Gordon Conway

Gordon Conway (18 December 1894 – 9 June 1956) was an illustrator and costume designer who designed for British films in the 1920s and 1930s. She established the first specialist costume department in Britain's film studios in the early 1930s. She worked closely with leading film producer Michael Balcon, and her notable films included High Treason, Sunshine Susie (1931) and The Good Companions (1933).

Conway's biographer, Raye Virginia Allen, credits her with helping to "shape the way early-twentieth century women looked and aspired to look... in an atmosphere of sweeping change on both sides of the Atlantic". She was, according to Allen, "the quintessential jazz age flapper".

Gordon's distinctive masculine first name had been chosen by her father before her birth and, according to the designer, had been "useful" in her career, as many theatre managers would not agree to see female designers. Jack Conway was a wealthy businessman with a chain of lumberyards. Conway and Ozias's marriage last until 1927, when they divorced in Paris. At the same time, Conway published accounts of her work that explained the technical and creative demands of costuming film: the use of fabrics, lighting, and the importance of personality.

Between 1929 and 1935, Conway designed costumes for more than thirty films, frequently appeared in the promotional materials as the "famous designer", and was acclaimed in film fan magazines. The actor Jessie Matthews, who worked with Conway on The Good Companions (1933), credited the designer with "the ability to express a person's essential character and personality through their clothes". Film historian Melanie Bell has also documented Conway's skills as a negotiator, able to persuade producers and financiers not to "scrimp on costs", and her ability to manoeuvre through the business side of film production and costume management.

In 1933, Conway was appointed chief costume designer for Gaumont-British Studios. She stated at the time that she employed thirty women, but hoped to grow to fifty, and "it will be run entirely by women". The following year, however, she retired from film costume design, due to ill health.

Conway kept a daily diary of her appointments, work activities, and film-watching habits. These diaries, and many of Conway's designs and work notes, are held in the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

Career Gordon Conway died on 9 June 1956 at her family's home in Virginia, United States.