All Eyes On London
06-02-2006
In the world of fashion New York is currently under the spotlight with its ready-to-wear catwalk shows and chic parties but all the while there is a distinctive British flavour in the air. From afternoon tea parties hosted by Mulberry to a stateside launch of Boots Botanics and No.7 product ranges.
Vanity Fair magazine may have emblazoned Cool Britannia across its cover back in 1997 but this time around it’s US Vogue that is bigging up all things British. The intention is to gear up plenty of enthusiasm for The Costume Institute’s AngloMania exhibition – celebrating 30 years of British fashion, scheduled at the Metropolitan Museum this spring. The exhibition will be launched with a top-notch gala event hosted by Anna Wintour, along with Burberry Prorsum designer Christopher Bailey and actress Sienna Miller.
AngloMania will open to the general public on the 3rd May and will be set in the Metropolitan’s English Period Rooms. The focus is British Fashion from 1976 to 2006 and the reinterpretation of past styles that explores Britain’s diverse artistic traditions.
With such positive promotion of Britain overseas it is surely time to deliver with our own fashion schedule?
We all know that London Fashion Week is seen by the industry as the baby sister to the likes of Milan and Paris but this season a buzz is building. First up, Anna Wintour is in town and where she goes others follow and the British Fashion Council did just that when she suggested London Fashion Week should alter its dates slightly. Wintour is due to host a party alongside Alexandra Shulman, Editor of British Vogue, while she is here. Elsewhere, London is set to be party central with many designers putting on after-parties plus the Brit Awards and Baftas all in the same glitzy week.
The British Fashion Council now feels that London Fashion Week is at a key stage of its development. While some drone on about the likes of Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney showing elsewhere other established names such as Paul Smith, Betty Jackson and Julien Macdonald still remain. The event has grown from 15 catwalk shows in 1994 to 48 in 2006 – not forgetting to mention a creative hub of off-schedule design talent.
Organizers are now waiting to see if the date change will affect the amount of buyers and press in town to cover the event. Meanwhile, the next issue for the British Fashion Council is to find a permanent London Fashion Week home – along with taking the event to a whole new level. Let’s hope they can keep that AngloMania momentum on a roll.
London Fashion Week: 14-19th February 2006 at The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7.
AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion opens 3rd May 3 2006 until 4th September 2006 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
By JoJo Iles www.fashionpr.co.uk
