Kerrie Bond takes a look at the relevance of the London fashion
A
whole new cohort at London fashion week showed that British Designers may not
be receiving the industry support that their competitors in Paris and Milan are
getting, but we still produce the best new talent!
We have a new class of designers, which have been growing in the shadows of kingpin designers, such as Nicole Farhi, Jaspar Conran, and Paul Smith.
This new strain of designers include Emma Cook, Sophia Kokosalaki, Hammish Morrow, Eley Kishmoto, Blaak, Markus Lupfer, Roland Mouret and Warren Noronha.
Eley Kishmoto (mark Eley and wakako Kishimoto) recognized for their wearable clothes, extraordinary prints (and with 40 international stockists, a commercially successful label, commented on London’s fashion scene…
“We’ve
grown slowly creating a reliable customer case, then nurturing the press to
support this rather the other way round, which we witness a great deal in our
industry”, Eley explains.
Is this true? Do London designers hanker after press attention more than stockist? Has the camera flash blinded them?
Top Shop's brand director, Jane Sherdon’s observations…
“London is often seen as a place for ideas, but not for orders. I think were widely perceived as somewhere innovative and brave, though not particularly commercial.”
Maybe this is our quandary, not getting the ideal state between creativity and commercial viability, though According to Nicholas Coleridge, chairman of the British Fashion Council (BFC) designer’s orders are up 15 per cent, so why does London still have this reputation?
I
view London as the mother bird of fashion caring for the new talent watching
it grow then fly the nest to warmer climates, with the occasional clipped winged
bird sticking to the nest.
One of those clipped winged birds is Kim Winser, chief executive of Pringle
known for combining modern designs with British tradition, although Pringle
has retail choices being narrowed down in Italy, America and Japan this is what
Kim Winser had to say…
“As a British brand, we demonstrate our integrity by showing at London Fashion week. And we’ve chosen to have two flagship stores in London because whether tourism is up or down in London, its important that we have a strong presence here”.
London is the spirit of Fashion while Paris, Milan and Japan buys it. London is missing self-confidence, it may be lacking in commercial viability but as Eley Kishimoto said “London has built a reputation on creativity, which is possibly the most influential force in global fashion arena.”
So its Hip-hip hooray for London!
