Fashion Statement with Suzannah Roach

Few members
of the public get to see any of the designers' fashion shows first hand. If you
are not A list celebrity status your name is most certainly not down and you
are ever more certainly not coming in. It appears that Fashion Week, be it London, Paris or
New York has become more of a celeb spotting moment than a focus on the up and
coming trends for next season.

When I did may usual trawl through the press to see what
the latest was from London Fashion Week the
majority of the news reports seemed to focus on the celebrities that were FROWing it (Front Row of the Fashion Shows
for anyone not so closely following). I had to dig deep to actually get any
first hand reports of the designs the models were actually wearing on the
catwalk. The focus was more on Alexa
Chung and Kate Bosworth's outfits and hairstyles than Jonathon Saunders'
designs and whether Kate Middleton would be arriving to view the Temperley
range.

By all accounts, when I did get to the bottom of the
fashion reports, it appears there were
some truly amazing designs coming out of London Fashion Week and thank
goodness there still are. London Fashion
Week has, in the past, been a poor relation to Paris and New York but the
more focus that is put on it the bigger and better it becomes.

It is interesting to see who the main focus points are
this year. Top Shop Unique is a big draw
and Burberry drew in the A-listers in droves. There are pages and pages of
names that show at London Fashion Week
and thankfully some of the big players are choosing London over Paris to
showcase their new designs. Erdem and
McQueen showcase their latest ranges and Mulberry and Burberry cause a stir
with their stunning looks. These are the big players of the fashion
industry and they have chosen London as their launch pad.

Sarah
Burton states that London is at the centre of the fashion world, allowing
designers to have their own creative flair whilst having the world's media at
their fingertips. The United Kingdom is known for not only being edgy and
creative in their high-end fashion designs but also leading the way in the high
street too.

TopShop
Unique being one of the big players at Fashion Week now indicates how the
focus has shifted and how influential the high street can be. Victoria Beckham interestingly chose New
York to launch her lower key Victoria range this year, but then chose London
Fashion Week to launch at Harvey Nichols in London. Interpret that
whichever way you choose but thankfully the big players are staying loyal to London,
which leads to more publicity and hype.

London
Fashion Week carves an insight into what we will all be wearing in the next six
months. Many items on the catwalk during the past week may not be
something you can imagine striding down the street in but a more wearable,
customer-friendly range is often presented by these influential designers in their
diffusion ranges which allow them to access "Jo Public" on the high street.

This
February saw many designers at London Fashion Week focus on military jackets
and door knob statement belts and grown up gothic looks with leather and
brocade. The clothes we see the teeny-weeny models wearing on the catwalk
probably won't be the clothes we'll be wearing come autumn but you can rest
assured there will be many military coats on sale on the high street and the
accessories will be waist belts with big buckles.

So whilst we see Fashion
Week paying more attention to the celebs and what dramas they are drumming
up at the after show parties, this celeb frenzy brings more media attention.
More media attention, the bigger London
Fashion Week becomes and the more revenue it brings into the UK. At the end
of the day that is what this multi-billion pound industry is all about.

We may look at these astronomically expensive items of
clothing and think it's pointless even taking note. However, if you plan to make a fashion purchase over
the next six months, what you buy will have been influenced in some way by the
events that have just taken place in some uber-cool location in London, be
it the designs seen on the catwalk or the clothes worn by the A list
celebrities lucky enough to get to see the fashion shows first
hand.   

Suzannah
Roach  

Source: http://womentalking.co.uk/new//topics/fashion/fashion-statement-suzannah-roach-14/