The View from CPH

Iconic Hotel

Magasin - Department Store

Colour Combination

Window Display

Traditional Tailoring Shop

Designmuseum Danmark

Fashioning the City RCA 2012

Getting ready to launch the Call for Papers CFP for the upcoming conference I'm organising at the Royal College of Art in September - Fashioning the City: Exploring Fashion Cultures, Structures and Systems. For more info and to apply visit: www.fashioningthecity.wordpress.com

The View from Antwerp

Shopping Centre Interior



Peter Lindbergh Exhibition at FOMU



Giant Pearls



Tree Decorations on the Meir



Christmas Lights

Triumph of the City

Much as I enjoy delving into the labyrinth that is fashion theory, I am also aware of its limitations as I progress with my research. Rather than there being one theory or set of ideas, instead I find myself dipping into several, and at this point in time, seemingly disconnected theories, ideas and concepts. Apart from which I am also increasingly aware of the ''healthiness'' of stepping outside of the usual comfort-zones of looking at what seems like the same old references in relation to field of fashion. With this in mind I was glad to have take the time yesterday to attend a lecture hosted at the London School of Economics and Political Science (hardly the usual haunt of the average fashion researcher!).



Ostensibly set up to promote his new book of the same name Professor Edward L Glaeser's lecture ''Triumph of the City: how our greatest invention makes us richer, smarter, greener, healthier, happier'' proved to be a lively and topical discussion on the merits of the city. The main thrust of Glaser's discussion focused on the basic human and social needs through which cities have developed and continue to evolve: that of the need to be in contact, communicate and exchange ideas with our fellow human beings. Glaser referred to the ''paradox'' of today as being that while we are better connected today than ever before, with mobile phones, Twitter and Facebook et al we still retain the need, and desire, to cluster together in one place. He took Silicon Valley in California and also the recent up-risings in the North Africa as examples of situations where clustering together has led to important changes in, respectively, technology and politics. Yet the city as a conduit of ideas is not new, if as Glaeser, suggested we think back to ancient Athens and the cluster of great intellectual thinkers that inhabited the city at that time. Our greatest asset is our ability to learn from those we are amongst, and cities more readily facilitate that on a greater scale, what Glaeser referred to as the city's ''urban edge'' - the bringing of people together. Today this is perhaps more important as ideas become ever more complicated.

While speaking predominately from an economic point of view many of Glaeser's points also have a relevance to the developing cultural aspects of cities, and the thinking behind the ''clustering'' of specific industries and working professionals. In relation to fashion this can be viewed through the clustering of fashion in specific cities, notably the large ''Fashion Capitals'' Paris, London, Milan, New York and Tokyo. These are cities where not only fashion and textile designers are found but also trend forecasters, buyers, agents, fashion editors, photographers model agencies, and of course the events many of them can be found attending. These include shop launches, exhibition openings, catwalk shows and trade fairs. Here fashion professionals can come together and network, exchanging gossip, ideas and new leads about who or what is the next big thing. Glaeser's lecture proved extremely illuminating on the subject of what makes cities dynamic and still attractive to us all, yet it also high-lighted some of the problems cities face too. Very large cities, such as London, while a magnet for drawing in those looking to make their mark also suffer from their popularity. Or rather as Glaeser made clear, city authorities, government bodies and planning experts need to ensure that they are endeavouring to develop and encourage growth and innovation, rather than holding it back. Particularly in the case of London, the lack of capacity in terms of affordable housing and/or office/studio space is a key issue, in part because of a lack of building new property and also re-thinking what kind of properties need to be developed. Here in the UK the idea of the ''tower block'' is something taken out of a nightmare, yet in looking at the uses of space building up, rather than out, may be one of the solutions. Famed for its nurturing of fashion design talent and entrepreneurs in this field, this is something that remains a key consideration for London, and how its reputation for this may be continued in the future.

More Information:

Triumph of the City: http://www.triumphofthecity.com/index.htm

Quote of the Month

Norman Parkinson for Queen Magazine, 1960


Recognition comes when you can name any city and a flood of connections are made that unfold in layers... Together they make a story. These are a mix of realities and perceptions. The city in its totality is a bundle of associations and has connotations from the physical to the intangible, to stories, images, products or even ideas.

Landry, Charles, 2008, The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators, London and Sterling, VA: Earthscan.

