The Death of Fashion

To paraphrase Hemingway, it happened slowly, and then very quickly. This was, after all, the time of the New Romantic. The period also saw the emergence of the Japanese designers, notably Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo (of Comme des Garçons), whose ethereal black numbers combined minimalist rigour with futuristic interpretations of conventional garb. ‘Power dressing’ became a buzz phrase. In the UK, while providing flashy City boys with eccentrically reworked interpretations of the tailored suit – his trademark ‘classics with a twist’ – Paul Smith also discovered the Filofax, a leather-bound ‘personal organizer’ manufactured by a tiny East End company. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, Ralph Lauren had been steadily building one of the ultimate fashion brand names. His rag-trade-to-riches story has been told many times before, but it’s worth briefly repeating here. Born Ralph Lifshitz in 1939, America’s most upwardly mobile designer was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants within the Bronx. His father was a house painter, who changed the family name to Lauren when young Ralph was still at school. He got his start in the fashion company marketing fits at Brooks Brothers, and later on turned a wholesaler of ties and gloves in New York’s garment district. Lauren designed [his] outpost to feel like a gentlemen’s club, with mahogany panelling and brass fixtures’. Lauren created a world of aristocratic good taste, but it was pure invention. In the end, his success rested on the quality of his clothes and his knack for branding. Lauren’s shops have been movie sets, and his promoting campaigns – shot by Bruce Weber – happen to be stills from films that experienced never been made. In many ways, Lauren was Jay Gatsby – the man who created himself. Ralph Lauren was the perfect brand for the 1980s, when fashion grew to become much less very important than ‘lifestyle’. Tracksuit-wearing rappers and the chino-clad super-nerds of the dotcom boom were the new icons; ‘casual Friday’ elided into the rest of the week. Stores selling comfortable but unchallenging garments, mostly run up on the cheap in Asia, created dressing lower not just reasonable, but acceptable. Kate Moss, in her first incarnation as a grungy teenager, had nothing of the femme fatale about her. Style has come out of the closet.

The Rebirth of Fashion

The next wave of upmarket fashion models would appear from Milan and from Paris; clearly, reviews with the loss of life of the French money received been greatly exaggerated. It was fine that in winter 1995 Ford showed a collection of sexy, sophisticated clothes that attracted the attention of Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow. The Prada bag replaced the Filofax as the status symbol of choice, and the shoes and clothing quickly followed. As unlikely as it may seem, the resurrection of Paris as the world’s most glamorous city can be credited to one ascetic, understated businessman. Bernard Arnault was already on the rise in 1984, when he acquired Christian Dior. It was also completely at odds with the existing image of Dior.

Surviving the Demise

In September 2001, a minor war had been pre-occupying industry-watchers for several months. The conflict ranged Bernard Arnault against an additional French businessman, François Pinault, proprietor for the retail and mail-order conglomerate Pinault-Printemps-Redoute In a couple of swift moves, Pinault had created Gucci Group, a potential rival to LVMH. We all know what happened the next day. The huge marquees that would be the setting for numerous within the shows experienced been erected in Bryant Park, practically inside of view on the Twin Towers. And if they’ve been smart enough, our favourite brands are waiting for us.

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