Rachel Auburn (born July 1958) is a British fashion designer and hard house and trance disc jockey and music producer. She has performed her music extensively internationally, and was both the first female DJ to play in China and the first to showcase 1980s London clubland fashion in New York and Tokyo. Auburn has held DJ residencies at club events including Tidy Trax, Taboo, and Trade, and has achieved UK chart success under her own name and the Tidy Girls and Candy Girls aliases.
Biography Auburn was born in Kingston upon Thames in 1958. She has a degree in fashion design from Harrow College.
Auburn is known for her "unconventional" and "experimental" fashion designs. She first set up a stall in Kensington Market in 1982, and went on to be a significant presence as both a designer and a disc jockey in London's clubland. She first met Leigh Bowery at the market, and together they went on to open a stall together called 'Spend Spend Spend' and were the first to showcase the 1980s London clubland fashion scene in New York and Tokyo organised by Susanne Bartsch. Auburn has work in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, and was featured in the 2013 exhibition, Club to Catwalk, at the Victoria and Albert museum.
Along with Paul Masterson, Auburn formed the Candy Girls duo. Their single "Wham Bam", with Sweet Pussy Pauline, peaked at number 20 on the UK Singles Chart in 1996.
Auburn was in the Tidy Girls, a Tidy Trax hard house collaboration with Lisa Lashes, Anne Savage, and Lisa Pin-Up. The Tidy Girls eponymous release achieved success in the UK official singles chart in 1999. In 2015 Auburn mixed the retrospective best-of compilation Reactivate 91-01 for the React record label. It received positive critical reception, with one reviewer stating that, for the label React, it was "by far their best compilation".
Discography Albums + Rachel Auburn albums Title Artist Year Peak UK Comp Reactivate '91 – '01 Various, mixed by Rachel Auburn 2015
Singles + Rachel Auburn singles Title Artist Year Peak UK Singles Peak UK Dance "Fee Fi Fo Fum" Candy Girls 1995 23 1 "Wham Bam" Candy Girls featuring Sweet Pussy Pauline 199620 5 "I Want Candy"Candy Girls 1996 30 12 "Machine Man"Rachel Auburn 1997 38 Tidy Girls EP Rachel Auburn/Lisa Lashes 1999 96 31 "Coming On Strong/Screwdriver" Signum/Rachel Auburn 2006 25
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