Tuesday 31 August 2010

Style Centre: Copenhagen


CPH Style - Drapers Magazine Cover Feature


Drapers Magazine, the UK fashion industry’s trade ‘bible’, has over recent years given an increasing amount of coverage to trade fairs and Fashion Weeks that are, on the surface, well away from the usual merry-go-round that is New York-London-Paris-Milan-Tokyo . Perhaps in light of its own confidence and influence on the North European fashion scene Copenhagen Fashion Week was given the accolade of being featured as Drapers cover-story. The cover itself featured an outfit from the By Marlene Birger catwalk show, a brand that is now a popular and reliable staple in many a British ‘indie’ boutique. The success of Danish fashion in the UK and elsewhere can perhaps be summed up by Drapers reporter Laura Weir’s assertion that:

Whether scoping the streets for inspiration or pounding the halls of mainstream behemoth Copenhagen International Fashion Fair (CIFF), the city’s fashion landscape has a preoccupation with sophisticated, quality product.


Advertisement from By Marlene Birger

While the style of clothing produced by Spanish, Italian, Portuguese or even French brands is sometimes considered a bit too ‘continental’, many UK retailers have found a trip to Copenhagen has a more suitable offering in terms of styling, especially in terms of a having a shared understanding of what it means to live in a ‘colder’ climate. Danish brands Drapers highlighted in its report included womenswear brands Edith & Ella (as well as sister brand Epoque), Best Behaviour, Bøgelund-Jensen and Lysgaard, ethical T-shirt brand A Question Of, and mens/womens brand Mads Nørgaard, all of which were cited as good examples of fashion brands with potential for UK retailers. For the more general reader, however, perhaps the most interesting aspect was a shopping report giving an overview of some of the most interesting boutiques in the city of Copenhagen itself. The newest of these included Wardrobe 19, open for just over a month, selling menswear by Han Kjobenhavn, amongst others. Pede & Stoffer, with two stores, one for men, one for women, was cited as being a good place to view the Danish take on low-key, yet high-end design. ParisTexas was included as a welcoming place to find pieces by well-known avant-garde designers like Rick Owens. Quirkier options included Sneaky Fox, whose owner regularly rotates the labels she stocks to keep things fresh, and Carmen Vintage, which was given as place to experience the Danish concept of ‘’hygge’’, or ‘’cosiness’’.


PARISTEXAS, Copenhagen



In recent years a number of other Danish designers and brands have to prominence, including Bruuns Bazaar, Ann-Sofie Back, Henrik Vibskov, Jens Laugesen, Noir, Sand, By Marlene Birger, Part Two, Martinique, InWear, Jackpot and Cottonfield, demonstrating how Danish fashion runs the gamut from ‘’avant-garde’’ through to ‘’ethical’’ and ‘’high-street’’ or ‘’mass’’ fashion. It appears CPH Vision and its sister show Terminal 2 are developing as the ‘’go-to’’ events for buyers looking for a quality-made, well-considered collections, while for journalists it offers a place to scope out what is happening in Scandinavia. At the same time, Copenhagen also appears to offer a more ‘’formal’’ clothing offer than it’s near neighbour Stockholm, which appears to be carving out its own niche in denim and street-wear brands such as Acne, Whyred, and WESC, not to mention the unstoppable growth of H&M. With Helsinki gearing up to become ''Design Capital of the World'' in 2012, and Norway also developing its international presence on the fashion scene with retailers such as Bik Bok expanding overseas, it will be interesting to monitor developments as Scandinavian fashion increases in confidence at all levels of the market. In particular, as the region has a particularly strong and rich history in the design of interiors, furniture and product design, Danish fashion designers are perhaps well-placed to capitalise on fashion’s ability to evolve and develop its reach into these areas too. It is not inconceivable to imagine a Noir range of ethical textiles for the home, Ann-Sofie Back ceramics, Sand furniture or InWear wallpaper.


