Elle UK – August 2020
English | 149 pages | pdf | 66.15 MB
HOW DOES fashion INFLUENCE YOU?
ONE OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS about the biannual fashion shows (apart from the snacks – of which, shock horror, there are many) is seeing the machinations of an entire industry at work. Not just designers, but stylists, writers, harried publicists, exhausted set designers, manicurists, kind-eyed drivers, the person who checks the room’s temperature, lovely interns… you get the idea. The 3O-odd days that span New York, London, Milan and Paris are a masterclass, not just in great clothes but in how to create influence.
Because that’s what Fashion Month is really about – identifying the next cultural wave on which we’ll all surf. At its heart, fashion is about the new and the next. It looks forward, always several tantalising steps ahead. You can never keep up, which is why we call those who try ‘fashion victims’. But you can – Edand will – be influenced by it in some small, subtle way.
I’m not going to go into the ways the AW2O shows will wonderfully impact your wardrobe, because we’ve done that in our mammoth trend report on ELle UK Magazine page 75. But I will tell you about the incidental things that, in months to come, will also appear on your radar, as if by magic. Because sometimes what happens behind the gloss and polish is the most interesting – and impactful – of all. and so here, in no particular order, is what I witnessed behind the scenes at the autumn/winter shows, and what I predict will be making an appearance in your life very soon: Vermilion decor: There were scarlet plexiglass stools at Givenchy, deep maroon carpets at Miu Miu and sexy red lighting at Prada. Better warn your living room… Hands-free: Few front row veterans carried bags; instead, hands-free phone cases reigned supreme.
One editor told me: ‘I’ve had people running across the road to ask where mine is from!’ Cross-body knots: The new way to insouciantly wear your cashmere jumper? Try knotting it across your body, as everyone in Milan did.
Simply hook one arm over your shoulder and the other under your armpit. Ethical leadership: Gucci’s AW2O show was all about those working behind the scenes, with a catwalk show that shone a light on each and every make-up artist, dresser and hair stylist who worked furiously backstage (see p88). Alessandro Michele’s message: true leadership is about giving a stage to those who don’t always have it. Now that is a trend that should hopefully be here to stay.
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