Popping into the Kurt Geiger Fashionistas party at the St Martins Lane hotel last night, I was rather taken with these Luella-esque lovelies – dramatically festooned with their own fancy net veils like little cocktail hats!
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Milliners are like buses, nothing for ages then a whole procession of them arrive at once. Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy were for a long time the only hatters worth knowing. Philip Treacy’s fashion shows were a huge fanfare with fabulous models like Susie Bick and Grace Jones cavorting on the catwalk, dynamic music and an overall party-party atmosphere. Meanwhile Stephen Jones has been busying himself for years, nay decades, without quite so much pomp, yet fashioning hats season after season for Galliano, Dior, Comme and a fleet of other designers to boot. This month he is curating his two-years-in-the-making exhibition, Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones and there is certainly a buzz around it. But there’s also a buzz around millinery in general.
When I saw Grace Jones at the Roundhouse last week it was an all-round gobsmacking experience. From the people-watching (Judy Blame wearing a bra…on his face) to the music (I literally swooned during La Vie En Rose) to the showmanship, but the star attraction was the Philip Treacy hat-fest – a different one for each outfit change. But the end of the noughties has coralled in a whole new generation of bonce-beautifiers…
Justin Smith Esquire is an ex-hairdresser whose star is on the rise. His vintage-referenced hats have more than a touch of English eccentricity about them – how special are these bespoke numbers?
I love the theatrical grandeur of Louis Mariette’s fanciful adornments. Not only does he make hats but also jewellery, belts…even eyepatches dammit!
Piers Atkinson makes sometimes-macabre-sometimes-cartoony hats. Last season he did a Mickey Mouse ears theme including a neon headpiece in collaboration with Darren West. This season I’m loving his brilliantly bonkers stuffed-toy hat. I’d wear one! Atkinson tells me he has two hats in the V&A exhibition and is currently working on the hats for the Ashish show so I’m hoping for colour and maybe a bit of sparkle.
Finally, my favourite. Soren Bach is another hairdresser-slash-hatter (how many more are there I wonder). I saw these amazing multi-coloured fur hats a few seasons ago at London Fashion Week and have never forgotten them. I think they were from his RCA graduate collection but I’d love to see more from him.
Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones opens on 24th February at the V&A
Rumours are suggesting that fashion shows are well, going out of fashion. Blame the economy, blame the internet, the fact is that some designers are bailing out of the show circuit, leaving crater-sized holes in the international fashion week schedules. Is this a good thing? After all, it’s no surprise that fashion shows guzzle more money than Bernard Madoff, perhaps those funds could be put to more sensible use? But without fashion shows, what would Paris Hilton do for kicks? Here I present the argument for and against.
The drama! The excitement!
The clue is in the word ‘show’. Go to a Galliano, Chanel or McQueen show and you are in for a fabulous theatrical treat worthy of a gala night at the Royal Opera House. It’s all there – the anticipation, the pre-event people-watching, the fanfare of the show itself, the backstage drama, the music/hair/make-up/styling. The tears, the tantrums, the models! Not to mention the crackle of excitement when word gets out that Prince, Grace Jones or Michael Jackson is in the house. (Who can forget Julien MacDonald’s tacky but rather clever coup of a Jacko lookalike at his show many years ago? Or the legendary Philip Treacy shows featuring Grace Jones slithering down the catwalk to a techno soundtrack and rapturous applause?) If you’re lucky enough to get a ticket to a McQueen show you are very priviledged indeed. Whether or not the clothes are ‘you’, you are guaranteed a night to remember (and not just because of the 90-minute wait you will quite probably have to endure for the show to start).
Front row fun
No shows equals no front-row politics which means less fun for the rest of us. Because who doesn’t love to watch the mini soap operas unfolding before us as we decode the body language betwixt Miss-editor-of-a-glossy, Miss-WAG-in-training and Miss-too-cool-for-school-indie-pop-star all squashed on the same bench in full view of, well everyone?