Noir Fashion


Resources:

Trade Fair

CPH Vision/Terminal 2: http://www.cphvision.dk/

Brands:

Mads Nørgaard – www.madsnorgaard.com
Lysgaard – www.bylysgaard.dk
Edith & Ella/Epoque – www.edith-ella.com
A Question Of – www.aquestionof.dk
Best Behaviour – www.bestbehaviour.dk

Shops:

Sneakyfox – www.sneakyfox.dk
ParisTexas – www.paristexas.dk
Pede & Stoffer – www.pedestoffer.com

Wednesday 25 August 2010

A Visit to The Surreal House


Entrance to The Surreal House


Today, a visit to The Surreal House exhibition at the Barbican. It was recommend to me quite a while ago to pay a visit here, but having only just managed to get around to it, am glad I took the time. Anyone familiar with the gallery space at the Barbican will know it is often a ‘difficult’ space to fill, with a larger open space on the lower level, and a series of smaller rooms, or rather large alcoves, on the upper level, from where it is also possible to view the lower level, and vice versa. This sense of different levels and viewpoints seemed to work well, however, certainly giving any visitor the sense of having entered a kind of ‘house’ space, and offering the opportunity to view exhibits and films from differing angles. The aim of the exhibition was to showcase the links between the concept of the house and surrealism, and while many of the exhibits were certainly familiar, it was intriguing to have the opportunity to look at them again from a different viewpoint. Interestingly, there was a mix of exhibits by the ‘original’ surrealist artists, writers and designers, such as André Breton, Dora Maar, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dalí and Marcel Duchamp, complemented by others whose work has shown a surrealistic influence, or whose work includes elements of the surreal, such as Louise Bourgeois, Berlinde de Bruyckere, Francis Bacon, Francesca Woodman, Jan Švankmajer, Joseph Cornell, Paul Thek and Gordon Matta-Clark.


Untitled (Black Bath), Rachel Whiteread, 1996


In keeping with the ideas around the surreal, it was curious to see a number of exhibits appearing seemingly out of context, or in curious juxtaposition. Most striking perhaps was Lucien Freud’s leather desk chair, on loan from the Freud Museum in London, which was displayed alone behind a glass panel, appearing almost like a spectre, the chair of an interrogator or a torturer. Rachel Whiteread’s Untitled (Black Bath), 1996, meanwhile, certainly had the ‘’demeanour of a stately sarcophagus’’, as the exhibition blurb put it. Interested in dreams and the possibilities of dreams, the surrealists were much influenced by the use of film, and also made much use of the medium, and visitors could certainly spend much time in this exhibition exploring the various manifestations of this. I was particularly intrigued by a series of photographs by Francesca Woodman, and the theme of appearances and disappearances that was evident. Jan Svenkmajer’s films Jabbawocky and Down the Cellar, were also still startling instances of mixing the surreal with a playful, yet very dark and grown-up sense of intrigue and possible danger. In particular, Down the Cellar conveyed a sense of how we ourselves often mix these up in everyday life, making us question what is ‘real’ or ‘unreal’.


Still from Down the Cellar, Dir. Jan Švankmajer, 1982

As someone interested in fashion as a research pursuit this exhibition was again a reminder of how the collaboration between art and fashion has perhaps been most successful in their meeting through surrealism, or surrealistic elements. Fashion is often perceived to be ‘ridiculous’ or ‘absurd’, as so many media commentators on the fashion still take great delight in emphasising during the bi-annual catwalk presentations. Yet it is this very absurdity that continues to make fashion relevant as source of release from the mundanity of everyday life, which all of us need from time-to-time. The only outfits, as such, included in the exhibition were a pair of latex dresses from 1979 by Louise Bourgeois. Other ‘fashion artefacts’, if they may be called that included Alberto Giacometti’s Table Surrealiste of 1933/1969, a kind of ‘’dressing table’’, with four different legs, a veiled mannequins head and a dismembered hand. The walls of the exhibition itself were also painted grey, almost like a ‘’traditional’’ haute couture salon, or some rooms appeared in shades of pink or a deep plum/aubergine colour, and indeed the overall ambience of the exhibition could be described as ‘’chic’’, with a sense of the exhibits being both well lit and well placed. I especially liked the placing of the antique glass vitrines in several of the rooms, adding a sense of both the ‘’traditional’’ practices of curatorial display and also a play on the idea of the ‘’wunderkamer’’ or ‘’wonder room’’, or looking at ‘’an exhibition-inside-an-exhibition’’. Perhaps the most ‘’fashionable’’ exhibits, however, were a series of black–and-white prints made by Nicholas de Larmessin (1640-1725) illustrating a number of trades-people, including a lingerie seller and a miller. Their appeal as surrealistic inspiration was evident in the very bodies or outfits of the figures in the prints as they were made up of the accoutrements of their trade, even including their headwear and footwear. It is very possible to imagine how these extraordinary outfits may be realised in ‘’real-life’’ on the catwalk at Christian Dior.


