FASHION CAPITAL

A fashion capital is a city which is a major centre for the fashion industry and in which activities including the production and retailing of fashion products, fashion events (such as fashion weeks and awards) and fashion-related trade fairs generate significant economic output.

• A fashion capital will generally have a strong subculture capable of inspiring not only fashion professionals, but also the citizens of the city, and of turning its street style and street culture into essential characteristics.

It will also usually have a broad mix of business, entertainment, culture, and leisure activities and be internationally recognised for having a unique and strong identity.

• According to the Global Language Monitor . In 2009, Milan claimed the title of top fashion capital for the media.

• Both Milan and Paris have longstanding traditions of excellence and creativity in design. Milanese fashion is regarded as the most sophisticated and admired, concentrating equally on ready-to-wear clothes as well as haute couture, while Paris' focus lies mostly in "Haute Couture".

• Paris is also considered to be one of the four capitals of fashion due to its longstanding history as center of art and fashion, and its being home to several highly prestigious and powerful fashion houses.

LONDON – THE FASHION CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

• London has been named global fashion capital of the world for the second consecutive year.

• The annual list is put together by media analytics company Global Language Monitor .

• It is compiled by analyzing the Internet, blogosphere, and the top 175,000 print and electronic global media and as well as other sources to see which cities garner the most interest and coverage.

• New York placed second on the list, followed by Paris, Madrid and Barcelona.

• Although Paris is places third on the list, it is ranked at number one for Haute Couture.

• Surprisingly, Milan, one of the four main Fashion Week hosts, came in eighth.

• Paul Payback, the president of the GLM, said that both the Duchess of Cambridge and the Olympics have helped London retain the title for a second year.

• "Kate Middleton has proved to be incredibly impactful on the British fashion brand," he said, adding that a recent survey showed her influence has contributed to millions of pounds in sales this year. "The second thing is the Olympics being in the UK."

• In 2011 London overtook New York, who had maintained the premiere position for several years, for the first time.

• The Duchess and interest in Alexander McQueen following his death were named as the main reasons for the England capital's surge in fashion popularity.

LONDON FASHION WEEK

• London Fashion Week is an apparel trade show held in London twice each year, in February and September.

• It is one of the "Big Four" fashion weeks, along with New York Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.

• Organized by the British Fashion Council (BFC) for the London Development Agency with help from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, London Fashion Week first took place in 1984. It currently ranks alongside New York, Paris and Milan as one of the 'Big Four' fashion weeks. It presents itself to funders as a trade event that also attracts significant press attention and benefit to taxpayers.

• It is also able to get an official sponsorship from Mercedes-Benz, a worldwide known automobile brand and global hairdressing company Toni & Guy. It states that it is attended by over 5,000 press and buyers, and has estimated orders of £40m or £100m.

• A retail-focused event, London Fashion Weekend, takes place immediately afterwards at the same venue and is open to the general public.

• The current venue for most of the "on-schedule" events is Somerset House in central London, where a large marquee in the central courtyard hosts a series of catwalk shows by top designers and fashion houses,while an exhibition, housed within Somerset House itself, shows over 150 designers.

• However, many "off-schedule" events, such as Vauxhall Fashion Scout and On|Off, are organized by other private-funded groups and take place at other venues in central London.

FEW GLIMPSES OF LONDON FASHION WEEK

MOD

• Mod (from modernist) is a subculture that originated in London, England, in the late 1950s and peaked in the early-to-mid 1960s.

• Significant elements of the mod subculture include fashion (often tailor-made suits); music, including African American soul, Jamaicanska, British beat music, and R&B; and motor scooters.

• The original mod scene was also associated with amphetamine-fuelled all-night dancing at clubs. From the mid-to-late 1960s and onwards, the mass media often used the term mod in a wider sense to describe anything that was believed to be popular, fashionable, or modern.

