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“London’s a jolly good fellow, and so say all of us!” |
We have a new class of designers, which have been growing in the shadows of kingpin designers, such as Nicole Farhi, Jaspar Conran, and Paul Smith. This new strain of designers include Emma cook, Sophia Kokosalaki, Hammish Morrow, Eley Kishmoto, Blaak, Markus Lupfer, Roland Mouret and Warren Noronha. Eley Kishmoto (mark Eley and wakako Kishimoto) recognized for their wearable clothes, extraordinary prints (and with 40 international stockists, a commercially successful label, commented on London’s fashion scene… “We’ve grown slowly creating a reliable customer case, then nurturing the press to support this rather the other way round, which we witness a great deal in our industry”, Eley explains. Is
this true? Do London designers hanker after press attention more than
stockist? Top shops brand director, Jane Sherdon’s observations… “London is often seen as a place for ideas, but not for orders. I think were widely perceived as somewhere innovative and brave, though not particularly commercial.” Maybe this is our quandary, not getting the ideal state between creativity and commercial viability, though According to Nicholas Coleridge, chairman of the British Fashion Council (BFC) designer’s orders are up 15 per cent, so why does London still have this reputation?
I view London as the mother bird of fashion caring for the new talent
watching it grow then fly the nest to warmer climates, with the occasional
clipped winged bird sticking to the nest. “As a British brand, we demonstrate our integrity by showing at London Fashion week. And we’ve chosen to have two flagship stores in London because whether tourism is up or down in London, its important that we have a strong presence here”. London is the spirit of Fashion while Paris, Milan and Japan buys it. London is missing self-confidence, it may be lacking in commercial viability but as Eley Kishimoto said “London has built a reputation on creativity, which is possibly the most influential force in global fashion arena.” So
its Hip-hip hooray for London! REVIEW BY Kerrie Bond
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