Table Surrealiste, Alberto Giacometti, 1933 (1969)


Installation view of Table Surrealiste


Although not a ‘’fashion exhibition’’ per se, The Surreal House was an interesting example of how fashion permeates different areas, and also how the realm of the domestic, that is ‘’the house’’, continues to have such a profound influence. In developing my own work as a researcher through the medium of film it was also a good opportunity to view a number of films, not only to view the film-making of the films themselves, but also to engage with how film is presented. The Surreal House showed its selection of films on both large and small screens, sometimes with the opportunity to sit on a bench if the film was of a longer length. Interestingly, the section Electric Cinema, featured a miniature version of a real cinema, with plush red curtains on the walls and matching, ‘’real’’, old-style cinema seats, offering the visitor a ‘’real-life’’ cinema experience, with a series of full-length feature films, such as the surreal masterpiece La Belle et La Bête. In the creation of films, this is perhaps an aspect that is often not fully realised, yet with the growth of 3-D presentations as way of enticing and retaining people’s interest in the cinematic experience, this is an area that retains a great many possibilities to explore and consider. Echoing the surrealism and filmic quality of the day, I arrived at the exhibition on an overcast, if dry day, and left in the rain, weaving my way to the tube station without an umbrella through the labyrinth that is the Barbican complex...

Resources:

Barbican: http://www.barbican.org.uk/

Monday 23 August 2010

Filmic Inspiration from Kew Gardens

Today's post is a collage of images taken from a recent visit to Kew Gardens. Strangely, for all the years I've lived in London, this was my first visit here, and for any other Londoners yet to go, it's definitely worth the trip on the District Line. I was particularly intrigued by the 'filmic' quality of the famous glass houses, particularly the older ones, with peeling paint, winding staircases and ornate urns. My 'fashion' eye, meanwhile, was also attuned to the multitude of textures of the plants, their colours, forms and shapes. In developing my research through film and the processes of film-making this visit to Kew was certainly a lesson in 'looking', not just with a casual glance, but with a more nuanced 'looking', thinking about framing of shots, positions and angles of the camera, and of course, lighting, the bug-bear of every film-maker or photographer, particularly noticeable on the day I visited, with pleasant, if changeable, weather. The practice of looking is certainly something I'll no doubt be developing further over the coming months.


Chinese Pagoda


Temperate House, Kew Gardens






Japanese Wood Carving




Cacti Closeup


Glasshouse Roof


Purple Petticoats



Resources:

