey Mulligan
    Jodie Comer
    Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
    Francesca Hayward
    Lashana Lynch
    Jorja Smith
    Kaitlyn Dever
    Margaret Qualley
    Cameron Russell
    Amanda Gorman
    Tavi
    Daisy Edgar-Jones
    Phoebe Bridgers
    Gugu Mbatha-Raw
    Ling Chen
    Vanessa Kirby
    Amandla Stenberg
    Paloma Elsesser
    Hunter Schafer
    Jodie Turner
    Thandiwe Newton
    Charlotte Tilbury
    Rita Ora
    Kai Isaiah Jamal


    References

    ‘Phil is a wonderful art director, highly capable and easy to work with. He’s able to interpret briefs and cater to multiple objectives and stakeholders. He’s flexible and takes feedback well. With deep fashion experience and brand facing client engagement.’
    - Josie Cartridge - Vice President, Global Marketing Director, Net-a-porter & Mr Porter

    ‘Phil is extremely creative, talented and kind spirited. I'd recommend him for any job!’
    - Jaime Perlman - Vice President, Global Brand Image at Tory Burch

    ‘Phil is a super personable Creative Director and delivers art direction to the very highest quality. I was lucky enough to work with him on reimagining the way Berghaus present their ecom imagery. With Phil's expertise in high end fashion, we were able to elevate seemingly simple product shots to feel really premium crafted portraits. I highly recommend giving him a nudge if you need anything good, made to look excellent.’
    - Stuart Ross Sheran - Creative Director, Pentland Brands