Fashion
London Fashion Week is upon us again, in a city traditionally regarded as a major fashion capital, undisputedly up there with Paris, Milan and New York. London boasts the best high street shopping in the world and is regarded as a hub of creativity, with British designers reigning supreme in Europe.
That, however is the problem: London is losing its 'talent' to the continent. The fashion industry is increasingly described as Milan/Paris-dominated and London is in danger of slipping into the uncharted territory of insignificance. In recent years London Fashion Week has been subject to steady down-scaling, with eleven young designers reputedly pulling out last season alone. An apparent lack of new talent has meant that this year the event has failed to excite international press and buyers. In the words of Tanya Sarne at Ghost: "Anna Wintour will go where the bucks are." The problem is exacerbated by an exodus of high profile stars. Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney now show in Paris, having established their reputations in Europe, while Roland Mouret, Luella Bartley and Matthew Williamson have all traded in the edginess of London for the slick runways of New York.
The main problem does seem to be financial backing - or a distinct lack of it. New designers working on shoestring budgets are struggling to make ends meet and stage a credible show, particularly when the industry increasingly equates credible with expensive. London is known for its almost anti-commercial attitude; creativity, imagination and fantasy, in quantities almost to rival haute couture, has always been its forte. In the current environment, however, when London is failing to attract the buyers and international press, young designers are losing their window to the world.
Often this means that they abandon London and head for Europe, where ravenous conglomerates such as Gucci and LMVH snap them up, providing business acumen, publicity and those all important resources to put collections together. That the international press flocks in hoards every season is an added bonus. Moves across the pond are certainly accelerated by horror stories of London designers' lost sense of commerce. Hussein Chalayan is the most obvious one, with his dedication to his art spelling death for the brand. London is used to trading on its reputation as a fashion and trend hotspot, however a lack of financial backing or even the foresight to take such trivial matters as fashion seriously, means it risks losing its trademark vibrancy.
The emergence of the latest darling of London Fashion, Jonathon Saunders, suggests that the tide is turning. His show stopping prints have alerted the fashion world to the possibilities of London. He has been hailed as the saviour of London Fashion, having already been involved in high profile collaborations with Alexander McQueen and Pucci in the two years since he graduated from St Martin's. You could almost argue that he has taken commercial sense a step too seriously; one wonders what a stint designing chocolate packaging for Topshop could do for a fledgling designer's kudos.
The designers who continue to show in London have proved that it can in fact be incredibly commercially viable. But Nicole Farhi, Paul Smith, Jasper Conran and Betty Jackson just seem to lack that heart-fluttering factor associated with McQueen, Williamson and McCartney. Nicole and Co. concentrate their attentions on clothes that real women want.
While this is an undoubtedly noble endeavour, there is only so much room for that in a city renowned for its quirks, and it seems that rejuvenating that heart-fluttering factor may be the key to retaining the world's interest. Jonathon Saunders is a small step in a very right direction but it remains to be seen whether the lure of other shores will be too great for him to resist.
You think it's all over? Think again my pretties. Sartorially speaking, autumn is the queen of seasons; she unashamedly realises that more is more, providing us with the perfect excuse of eclectic weather conditions to wear all our clothes at once. Summer's well-worn favourites and last year's winter warmers get shoved together with inspiration from the autumnal catwalks and... voila! an explosive statement of personal creativity without straining a bank balance undoubtedly languishing in the no-man's land that is pre-student loan cheque trauma.
In redefining your summer skimpers into a layering dream you must be fearless. Feel free to get ahead a season or drop back a couple of years. A good look is a good look; just twist the trend. Slip some neon opaques under your chic shorts. Luxe up a nineties parka with buttery leather boots. Try disrupting the silhouette a little. Maybe ease yourself out of the fitted-is-best inherited habit with a little skin tight something paired with an oversized partner (obviously the idea is to cling shamelessly to your hot mama areas and billow cunningly over any less than pert parts). On a Boudiccan tip girls: beat the boys at their own game. Work your luscious frame through suggestion rather than revelation. Rough tailoring, asymmetric drapery and structured fabrics are fine friends to fans of layers.
Catwalk to cobblestones, contrast is the key. Scott Henshall has his pimped up LA roller girls pairing cosy fur with sporty shorts and fingerless gloves, while Sass and Bide punkify their Sydney-sunshine goddess vibe with tribal feathers and Lara Croft armbands. Bright green Balenciagan rock-chick chains translate into a casual keychain, clashing with a fairy girl frock from Unicorn and a glamour-puss diamond. If you're blessed with the legs of a stick insect get some white tights - at least 80 denier, with boots or heels to keep it ice-princess and not doctors and nurses... unless you're into that, of course.
Speaking of childish games, Paul Smith brings us school girlish socks, pulled up just how mummy likes them. Banish images of a Japanese teen tour of the Bodliean (although that probably was Mr Smith's inspiration) and appreciate just how cute your school uniform really made you look. Let's not take it as far as Britney though, freshers. As she has demonstrated, it's a slippery slope from school uniform to sports kit to Juicy tracksuit tragedy.
So it's back to school and back to the books. And if you're a not-so-covert library lover, now is your time to shine. Revel in the fact that you worked the boho-geek look long before this season's Bloomsbury wannabes jumped on the bandwagon. Let your tights wrinkle round your ankles, button up your boyfriend's brown cardigan' and get to work.
6th Oct 2004