BerlinRocks
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International Herald Tribune - NY Times Global Edition
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September 21, 2009
SPECIAL REPORT
Edgy and Energetic: London Hits Silver
By SUZY MENKES
LONDON — As Prime Minister Gordon Brown faced the fashion crowd, a pair of elegant hands reached out and straightened his tie.
No, it was not his wife — although Sarah Brown had thrown open the door of the historic No. 10 Downing Street last weekend to celebrate 25 years of London Fashion Week. Instead, it was the designer Ozwald Boateng who decided to spruce up the prime minister.
That cheeky behavior was nothing compared to what Margaret Thatcher once faced: a T-shirt campaigning against nuclear war, worn by the designer Katharine Hamnett back in 1984.
London fashion has been iconoclastic and edgy for a quarter of a century, and the shows on the runways — from wacky 1980s revivals to whimsical romance — are bringing a gust of energy to a chastened fashion world.
For many of the No. 10 guests, it was a moment for nostalgia. Pat McGrath, now an internationally acclaimed make-up artist, remembered standing outside the show tents, begging to be let in.
Joan Burstein, owner of the iconic Browns boutique, thought of John Galliano’s graduation show, which she put in her store before the fledging designer had even left Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design.
Caroline Charles, whose runway debut was in 1964, praised the current organization and the new show venue at London’s historic Somerset House.
For other designers, it was a prodigal’s return. Burberry’s Christopher Bailey has come back to London this season from Milan, as have Antonio Berardi and Pringle of Scotland. Matthew Williamson has returned after five years of showing in New York and also will present his first capsule range of menswear at Harrods department store. “I am thrilled to be back,” said Mr. Williamson.
Angela Ahrendts, chief executive of Burberry, said that “it felt like the right time” to tap into London’s energy — and to show off the brand’s new state-of-the-art, high-tech building in the city.
For the fledgling designer Christopher Kane, a huge investment in a Milan or Paris show is way beyond his means, but he was pleased that London was attracting significantly more international buyers — and buzz.
“It’s looking very good,” Mr. Kane said.
Harold Tillman, the retail entrepreneur who owns Jaeger and recently has bought back the British brand Aquascutum from the Japanese Renown company, serves as chairman of the British Fashion Council, or BFC.
“London has never ceased to generate wave after wave of talent — and I believe that it has the highest concentration in the world in the pool of creativity,” Mr. Tillman said.
Cynics, or those with a long memory, might feel that London fashion has been here before: lauded more for its energy than its selling power.
Nicole Fischelis, fashion director at the U.S. retailer Macy’s, said: “I’m so excited to be here — there is such an energy, and the street scene is amazing.” Yet the problem for London design has always been to turn vibrant creativity into cash.
The winners and losers were shown at Downing Street, in a display of historic and current images by the photographer Christopher Moore (whose work regularly appears in the International Herald Tribune). While Vivienne Westwood, the founding mother of punk and of racy historicism, has become a national treasure, she shows in Paris, as do the exuberant fashion creators John Galliano and Alexander McQueen.
Other once-famous names like Bodymap, the catalyst of stretch style in the 1980s, are off the map. Hip labels fizzled out because, unlike Italian designers supported by a strong manufacturing industry or French houses owned by luxury moguls, there was no money in England to invest in high fashion.
“This is raw talent — and it often gets taken away from London and refined,” said Mr. Moore, referring to the stream of art college-trained young designers who feed the design studios across the world.
But Sarah Mower, the BFC’s Ambassador for Emerging Talent, is optimistic about the future.
“I think that the huge difference between this wave and the one of mid-’90s is that designers are now open to being taught by buyers as well as other mentors,” said Ms. Mower. She was referring to the feisty Louise Wilson, course director of the master’s program at Central Saint Martins and to buyers like Julie Gilhart of Barneys New York and Maria Luisa Poumaillou, with a Paris boutique and buying power for the Printemps store.
After all the congratulatory festivities, how are the designers performing on the runways at the grand Somerset House and in the more edgy space sponsored by Topshop, London’s powerful fast-fashion chain?
British designers always have trod a high wire between heritage and rebellion. But what has changed over 25 years has been the extraordinary diversity of multicultural London since traditional British names like Paul Smith were challenged first by Hussein Chalayan or Rifat Ozbek and now by so many more.
The Italian-born Kinder Aggugini caught the British vibe with his mix of elegant frock coat tailoring with Alice in Wonderland dresses, where skirts flicked up at the back over transparent petticoats gave the children’s book references a sensual vibe.
Osman Yousefzada, British-born of Afghani parents, showed his Osman collection of streamlined clothes, entirely in white, touched with gilded squares, pockets or collars, to give a warmth and richness to simplicity.
Ashish Gupta brought all the color and joyous decoration from his Indian roots, showing them in his Ashish collection as a sequined take on brand identity, from Nike logos to the Eiffel Tower. He used the images on oversized sportswear, often pierced with studs.
The French-born Charles Anastase effectively melded Parisian elegance with English romanticism, contrasting rough burlap for slimline overalls with fairy-tale hoop skirts.
Roman Gurrillo’s Spanish heritage came out in exceptional knitting, like the spidery open-work of a coat, the mermaid strands of a long skirt or the ethereal transparency of a simple dress.
What about the 1980s revival? Danielle Scutt looked even further back to the 1970s, with towering chignons, as a caricature of haute couture, and with a dash of Zandra Rhodes print.
“I am only 28, and I wanted the collection to reflect that,” said Ms. Scutt, who was inspired by kitsch Spanish postcards.
Hannah Marshall was born in 1982, so her take on the tough chic and ultra-wide shoulders of that decade had a new-millennium perspective.
“It was about a surveillance in society and the need for self-protection,” said Ms. Marshall of her intriguing show, with its spiky silver finger rings and sharp folds at hips or neck.
For true ’80s style, Pam Hogg produced a front row that included Boy George and Siouxsie, the lead singer with Siouxsie & the Banshees. Yet her “goddess of war,” in graphic-patterned body suits or strategically placed gauzy ribbons, was not wallowing in the past.
Stephen Jones, the British milliner who has parlayed his imagination into international fame, was warm in his praise. “What we are re-living is Pam’s energy — not a 1980s look,” he said.
Can all this enthusiasm in London overcome the reality of a broke economy mired in debt?
Stuart Rose, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, was forthright in his opinion that “there are no green shoots” and that there are two tough years ahead before a projected revival in 2012, the year London will be host to the Olympic Games.
But history has shown that British fashion thrives on adversity. Hard times may prove to be fertile ground for fashion’s creative seed bed.
International Herald Tribune - NY Times Global Edition
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