Kew Gardens: www.kew.org

Thursday 19 August 2010

Introduction to K-Pop


Fashion Souvenir Key-ring, Nagoya, Japan


Wonder Girls, K-Pop Album


A new edition to my collection of Fashion Souvenirs: a key-ring from Nagoya, courtesy of my sister who lives in Japan, and who was recently back home on a visit. The little paper bag it came in, too, was rather intriguing, being perfectly ‘’key-ring sized’’. The bag also features the same fish motif that appears on the back of the key-ring itself, so being both co-ordinated and stylish, something the Japanese appear to know quite a bit about! One of the other elements of my interests in both fashion tourism and also the Fashion City, is the influence and inclusion of localised cultural elements, from design, food, architecture, customs and music. My sister also brought along her latest CD purchase by a group called the Wonder Girls, from South Korea, an interesting exemplar of K-Pop, the Korean version of J-Pop (Japan) or Canto-Pop (Hong Kong). I have listened to some J-Pop before, mixing Japanese with English lyrics, usually on a relationship theme (falling in love/breaking up etc.), sung over a hyper-speedy pop/electronic rhythm. I’ve not much experience of K-Pop as such, although the syrupy-style love songs are perhaps similar, and according to my sister K-Pop is actually a more sophisticated, and indeed trendy, offering. Listening to the Wonder Girls certainly proved a good introduction to the world of K-Pop, and certainly in terms of musicology seemed a little more solidly put together than some J-Pop tunes I have heard (perhaps this is also a case of learning the best of the elements of J-Pop, and selling back a more glamorous, larger-than-life version, as with Ralph Lauren’s take on English aristocratic living in the creation of his Polo brand).

Living in such a globalised world where it seems everyone is wearing identikit outfits gleaned from H&M, Zara, Mango, Top Shop, Abercrombie & Fitch or Urban Outfitters, it is intriguing to note how localised notions of style continue to permeate and influence cultural customs in specific locales. This appears to be especially true in the form of local ‘’slang’’, TV shows, magazines, pop music, and the dress and lifestyles of B-list celebrities. Often these exemplars of a specific style genre are too ‘’localised’’ to actually transcend their home market to be promoted and taken up overseas, yet sometimes, particularly in terms of music and TV shows, formats and styles have to be ‘’exported’’ to attain success, before they gain full recognition ‘’back home’’. Alexa Chung had to move to the USA before being taken up as ‘’style icon’’ to rival Sienna Miller by the British fashion media, for example, while musicians like the Scissor Sisters appeared ‘’too eccentric’’ in New York, yet their idiosyncratic style slotted perfectly into London’s Shoreditch-Hoxton scene, with barely anyone realising they were not actually European to begin with. (As an aside, in London it’s quite difficult to ‘’stand out’’, since there’s almost no exotic get-up that no-one has not seen before. The locals here are actually quite blasé, and any really outré outfit is just taken as part of the rich-mix of cultures that London contains). Western fashion brands operating in Asia often seem to forget that ‘’European-ness’’ or ‘’American-ness’’ is only of limited appeal, to a certain extent, as local trends and influences on style are often much more important, and indeed relevant, on a day-to-day basis. For instance, the Japanese notion of ‘’kawaii’’ or ‘’cuteness’’, and which continues to be an important indicator of style there, is actually quite alien to European tastes. Although many European men are very happy to wear toddler-like baggy jeans and slogan T-shirts well into their late 30s or 40s, European women generally favour a slightly smarter, more grown-up take on such casual style, teaming their jeans (usually more ‘’fitted’’) with an array of different tops, and boots or ballet flats, rather than trainers. In my own continuing research I aim to explore these nuances further. For anyone keen for an entry into the world of K-Pop, the website of the Wonder Girls, including their latest video, is perhaps as fine an introduction as any.

Resources:

