[Lena]

not sure where to post this article (i've found it interesting enough to share) but since it somehow has to do with fashion & design...

anyway, have a look

Quote:

The philosophy: The more creative a nation is, the more potential that nation has for economic growth. The Richard Florida Creativity Group has compiled an index ranking countries based on three measures: talent, technology and tolerance. In addition to innovators such as scientists, professors and artists, the fashion and design industries make up a huge portion of economic growth.... 1. SWEDEN Creativity index: 80.8 Think Ikea. Think H&M. Think Volvo and Saab. Creative companies such as Ikea, a home furnishings retail chain, roll out products that are appealing — in design, function and price. The Helsingborg, Sweden, retailer currently has more than 200 stores in 30-plus countries. Stockholm’s retail giant, H&M, unveiled its fall clothing collection in New York’s Central Park in April: It consisted of heavy knits, tweeds and balloon skirts, WWD said. 2. JAPAN Creativity index: 76.6 Japan, the land of innovation and technology, also breeds plenty of well-known fashion designers, known for cutting-edge innovations. Names such as Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garçons and Junya Watanabe all hail from Japan and push the envelope every season. 3. FINLAND Creativity index: 68.4 Finnish residents are known for taking pride in the architectural design of their buildings and structures. This year has been declared “Design Year Finland,” in order to promote the importance and potential that the industry has to boost trade and business. The celebration lasts throughout 2005 and includes hundreds of events in Finland and worldwide, with exhibitions, a competition and a design forum. :p 4. UNITED STATES Creativity index: 66.6 Richard Florida’s book, “The Flight of the Creative Class,” argues the point that the U.S. is losing much of its creative talent to other countries. Still, the nation is recognized as part of the top 10. “New York alone cranks out a larger gross economic output than all of Russia,” Florida said. “It is one of the biggest drivers of the U.S.’s powerhouse economy — fashionable services, products and ideas have so much to do with that.” 5. SWITZERLAND Creativity index: 63.7 Beautiful people, beautiful land, beautiful products. Companies in Switzerland have created fantastic and timeless lines of watches, including Rolex and Tag Heuer. Rolex, based in Geneva, was founded in 1905 and has been credited with making the wristwatch a popular accessory. To this day, many of its products are still made by hand. 6. DENMARK Creativity index: 61.3 Danish design can be compared with the Danish lifestyle: laid-back and liberating. Architecture is hugely popular in this country, population 5,413,392. Danes have created famous structures such as the Sydney Opera House in Australia (Jørn Utzon), arguably one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. Other notables include: La Grande Arche in Paris (Johan Otto von Spreckelsen) and St. Catherine’s College, in Oxford, U.K. (Arne Jacobsen). 7. ICELAND Creativity index: 61.2 In Iceland, creativity is ingrained in residents at an early age, and thus, it has no problem retaining talent. A subject of the national curriculum is “Innovation Education,” a teaching method that is used to encourage children to discover their own solutions, invent new objects and redesign objects that already exist. An added bonus: Life expectancy is high here, thanks to a low infant mortality rate, a fish-based diet and excellent health care. 8. NETHERLANDS Creativity index: 61.1 From a creative education comes a creative way of thinking: The Netherlands is populated with numerous design schools, including the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture, AMFI Amsterdam Fashion Institute and Gerrit Rietveld Academie (which houses graphic design, theater and stage design programs, among others). 9. NORWAY Creativity index: 59.5 Norway, the fifth Scandinavian nation on the list, has an agency dedicated to the creative development of the country: Innovation Norway was formed in January 2004 by combining the Norwegian Government Consultative Office for Inventors, the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund, the Norwegian Trade Council and the Norwegian Tourist Board. It helps develop small and medium-sized entrepreneurial and innovative firms. 10. GERMANY Creativity index: 57.7 From Volkswagens and Benzes to Karl Lagerfeld and Jil Sander, Germany is well represented in both the fashion and design industries. Germany prides itself on quality and functionalism — seen in much of its industrial design — and the fashion scene is much more discreet than other countries, focusing more on classic and clear styles. Florida, author of “The Flight of the Creative Class” and his organization, the Richard Florida Creativity Group, have devised the Global Creativity Index, which ranks countries’ creativity levels by three specific measures. They are: talent (percent of the workforce employed in the creative sectors and percent of citizens with bachelor’s degrees), technology (innovation — patents per capita and percent of national GDP spent on research and development) and tolerance (openness to self-expression, alternative lifestyles and social diversity).

from wwd

[Spacemiu]

Very intresting thanks Lena*!:p

I'm very intrested in Sweden at the moment, so thats intresting.

We all know how creative the japanese are, I'm alittle surprised Switzerland is no.5, Iceland seems like a really intresting cool country.

[Lena]

you are welcome space but... where is France? or Italy?
strange eh?

[Spacemiu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lena you are welcome space but... where is France? or Italy? strange eh?

yeah thats very true

[clay]

Great topic Lena!

[oStelios]

very interesting,(7)iceland!after comes the netherlands and germany in the 10th position

[tricotineacetat]

I also miss Belgium on that list... considering the amount of influential fashion designers in the past 20 years...

[droogist]

^ Well, the criteria cited are talent, technology, and tolerance...taken as a whole, I can see why Belgium would have scored lower in categories 2 and 3 than some of the countries that made the list. Same goes for France and Italy.

[helena]

Thanks Lena - the Scandinavians win! Well done them. My country should be up there too with the scandiks - i feel ashamed of that.........I wonder where we go wrong......?

[tricotineacetat]

Ummm, sorry, I missed that first part *so ashamed* ... still, I think considering the size , I think Belgium is pretty supportive with their (fashion) talents - alongside the production facilities, fabric producers and top notch design schools (royal academy and la cambre in brussels).

On the contrary, I can´t see any reason why Germany should be part of the list, sure, companies such as Volkswagen and Mercedes do have access to the best technologies, but that alone can´t be it. Germany is so known to lose it´s creative talents to other european countries. The state being almost bankrupt means that there´s almost zero support for universities, in fact, many art/design schools are closing because they are not regarded as "major" investments due to the low amounts of graduates. And coming back to fashion, just have a look at the "german" fashion scene; people like Markus Lupfer, Bernhard Willhelm, Stephan Schneider, Dirk Schönberger or even Karl Lagerfeld never studied or worked in Germany... probably the next generation will, if Berlin proves to be more than a hype in the last few years.

[jhaime]

I find it a little hard to beleive Scotland isn't on there...

what with our kilts and everything... hehe

on a more serious note, we have some amazing scientific institutes and all sorts.

Glasgow university is certaily well known for it's art and design...It may not be the biggest country ever, or the wealthiest by any stretch of the imagination (bless us)...but we do contribute more than our fare share ...

[mdankwah]

Where's the UK

[Venús As A Boy]

Bjork probably helped a lot!!

[Johnny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhaime I find it a little hard to beleive Scotland isn't on there... ...

I don't.

Anyway it's a bit of a nonsense list. Switzerland but no France! Sure the Swiss make nice watches, but not sure that's really "creative". Nor is the fact that your natices may happen to be "Beautiful".

[helena]

johnny - what about the scottish music scene? its been fairly influential.....