For many centuries human beings have lived in cultures where appearance is largely dominated by garments and where our relative attractiveness or perceived status is signified by what we choose or are entitled to wear, by way of rank or wealth. President Kennedy's wife Jackie was the last political figure to have had a major influence on global fashion and her iconic sunglasses, immortalized in photographs and by Andy Warhol, continue to be a fashion look that gets recycled. Diana, Princess of Wales is the only contemporary royal figure to have had any influence on the way people dress in recent times and so it seems that we have turned elsewhere for our inspiration in what to wear.
For the last century it has been increasingly celebrities who have had the most enormous impact in co-creating fashion and thus eventually what most people wear. In April 2003 a list of the top 100 women who 'defined a century' was published by Harpers & Queen magazine. With the help of the Getty Images Gallery they put together the associated 'Style Queens of the 20th Century' exhibition. The list contained many celebrity names.
The name of each of these women resonates with memories and associations and a feeling that, yes, they did make an impact, they did change for the better what their fans felt about life and, further, that in their behaviours they were positive role models for the looks of a large number of people. In creating these iconic figures, there is very often a complex interrelationship between the famous designers, supermodels and celebrity customers who feature in the leading glossy magazines such as Vogue, which chronicle this extraordinary process.
Through this incestuous mechanism fashion is developed and showcased and it is this hothouse world in which the 'research and development' is carried out for what ultimately arrives on the world's high streets and shopping malls. When we see the photographs from the Paris haute couture shows with impossibly beautiful models wearing clothes that could not exist outside a salon, what we are actually witnessing is creativity at the leading edge of fashion which is exploring new ideas in clothing expressed in an extreme way to make a powerful visual statement. The catwalks are a rarified form of theatre, where the audience adds almost as much cachet to the brand as the designers and supermodels. Indeed, rumour has it that, depending on status, stars are paid from British Pounds 10,000 up to British Pounds 60,000 in 'appearance fees' on top of first-class travel and accommodation to take a seat in the front row, get photographed and generate payback in terms of increased media coverage.
A relatively small number of extremely wealthy women do in fact buy modified versions of these clothes, but it is generally accepted that this process is not profitable in itself. Its function is to create an aura of exclusivity around a brand that has great appeal to wealthy people, many of whom are celebrities. However, the real revenues are generated by the sales of ready-to-wear derivations, other related products and in particular by the fragrances that are linked to these fashion houses. Another way in which the haute couture shows act as the engine room of the fashion economy is to create a context in which mass market clothing can be produced which picks up on the fashion leads exemplified by the catwalk, but translated into more usable and wearable items.
And, of course, many other fashion retailers feed off the ideas that the great designers produce. The fashion shows in Paris, Milan, New York and London are besieged by buyers and merchandisers from the chain stores who plagiarize the looks and styles that they see and rush them back to base for them to be adapted, pattern cut, sampled and delivered to store as quickly as possible. It is said that the Spanish chain Zara can achieve this in just three weeks on its mile-long production line!
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Darleen Carlsson at 07192010
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