Designer Diary: Melt London – Dull, Dull, Dull
17-03-2008
Does the
predicted downturn in the world economy mean the end of innovation? Is fashion
effectively dead? Or, more precisely, do we now design and sell clothing rather
than fashion?
Wandering
around the many shows during Paris
fashion week we began to ask ourselves these questions. Plus, why are there so
many brands with so little real difference between them?
The colours
(what colours?) were much the same, the shapes were much the same, the detail
and overall styling were…..yes,…..much the same. This could explain why the
shows were quiet.
How do
buyers choose between bland or bland? Put simply, they don’t.
I am
finding that I read the seasons fashion reports in both magazines and
newspapers, with increasing amazement. In vain I search for the irony behind
the journalists gushing descriptions of the average collections paraded before
them.
Finally,
after his many ecstatically cheered unveilings, there is a faint rumbling of
unease about Marc Jacobs. Well hurrah, for retro bag ladies everywhere. Maybe
it’s time to go back to the thrift shop and buy the originals for almost
nothing. Which Marc certainly does, before adding his high end label.
It does
seem that most designers in the public eye are consistently given a very easy
ride. I can only cynically assume that this is likely to be directly related to
either advertising revenue, or the catwalk seating plan.
Journalists
appear to work in a similar vein to television companies who always promote the
same handful of actors regardless of their talent. So I guess
it has become true that if we see, read and hear it often enough we will all morph
into believers.
The effect
of this next winter will be rails full of unloved, uninspired clothes, not
fashion. Retailers
must hope we will be mindlessly looking forward to the joy of being dressed in
head to toe, recession-proof dull.
Images from
the latest Melt London collection.
By Susan
Royston
Creative
Director of Melt London
susan@meltlondon.co.uk
