Roving Reporter . . . Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden

The way women shop has changed since the ‘Credit Crunch’ discuss...

We have all heard of nothing but recently, here the panel set out some survival guide tips.
Sophia wanted to remind designers that ‘identifying your DNA’ is important. This means working out who you are as a designer; what is the key to your designs and your brand? Young designers like Alexander Wang are so well respected because you know that although the shapes and quality will always be kooky, his brand ID is so recognisable.
Colin reiterated this by pointing out, that new designers have a tendency to chop and change with each season, as they want to try everything. This is a huge no, no. Handwriting takes time to develop and make an impact, if you keep the strand of DNA running and a core value, people will eventually be able to recognise it, it takes at least 3-5 seasons.

Should the British journalism industry be more supportive of new designers?

Lorraine felt that the British media were far more supportive of home grown talent than our foreign media counterparts. However, Claudia of The Sunday Times Style, interjected that there ‘has to be a good story and it has to look good’, in order for the media to cover it. There isn’t an automatic right. 

Personally I feel that there is a lot of media support for young designers. Though there could be more. The problem as usual is money and it’s an unsolvable problem. Advertising revenue is what keeps our magazines alive, so naturally those products need to feature. There are however fashion ‘indies’ that cater to promoting newer designers, who don’t have the money to buy their press.