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.

The Power of Fashion

Holly Fulton, London Fashion Week New Gen designer and RCA Graduate

On the eve of London Fashion Week the British Fashion Council today unveiled a report it has commissioned from Oxford Economics entitled The Value of the UK Fashion Industry. This report is a particularly timely ''snap-shot'' of British fashion, particularly in light of the current economic state, with ''fast-fashion'' firms considering how to pass on rising costs due to scarcity of cotton supplies and the immanent VAT rise to 20% in January 2011. Fashion is often perceived by ''outsiders'' as flaky and frivolous, yet the summary of the report shows the industry is worth £21 billion to the UK economy, which surely is not a sum of money anyone, least of all government officials can ignore. The report also cites that the fashion industry is not only UK's 15th largest (similar in size to the food/beverage and communications sectors) it also the largest of the so-called ''creative sectors''. An interesting facet of this report, and one I aim to look at further, is that it takes into consideration the role of different fashion organisations, not just designers, brands, manufacturers and retailers, but also seemingly overlooked aspects of the fashion, including educational institutes, trend forecasting and the media, which all have an impact on the state of the British fashion industry, and equally contribute to its success. In the words of BFC Chairman Harold Tillman:

Fashion is a great British success story and this landmark piece of research underlines its true scope and economic impact.

The full report is available to view on the British Fashion Council/London Fashion Week Website at:

http://www.britishfashioncouncil.com/valueoffashion

New Shops: London

Colonisation, in a sense, can work both ways, particularly in the context of the exchange of fashion culture. While big name high-street and luxury brands are well-known to have the power and resources to open shops in far-flung destinations such as Dubai, China, Russia and India, brands from so-called ''developing'' countries are developing the resources and confidence in their product to do so too. In London, Turkish brand Desa, well-known for its leather heritage, is preparing to open, not one but two large stores, with one in Hampstead and a ''flagship'' in Covent Garden. Desa already operates 60 stores in its home market, plus a franchise operation in Saudi Arabia. Given the number of Middle Eastern visitors who like to spend their money on clothes in London, it would seem this is a canny move by the brand.


Advertisement by 7 For All Mankind


New denim stores are also set to open, with 7 For All Mankind, the ''original'' American premium denim brand, to open its first British store in Westbourne Grove. Dutch brand Denham, meanwhile, has turned its attentions to the East End, with the prospective opening of its third wholly-owned store in Shoreditch's Charlotte Road (the brand's other two concept stores are in Amsterdam and Tokyo). It appears as if each of these brands is taking advantage of favourable exchange rates, and a perhaps slight dip in rental prices, proving that even in a recession, London is still viewed as place of opportunity for fashion brands wishing to make their mark in this ''World Fashion City''. Having a presence in London, it seems, retains its caché.


Denham Jeans, look for the brand's ''scissor'' symbol

Since the ‘’explosion’’ of the Japanese designers in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Paris (names like Kenzo, Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto), there has since not been such a concentrated number of designers emanating from one place making a significant impact on the global fashion scene. From within Europe itself, perhaps only the ‘’Antwerp Six’’ can compare to this. Yet since the 1980s the nature of the fashion industry has perhaps changed considerably, with a larger amount of monetary resources needed to launch a fully-fledged fashion label to begin with, and also the development in technology, particularly, the Internet, meaning that connections between places are now much ‘’closer’’, taking away the need to travel to present collections before an international audience. Rather than a ‘’collective spirit’’ there also seems to be a move towards more designers striking out on their own, not necessarily setting up business in a ‘’World Fashion City’’ like London or Paris, but instead choosing to remain, or return to, their home town, building a local clientele before branching out abroad. It will be interesting to see if Desa is the first of many Turkish brands to begin on an international expansion, opening shops or franchises, especially as the country has built up a reputation for high-quality products, both ready-made clothes and textiles. For the European market, their proximity to the main Western European fashion markets of Germany, France, Italy, UK and Spain, mean many retailers are looking to source their own product from there, particularly in light of recent problems with deliveries from countries further away, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Thailand.


Advertising Image by Vlisco

In a reversal of this, and perhaps reflecting the seemingly, almost ‘’circular’’ nature of the fashion industry, the Dutch firm Vlisco is little known in its home-market, yet it is a household brand across West Africa, famed for its intricately, brightly patterned batik prints, or ‘’Dutch Wax’’. Although, incidentally, some of its products can also be found in the less exotic confines of Brixton market, the best place to view the full range of its very luxurious products is in the firm’s flagship stores in Benin, Nigeria, Togo or the Ivory Coast. Vlisco certainly challenges the notion of so-called ‘’authentic’’ textile products, since these prints begin life in Helmond rather than Lomé.