Wonder Girls: http://www.wondergirlsworld.com/


Wonder Girls at New York Fashion Week, February 2010

Wednesday 18 August 2010

New Books


As far as possible at the moment I am trying to make the best use of the books and materials I already have in my own ''library'', and also from those other free resources, such as the websites of newspapers and magazines (though the UK Times and Sunday Times websites are now subscription based, so I guess I'll be researching elsewhere from now on). Yet sometimes there are some books you just have to have your own copy of, as waiting for the library to get them in takes too long (besides, I tend to make a lot of pencil notations in my own books, something librarians tend to frown upon!). Aside from Magaret Maynard's book Out of Line: Australian Women and Style, published in 2001, there are very few publications on the Australian fashion scene, which is one of my potential case studies in my research into the Fashion City. So it was with great excitement that I came across this new publication from Thames & Hudson called Fashion: Australian and New Zealand Designers, by Mitchell Oakley Smith, an associate Editor at GQ Australia. While the book will probably not win any awards for its rather unimaginative title, the contents promise a good overview of Australian and New Zealand fashion designers who have emerged over the last two decades. The book covers some, now internationally well-known, stalwarts of the OZ/NZ fashion industry, profiling Akira, Alica McCall, Collette Dinnigan, Easton Person, Karen Walker, Nom*D, Zambesi, Willow and Sass & Bide. Lesser known names, at least to those of us in the Northern hemisphere, include Arnsdorf, Birthday Suit, Camilla and Marc, Dhini, Flamingo Sands, Lisa Ho, Pistols At Dawn, Something Else and Vanishing Elephant. Overall this book offers a visual treatise of the work of the profiled designers, together with a brief insight into their backgrounds and positioning within the Australian-New Zealand fashion scene. Similar to much of the world today, this particular fashion scene offers up a melting-pot of styles and influences, imbibed with a hard-working ethic on the part of the designers. As Oakley Smith states in his introduction:

The breakdown of the barrier that once existed between the secular fashion industry and the general public has been seen as the democratisation of fashion. Not detrimental to its growth or prestige, local fashion has gained attention, interest and, ultimately, respect of its public.

(Oakley Smith, 2010: pp xi)

It is interesting to note, however, that whatever recognition designers gain in their ''home-market'', it still remains necessary to for their reputations to be secured and confirmed outside of that of ''home market'', with catwalk shows and press coverage in the so-called ''first-tier'' Fashion Cities, such as Paris, London Milan and New York. This is something not limited to Australian and New Zealand designers, as even those based here in London have often not been recognised as leading talents in their field, in part because fashion is deemed ''too frivolous'', or because many British designers, particularly at the higher-end of the market, make the bulk of their income from exporting their work abroad.




The second book to enter my possession recently is the first look at the work of Alexander McQueen, subtitled Genius of a Generation, by Kristin Knox. Rather disappointingly this publication from A&C Black appears to have been a bit of a ''rush-job''. While up-to-date, including mention of McQueen's untimely recent death, the text offers only a rather superficial insight into the work of a man aptly labeled a ''genius''. Unlike many of his peers, McQueen was admired in part because he was perhaps one of the few, and perhaps last, designers to have served an ''apprenticeship'' in the traditional sense, working his way up from toiling away in the cutting rooms of Savile Row, to stints working with Romeo Gigli and Koji Tatsuno, and then an MA at Central St. Martin's, moving on to set up his own label, picking up the gig of Creative Director at Givenchy, and finally developing his own-name brand under the auspices of the PPR-owned Gucci Group. Amazingly, while his work has been exhibited in several fashion exhibitions, including the recent Zwart: Meesterlijk Zwart in Mode en Kostuum at MoMu in Antwerp, there has yet, as far as I am aware, to be a fully dedicated exhibition to McQueen and his truely outstanding contribution to fashion culture. The main plus-side of this book is the visual treatise it gives of McQueen's oeuvre, spanning his early collections up to the Autumn/Winter collection of 2010. As Knox references, while McQueen was sometimes dubbed a ''misogynist'' by the media, trussing up his models in masks, corsets and brutal looking jewellery, this rather misses the point, as looking closer, his collections can be viewed as providing a kind of modern ''armour'', aiding the confidence of a woman unafraid of facing the challenges of the contemporary world. It is a great shame for us that McQueen felt he was not able himself to continue producing work in the same confident manner he had so often delivered, yet I hope soon to view an exhibition of his work that is as celebratory and as challenging as his own catwalk presentations so often were.

Monday 16 August 2010

Quote of the Month




It was Colly Cibber who said that one might as well be out of the world as be out of fashion. But far more important than being stylish or passé is the question of our attitude towards fashion. Those who disregard it completely are the losers, for they miss the delightful multiplicity and charm of the fads that reflect our deepest psychological needs. He who ignores fashion ignores life itself.

