(front row bloggers at LFweekend show)
The London Fashion Weekend is a mixed bag when it comes to sample sales and other bits and bobs. Undoubtedly it is a great day out and if you save your pennies there are some great bargains to be had.
Being the penniless student I did part with £10 on a Melissa Odabash black long sleeve tee with a collar and button down, plus two pockets. The material and quality is fantastic and I wish I'd bought one in white too.
However my discovery du jour was a forgotten love Ally Capellino. How could I have forgotten this! I realise I've been so caught up in the head lights of fast fashion and top trends that old favs have been relegated to the Vauxhall Conference League (non Brits this is football league a far few rungs behind the Premiership- again of no use really if you know nothing or care not for football!). I need to compile a list of staple stores to give me some slow loving items rather than lusty moments.
Which fits in neatly with my new cause - SLOW FASHION, remember you heard it here first!
In the world of food there has been a return of sorts to the 'old ways'. It started with a bit of organic veg, moved on to free range pigs and has ended up with a country awash with Farmers Markets and a return to eating proper food, stuff you've gathered your ingredients for and cooked.
The slow food movement is concerned with local produced and banishing fast convenient food.
The health benefits are enormous and lots of other things too.
So what's the link? Well it made me think fashion needed to think like this too. I'm not advocating the end of trends, new designs, direction and the shows, heaven forbid! Not all fast food impacts are bad news, for goodness sake where would we be without the convenience of take away coffee. Fashion is about creativity and new adventures and that's not just the cut but the fabric. BUT, would it hurt to reclaim an element of staples, a few basic items, some classic cuts that remain whilst all around changes. Some foundation pieces that represent the designers cut and ethos but deliver not for a season but for a few years. Take these Chanel tights...
....I would love for them to remain as a Chanel staple. Does this reduce their cache? Does it impact on the Chanel brand or its value? I don't know but as a consumer I need some certainty in my wardrobe as well as the latest must have. Is that too much to ask?
Kate this an interesting concept and I think you'll find that most responses will be the same. We're all tired of moving at the speed of light to snatch and grab the latest much have.
ReplyDeleteMe thinks that it would offer designers an interesting challenge - show us how those Chanel tights can be styled into next season's new looks etc
Slowing things down puts greater emphasis on the quality of clothing and surely that can't be a bad thing?
I love those tights... And yes, I do need some stability too in my wardrobe!!!
ReplyDeleteI love these tights... I guess that because they are so strong, and therefore memorable, that for the following few seasons some people might sneer at them still being worn... but they are so cool I'd love to wear them, regardless. Maybe it'd take a few more seasons after that to fall into the classic category?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE those shoes, too!
Hi there-yes, it is important not to be swept along with 'must haves' every season-its so important to have high quality basics to fall back on and be the backbone of your wardrobe too.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of slow fashion, and I think it would definitely increase customer loyalty in stores that did maintain a selection of core items.
ReplyDeletePS. Those tights are gorgeous and the shoes work with them beautifully - I love how the line of the tight matches perfectly the line of the thick heel. Top marks for styling and art direction on that shoot!
I'm with Imelda Matt and you. It does all need to slow down and we do need some staples we can rely on from designers and retailers. It should be better quality. Grazia need you to write a column for them!
ReplyDelete100% with you on slow fashion. And Ally Cap -was a big fan for years, but completely forgot about it (what a dis-loyal person I am!)
ReplyDeleteImelda Matt - I didn't think I was alone on this one. I just feel exhausted by the style changes and I'm a great one for keeping up. I think overload and boredom has set in. It will be interesting to see how retailers fare. I think designers have their eyes on the emerging markets and we in the west aren't their number one target market but they'll have to show some concessions.
ReplyDeleteAliena - they are fab and I can't afford them this year, hence wanting the deisgn merry go round to slow down!
Esme - we've all got caught up in what's in what's out that we need to not care!
Sharon Rose - I have things that always remain but the last few years I've been caught up in the fast lane. I'm going slow to build the perfect wardrobe collection!
Del. Ind. - I'm already compliling my top ten places to shop on the basis I can avoid rubbish clothes and sales assistants. Yes the most perfect art direction!
Fashion Addict - we'll see on the quality front! Poor Grazia they do need to make a few changes, I love it but need some more relevence again.
Everybodysaysdon't - I think Ally Cap fell off the editors radar. Lets bring it back!
I'm also with Imelda Matt and you.
ReplyDeleteI think we have too many trends and fades.
Back you had trends for F/W and S/S, now you have trends for F, for W, for S, for Summer.... and also the fades, isn't this too much?
I think there's a slight and subtil "back to basics" in this last trends F/W, more some kind of "investment dressing".
Great post!
xoxo
I am really loving your expanded thesis on slow fashion. This is a concept I could really get into as I am a gal who favors classics over trends.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I NEED those tights? How much are they? and where can they be bought. They are gorgeous!!
Great post - and gorgeous tights.
ReplyDeleteLa belette rouge - I think they're around 100 quid.
I'll add my agreement to the growing pool. A culture in which we expect more, different, faster, cheaper all the time just prevents us from appreciating what we already have ... and from being creative with what is already hanging in our closets.
ReplyDeleteI think I've used the slow fashion term 4 times since yesterday. I also think it can be deconstructed into, for example, micro-terms. So what you're saying about the Chanel tights having staying power is a "slow trend"!
ReplyDeleteI suppose if Chanel thought they could keep making a profit from offering these tights every season, they would. After all, they keep offering iconic tweed jackets every season, don't they?
ReplyDeletethe Seeker - yes this A/W did have an emphasis on investment dressing but this was limited to certain designers and doesn't translate into retailers. I know the trend turn around is phenomenal.
ReplyDeleteLa Belette Rouge - they are fab aren't they and I think they might be nearer £200! imagine the cost of a snag!!
Top Bird - thanks!
Sal - it is partly as there are so many directions to choose from so filtering and decisions are harder.
K.Line - I think something like these Chanel tights should have staying power for a few seasons or more. Rather than a fast clearout. I feel like I'm picking on Chanel but th etights were just an example of something that could stay around for a while.
Enc - ditto, I'm not sure about the tweed jackets, other than they are always manifest in a collection in some form. Chanel of course has teh iconic staple the 2.55!
As I am a thrifter I can totally agree with you; it is depressing to see the fast disposable fashion turning up in thrift stores before they are even off the retail racks. And the charities make nothing because everyone knows how cheap they were in the first place.And some stores are just full of utter crap these days. I have to travel to London to get anything decent.
ReplyDeleteIn a selfish way, I do like it when people get tired of things, because they end up in thrift and then I can afford them! And I give them a good home forever.
xx
The problem with those tights is that they're TOO easy to knock off and not something that can be protected by trademark like a logo can be. It won't be worth it for Chanel if they end up doing high-cost, low-volume business in that item while all the knock-off artists are doing low-cost, high-volume, and it won't be worth it to challenge the people ripping them off, so it's just better to move onto a new idea.
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog byway of Belletterouge, and I love what you're saying about SLOW fashion. Absolutely. We do the whole slow food, be-where-you-are-thing, and slow fashion is the next for us to practice. Great advice.
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