Henry Holland, one of a handful of designers now carrying London Fashion Week.
It is apparent that the fashion industry has been undergoing a deep reassessment. The economy, and the negative impact it has had on the consumer has galvanized the industry into re-evaluating its role and function. Like a multi-national forced into bankruptcy, the fashion world has taken an objective look at itself and decided that the only option is to scale back, trim the fat, and streamline operations. A corporation, however, is a singular, regimented entity with controlled flows of management; the fashion industry is a loose federation of designers, companies, and other individuals that collectively form the business of fashion. How does an entity so plural and so volatile begin to organize itself for change?
One of the more notable shifts in industry activity the past few years has been the slow decline of Milan and London as fashion centers. A decade ago, London Fashion Week was a full week-long event like all the others boasting a full repertoire of heavy-hitters like Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Preen, Hussein Chalayan, and Alice Temperley of Temperley London. Now, ten years later, McCartney and Chalayan have defected to Paris to reposition themselves among the traditionally higher end labels shown in that city; McQueen, Preen, and even Temperley London now show only in New York City for similar reasons. London Fashion Week is now more of a Fashion Long-Weekend where incumbent Burberry Prorsum and maverick House of Holland headline while supporting a rather rag-tag roster of lesser known independent labels.
Lately, Milan seems to have started down the catwalk to a similar fate. This past Fall 2010, the week-long event was truncated into four densely packed days due to Anna Wintour’s tight schedule; it’s hard to say whether Paris or New York would have ever buckled to same pressure. Although Milan has a hearty line-up every year with the likes of Gucci, Fendi, Versace, and Dolce & Gabbana, they too support an otherwise unknown collection of independent Italian designers; the same couldn’t necessarily be said for London ten years ago.
With New York and Paris as the remaining true, unwavering juggernauts of this multi-billion dollar industry, will the focus shift away from London and Milan entirely? Will there be a mass exodus of designers from Milan to New York and Paris? It leaves one to wonder how the industry will evolve over the next decade, as it crafts itself into a more slender, more lithe incarnation more capable of negotiating a changing world.
Post by Nicolas Sera-Leyva