Beaton, Cecil, 1989 [1954], The Glass of Fashion, London: Cassell. pp: 329

This month's quote is an extended version of one I used in a recent article on new developments in fashion curation, and comes from the pen of Cecil Beaton, in probably his best-known book The Glass of Fashion, originally published in 1954. In summary of why fashion has been, and continues to be, not just relevant but important as a subject of both intellectual investigation (and a fun one at that), Beaton addresses the notion of how dismissing fashion as irrelevant, also means detaching yourself from all worldly goings-on. In addressing why I pursue research within the context of fashion theory, it is reassuring to remember the relevance that fashion has in the world, not as a superficial entity, but as something integral to life, or rather living, itself. In making use of the last part of the sentence in relation to fashion curation, still in many ways an undeveloped and still growing endeavour, my aim was to emphasise the role of fashion as a serious and necessary curatorial pursuit, both within the context of the traditional museum or gallery space, or ''white box'', and in so-called ''alternative'' spaces and contexts. As engagement with fashion through the form of clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, continues to intrigue and thrill people, so too have museums and galleries realised the importance of seeking to utilise their collections of such artefacts to attract an audience of (fee-paying) visitors. In 1971 Cecil Beaton curated Britain's first full-scale fashion exhibition at the V&A in London. Since then, fashion exhibitions, and dedicated galleries and museums, of fashion have grown steadily, not just in the UK, but internationally. It will be interesting to monitor these developments as they continue, particularly as so many ''non-fashion'' museums and galleries are also taking to showcase fashion in new and unusual contexts. I explore more of this in my article, which is to be published shortly. Watch this space...

Thursday 5 August 2010

Research on the Run...


Milanese Suitcases, Milan, 2009


Dirk Bikkembergs street advertisement, Amsterdam, 2010


South Korean versions of well-known Western magazines, 2010


Aussiebum, bus shelter advertisment, South Kensington, 2010

(All photos Nathaniel Dafydd Beard)

This week I have been working on a long over-due up-grading and redevelopment my website (click link right). During which I have been going through my archive of photographs, all of which can be included in the ''Research on the Run'' category. In particular street adverts are a particularly good source of finding out how brands promote themselves. This can be especially interesting when the brand in question is not advertising in its ''home'' market, as with the striking Aussiebum bus shelter ad, photographed on a wintry day in London (right around the corner from the RCA!). The slogan reads: ''A culture is defined by those who wear it'', which perhaps neatly sums up how you don't necessarily need to be Australian to engage with the beach-fashion culture of ''down under''. The lurid, orange suitcases are perfect for identifying your luggage on the carousal after a long, tiring flight, and reflect the globe-trotting life-style we no longer need to aspire too, but can actually realise, with the rise of low-cost airlines and efficient train connections, such as the ''Par-don'' lifestyle the Eurostar now allows. The magazines from South Korea, brought for me by a generous colleague, also reflect this sense of ''gloablisation'', being not genuinely Korean at all, but are rather Korean-ized versions of well-known Western magazines. Dirk Bikkembergs, meanwhile, appears to use the same imagery to assert and re-inforce his ''sport-luxe'' message across all markets he sells to, again reflecting perhaps the ''homogenisation'' of Western fashion culture. What is perhaps most intriguing about this collection of images is the variety of expression of this fashion culture, through advertising, photography, reading material and objects, and also how ''place-bound'' they are, despite the promise of a life ''free'' from the constraints of physical boundaries. Even within the numerous possibilities that mobility can bring, it appears we all still need to feel anchored in some form of ''localised'' culture, something to identify with, and in turn be identified by.