This month's quote comes courtesy of Charles Landry, one of the most significant thinkers and practitioners in the field of city planning, in particular in relation to realizing the creative potential of cities for civic and economic good. I made use of this quote in a recent written piece to accompany my recent exhibit in the Work-in-Progress exhibition, which set about portraying the importance of evoking the Fashion City through imagery, including advertising and fashion editorials. What is intriguing about Landry's thoughts here is the idea of the ''layering'' of a given city's reputation built-up over time. Many city's have attempted, and often failed, to develop their reputations as centres of culture, yet this kind of status cannot be created out of nothing, and neither can it be created over night. Both the city's inhabitants and it's outside audience, such as tourists or potential investors, have to believe that such a ''story'', as Landry puts it, exists as much in reality as it does in the glossy images the city wishes to project. In short, the city's ''story'' cannot be ''faked'', it has to be ''authentic'', in real terms, as much as in perception. This is as important for a city that wishes to establish itself as a ''Fashion City'' as any other which might focus on art, architecture, music of film as its marker of cultural status. Concerning the Fashion City, much of the layering of the story is made in the creation of fashion imagery for fashion editorials in glossy magazines and advertising by the leading fashion brands. In the case of London this comes through photographing fashion in the streets, posing models against iconic landmarks, or making use of the ''icons'' of the city, of which London has many, from bright red buses and telephone boxes, through to the black Hackney cabs and bearskin hats of the Queen's Guard. Located in the physical locality of the city, these are much a part of London's fashion ''legend'' as they are an evocative and glamorous stimulus in developing imaginations.

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''

Fashion Capitals: London, Paris, Milan...er... Manchester, Rio de Janeiro?

Thinking about the development of new 'Fashion Cities' I came across two intriguing media representations of this phenomenon over the weekend. The first came from Drapers, which this week dedicated its entire edition to Manchester, or 'Brandchester', as it had it on the cover of the magazine. Perhaps surprisingly for many visitors from outside, and in this I might even include Londoners, many UK cities have their own distinct identities that include the way people dress. Londoner's, as a general rule, do not really make much effort to 'dress-up' to go out as such. A pair of jeans worn with a slightly smarter top and a change of jewellery and shoes normally suffices. Yet in many other cities, such as Liverpool or Cardiff, it is 'social suicide' to appear not to care in this way. Merely changing your top just doesn't cut it amongst the style mavens of these cities. What was intriguing about the Drapers profile was the emphasis on the 'indigenous' style culture of Manchester having grown out of specific elements integral to the display of fashion, notably the now fabled, if extinct, Hacienda nightclub. Alongside this, it was the initiatives of local entrepreneurs capitalising on the appeal of this display of fashion that have gone on to achieve success to, in turn, ensure Manchester's status and influence on Northern English style and beyond. Not a little rivalry with neighbouring Liverpool also seems to add to the mix according to some references in Drapers reporting.


Across the Atlantic, FT Weekend reported on Rio de Janerio's establishment of itself as a 'Fashion Capital' in just three short years. Rio de Janerio is famed for its beaches, where its city's residents can flaunt their perfectly sculpted, sun-tanned bodies, in some of the most daring beachwear ever dreamed-up. While Nicola Copping reported that Rio de Janerio's fashion Fashion Week did not disappoint in terms of its range and diversity of bikini's and beach attire, there is a move by fashion designers to branch out and develop their clothing ranges beyond this. The only stumbling block to this seems to be the very 'localised' nature of the collections being made, which, while they may work under the blazing Brazilian sun, still need to be worked upon to appeal those residing in much less blessed climates. As with many designers working in the Southern Hemisphere wanting to sell their collections in the Northern Hemisphere (and vice-versa perhaps), is the problem of adapting collections not only to a different lifestyle, but to a completely opposite weather season altogether. Alongside this, Brazilian designers perhaps have little incentive to sell outside their borders, even to other Latin American markets, when their own domestic market is so huge. In 2009 Brazil's combined textile and fashion sector made $47 billion in turnover (as opposed to the UK's 2008 turnover of $13 billion), of which only $1.85 billion was earned on clothing and textiles made for export. Yet, with so many of us in Europe now able to take cheap, short and mid-haul holidays to catch some sunshine the whole-year round, perhaps Brazilian labels are well-placed to match demand for this. Not least there is the opportunity to educate pale and pasty Brits, Germans and Scandanavians in how to really dress to look our best on the beach. Of course, we will all just have to work on the Brazilian body to go with it...