I’m a celebrity (no, really I am)
Much as many a serious fashion editor hates celebrities (well wouldn’t you if you were trying to do your job and some B-lister delayed the show by pandering to the paps?) it must be acknowledged that celebs do have their uses. After all, if it wasn’t for the paid-for celeb attendance at certain shows (cough Miss Sixty cough), would the photographers even bother to cover them? And less publicity means fewer sales. On a wider scale, it could be argued that in recent years it’s the celebrities who have given fashion its huge following by the general public. So get rid of the shows and the celebs could well lose interest in Marc, Karl and Luella altogether.
All about the goody bags
Perhaps most importantly, if we have no shows then we certainly have NO USE FOR GOODY BAGS. Now this is serious stuff, no? For a seasoned show-goer, those little packages of hope that sit on our chairs provide a welcome respite to the grind of 9am-9pm toing and froing with nary a sandwich or a cup of tea to provide a break in the proceedings. At least a lovingly tissue-wrapped gift makes us feel like we really are wanted and cared-for (yes, we are that gullible, lack of food and sleep makes us feel a bit deluded).
The ‘presentation’ – it’s the new black
Yet on the flip side, there are many good reasons to jettison the show format. On the menswear front, this week Marni cut back its fashion show to a ‘presentation’. Definition: hot male models milling around amongst ‘guests’ sans catwalk, ie up close and personal. Er, what’s the problem? Presentations mean less hanging around, a better view of the clothes and a more civilised atmosphere. Sign me up immediately! Of course, they also mean rather dull hair/make-up/styling but if budgets are being slashed then I’m afraid it’s au revoir to expensive stylists and make-up artists.
Surprise me
The demise of the traditional show could lead to designers being more imaginative in how they present their collections. Stella McCartney was ahead of the curve last September when she showed her Adidas line on real athletes doing -gasp! – actual workouts. Although the photos don’t look quite as special in the runway reports, an attention-grabbing concept is still a plus. How nice to not know what to expect until you get there, rather than steeling yourself for the inevitable cold, derelict warehouse slap bang in the middle of nowheresville.
Let’s meet in the middle
Which brings me neatly to my biggest point in the debate. Ultimately, fewer shows mean less hanging around and pavement-pounding and potentially more time at my desk Getting Work Done. People forget that fashion editors still have a department to run and that magazines don’t stop functioning simply because the show circus is in town. So to conclude, how about a compromise? The big guns – Dior, Armani, Louis Vuitton – who can pull the celebs and supermodels could show in the mornings while the smaller labels could have presentations, parties, videos, soirees – whatever cool, innovative ‘happening’ they can think up. This would keep the buzz going, keep the foreign press/buyers in attendance (Brit designers do put on the best parties, no contest) and keep the designers in the news (celebs love a fashion party even more than a show). And of course, most importantly, we could carry on the tradition of the Goody Bag. There you have it, problem solved.
Further to yesterday’s post, retail blogger Bish Shops alerted me to the following news on trunk shows:
NEIMAN MARCUS PLANS SHOWS TO ENTICE TOP CUSTOMERS TO BUY NEW LINES AT FULL PRICE
Upscale retailer Neiman Marcus Group Inc is to set up special trunk shows and meetings with designers for its best customers in a bid to get them to buy new fashion items at full price.
Engaging Neiman’s core, wealthy customers are the retailer’s “best chance of turning the tide” of deep discounts that is drowning company profits, chief executive Burt Tansky said yesterday.
“The challenge that we have is to get the customer back into the store to buy at full price, because none of us can continue to sell at promotional prices and deep discounts,” Tansky told the National Retail Federation annual convention in New York. “First of all, there’s no advantage to it. Second of all it leads to hell … and it’s got to stop.”
Privately-held Neiman Marcus is testing several marketing ideas across its 40 signature stores, including bringing in groups of 20-30 shoppers for special events, Tansky said.
“We have a number of things going on and already we are starting to understand that our customer, the affluent customer, will come into the stores if we create the right environment,” he said. He noted that some clients said they felt uncomfortable “shopping ostentatiously… Our challenge is to break through that mindset”.
[Source: WGSN]