Monday 2 August 2010

Style Centre: Cardiff


Peacocks - A/W 10 - Demonstrating a hint of Chanel-diff style
(Image: Peacocks)

In Drapers this week, an advertisement in the jobs section of the magazine caught my eye, with ''fast-fashion'' company Peacocks stating: ''You don't have to be in London to have a great buying career.'' This is a sentiment many of Drapers readers will no doubt concur with. Although Drapers covers all the major sectors of the British fashion industry, from ''luxury'' to ''value'', as the UK's leading ''fashion trade bible'', a large part of its readership is made up of independent (''indie'') boutique owners. While I have been a long-time resident of London, Cardiff is the the capital city of what I consider to be my ''home'' country, Wales. Until quite recently it used to be the case that Wales' greatest export was its people, and that if you wanted to ''succeed'' it was necessary to leave, often permanently. In some areas this has caused a ''brain-drain'', which in some sectors it has never been recovered from. So seeing this advertisement, it was intriguing to note how bold the statement was from this Welsh-based fashion firm: ''forget London, Cardiff is where it's at''. While Cardiff may not be a ''Fashion Capital'', it's not entirely unreasonable to consider it as a potential ''Style Centre'', with it's lively student population, and status as one of South Wales' leading shopping centres, with a mix of ''indies'', such as Pussy Galore, and well-known chains, including Peacocks, not to forget the number of grand venues in which to appear stylish in, such as the Wales Millenium Centre (Opera House) or the bar of the St. David's Hotel and Spa. Indeed, many firms often choose Cardiff to open''pilot'' stores, to test out new shop-formats or VM strategies, such as the first ever John Lewis department store in Wales, anchoring the new St. David's 2 shopping centre.


Catherine Zeta Jones for Elizabeth Arden's ''Mediterranean'' Perfume

Intriguingly, the most recent Sunday Times Style Magazine ran a profile in beauty trends in several leading UK ''Style Centres'', including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Bristol. Strangely no Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish city was included in this line-up, perhaps indicating, yet again, that while the London-centric fashion media has finally realised that the ''style-savvy'' do exist outside the M25 (London's main ring-road), they remain ignorant of any further extension of this amongst England's near neighbours. Yet the same magazine's cover star and lead feature article was on the acclaimed Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones. As the article proclaims, as well as being a part of Hollywood royalty through her marriage to Michael Douglas, and a Tony and Oscar winning actress in her own right, Jones is also the ''face'' of the beauty brand Elizabeth Arden. While Jones may have attained a lifestyle that is only in the dreams of many Welsh girls, she is ,in many ways, a typical exemplar of the Welsh style scene. Not least in her apparent love for the high octane glamour of full-make-up and high heels, which can also be seen in the stylish locale of many of the bars and clubs of Cardiff, Swansea or Newport. Other Welsh stars, too, can be seen to exemplify this take on glamour, including Charlotte Church, Katherine Jenkins and Duffy, all of whom, like Jones, still retain close connections to Wales, either through living there, family connections, or working with local organisations or charities. In the case of Jones her ability to transcend her ''Welshness'' through her acting talent and looks has meant that, at several points throughout her career, she has even been cast as ''Latin'' or ''Latino''. This includes her role in the film Zorro with Antonio Banderas (in the days before Hollywood ''discovered'' genuine Latin/Latino-ness in the form of Selma Hayek and Penelope Cruz). In her work for Elizabeth Arden, too, Jones has been cast to epitomise the ''look'' of Latin Europe, as in the campaign for the perfume ''Mediterranean''. Not bad for a girl from Mumbles.

What each of these examples demonstrate, is that the notion or concept of a ''Style Centre'' can emanate from a variety of sources. In turn, they also demonstrate how this can be manifested. With developments in technology, communications and travel, a fashion firm can be based (and succeed) in a ''peripheral'' site (Peacocks). The dissemination of beautiful ideals or so-called ''national looks'' in the form of ''spokes models'' (Jones), reveals how these can be manipulated to challenge ideas about what constitutes a given ''style'' of a specific place. If Cardiff has a style of dressing it can be perhaps summed up thus: during the day it's very much ''dress to work'', advocating practicality and comfort, but when evening comes around, it's very much a case of ''dress to kill''. Those London girl's had better watch out...


Catherine Zeta Jones: Elizabeth Arden's ''Provocative Woman''