Old school glamour versus fresh design blood

If Burberry and Aquascutum are an Earl grey sipped from the finest bone china then Chloe is a soy skinny cap. So which do we have a thirst for? The mahogany bureau of the fashion world, all smoking jackets and polished polo? Or the fresh, organic, nude, bare foot appeal of natural, breezy beauty?Both have their place. On the one hand it can be seen that old school design houses have had their day. Their en-vogue moment has passed and like a red-lipped Dame they have retreated to Deauville.The old names like Escada just don’t fit the modern market. They can employ new marketing directors, reinvent and re-brand but it won’t really reinstate their former glory. It is unfortunately a Burberry patterned Elastoplast on a sore and gaping wound.Shouldn’t they just slip silently away and let the new kids handle things? Of course the big fashion houses will always have old money to play with. But like a crumbling castle the damp and rot can become too costly for such a large establishment. There’s surely something Grey Gardens-esque about even Vivienne Westwood these days.At the other end of the spectrum. Emerging talents will come and go. Frost-French, Sass and Bide, Kit Willow, Lisa Ho could potentially blur into all froth and no substance. Realistically there have been few “Eureka” break through moments. Where’s the drama, the showmanship, the glamour? It’s all a bit safe. There are refreshing gin and tonics in the form of Mathew Williamson and Nicholas Ghesquiere for Balenciaga.Soft femininity may be wearable for one or two season’s but it is not terrible inspiring. Nude, florals and safe-satins become tiresome with time.We need a new breed of bold designers - unorthodox and challenging. We need the new McQueens and Galliano’s. Unfortunately consumerism in many regards is a cancer that will never be cured, crushing creativity in its path. The desire for designers to survive ultimately sacrifices their creative control. Look at poor Galliano, churning out the next “It” bag, whilst kept on a tight corporate lead by Bernard Arnault. It is tres tres triste.■ BexBella.

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