JOHN GALLIANO

The epitome of style and fashion, British fashion designer John Galliano. He is a well-known name in the list of French haute couture women's wear designers. His collection has been the pride of many fashion extravaganzas especially the magnificent wedding dresses.

Fashion designer John Galliano has the talent of taking people into the fantasy world of fashion and then presenting them glimpses of real artistic styles.

• He started her carrier by exhibiting of his collection at the London Fashion Week.

• Subsequently, he launched his attire collection in the label named after him.

• In 1988, 1994 & 1995 ,he was awarded the title 'Designer of the Year'

• In one of his collections, high profile models like Madonna, Kate Moss, Helena Christensen, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista, had come & had waived their usual couture appearance fees.

• Fashion critics noted that his work moved away from traditional forms of pret-a-porter and becoming much more like haute couture, attracting a younger, more fashion aware customer.

Style

• He has a bold theatrical style of designing, which included extensive usage of vibrant bold & flashy colors

• Usage of head hears, masks & face paint was common in his shows.

• Even the make up & hairstyles of the models in the show is loud & theatrical

• Expensive fabrics & colorful styles

23Surabhi & Roopali

Alexander McQueen - top british fashion designer

• The East End taxi driver's son, born in 1969, is apprenticed to the Prince of Wales' tailor Anderson & Sheppard on Savile Row where he infamously scrawls obscenities into the linings of HRH's suits.

• The Gothic sensibility of a Brothers Grimm fairytale is closer in spirit to Alexander McQueen's clothing - than the fetish, gore and misogyny he's been accused of promoting. However dark McQueen's design, it still achieves a femininity that has seduced everyone from Bjork to the Duchess of Westminster.

• McQueen's rise to power is a fashion fairytale all of its own. The East End taxi driver's son, born in 1969, is apprenticed to the Prince of Wales' tailor Anderson & Sheppard on Savile Row where he infamously scrawls obscenities into the linings of HRH's suits.

• He works with Romeo Gigli, theatrical costumers Angels & Bermans and Koji Tatsuno before Central Saint Martins MA course director Bobby Hilson suggests he enrol.

Style• His 'Highland Rape' and 'The Birds' collections used Mr Pearl corsetry to draw in the

waist and exaggerate square shoulders and sharp pencil skirts. Brutality tempered by a lyricism characterises the McQueen style. By 1996 he was named British Designer of the Year.

• 1996 also saw McQueen replace John Galliano as head of Givenchy haute couture. But by 2001 the Gucci Group had acquired a controlling stake in McQueen's own label and the designer left both Givenchy and LVMH.

• Since then, McQueen's eponymous label has dazzled Paris with bittersweet theatrical presentations. 2003 saw the launch of his first perfume, Kingdom, and a bespoke menswear collection produced by Savile Row tailor Huntsman; in 2004 his men's ready-to-wear was shown in Milan for the first time.

MARY QUANT

• Mary Quant OBE, FCSD is a fashion designer and British fashion icon. Born in England to Welsh parents on 11 February 1934, she became an instrumental figure in the 1960s London-based Mod and youth fashion movements.

• She was one of the designers who took credit for the miniskirt and hot pants, and by promoting these and other fun fashions she encouraged young people to dress to please themselves and to treat fashion as a game.[

• Ernestine Carter, an authoritative and influential fashion journalist of the 1950s and '60s, wrote: “ It is given to a fortunate few to be born at the right time, in the right place, with the right talents. In recent fashion there are three: Chanel, Dior, and Mary Quant

STYLE

• Mary Quant is often credited with inventing the coloured and patterned tights that tended to accompany the garment, although their creation is also attributed to the Spanish couturier Cristobal Balenciaga who offered harlequin-patterned tights in 1962 or to John Bates.

• Quant popularised hot pants, becoming a British fashion icon. Through the 1970s and 1980s she concentrated on household goods and make-up, rather than just her clothing lines, including the duvet which she claims to have invented.

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