Style Spotter

It’s been a busy time for Fashion PRs.  With London Fashion Week coming to an end tomorrow we have been entertained with the latest designs from established and up and coming fashion-makers.

There might be only two shows a year in London, the current autumn/winter collection and the spring/summer shows, but fashion PRs are busy building and spreading the thoughts from designers.  Six months in between shows gives little time to change what people are wearing, but that’s how long it takes.

Speaking to a number of PRs at London Fashion Show you notice how London is better at getting the public to take the thoughts of their clients and adapt them.  Fashion in London, I am told, is open.  With the help of the media and entertainment industries – showbiz, music, film – PRs are able to spread the styles to the masses.

Take the Oscars ceremony yesterday with Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel proudly and openly telling us that he is wearing a very British Burberry suit.  Labels like these are of course aspirational, they, like their shows shape our wants.  The New Generation designers are the ones that shape what we wear – this year there was a lot of colour, with a lot of contrast.  The best of the 80s some might say.

Individual look

Fashion PRs are busy, getting their designs out there, accepted.

Tomorrow, we have the menswear collection, something I am personally looking forward to.

In the meantime London’s streets will be filled with spotters, looking and judging our dress sense.

I love London Fashion Week, but would like to take a peak behind the scenes.  I am sure that it would be more fun than a front row seat!

A fashion soap opera befit of catwalk kings and queens enters its next episode when London Fashion Week starts this Friday and takes over from where New York left.  But these days aren’t just about the catwalk shows, with celebrities’ guests, young talent and great after-party shows.  It’s about the exhibitions, the hype and the machines behind them that are working hard to keep London ahead in the fashion race, especially since New York decided to move the date of their Fall 2009 to nearly coincide with the start of London’s Autumn/Winter presentations.

While New York rakes in the money through media and sponsorship deals London will lead with its collection of cutting-edge British designers that lead by example.  New and established designers such as Meadham Kirchhoff, Chritopher Kane, House of Holland, Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood will once again lay down the marker with unique shows and styles.  Some at private events, so to befit the economic climate and capture the mood of the people and the media.

While in New York it’s all about the catwalk show, non-conformist London will be free to express itself with minimal and less ostentatious shows.  Understated might be the word, bringing new designs closer to us so that we can adapt it and create our own style.  Who knows, maybe it’ll distract us from all the negative and oh so consuming news.

I’ll be at London Fashion Week bringing you updates on the exhibitions, the style and the PR.  These events are crafted and I’ll be bringing you updates on how London Fashion Week responds to New York.

In front of the camera once again

Morph will today be celebrating with Champagne after securing what we can only dream off, to appear on the cover of men’s magazine Esquire.

After years of living in a pencil box, the reclusive Morph agreed to Esquire’s request to tribute his artistic associate the late Tony Hart, who died earlier this month at the age of 83.

A style icon to naturists everywhere since he first appeared on our screens in 1977, the dapper looking Morph selected some of this season’s must haves for the shoot, including items by Hermes, Gucci and Prada.  Accessories by Paul Smith and Louis Vuitton were also on show.

Casting an eye over the accessories

It is not clear if Morph will be attending the up coming London Fashion Week, which takes place between 20 and 25 February, nor if he gave an interview to this leading men’s monthly title.

We’ll have to wait until 5 February to find out more.

It is sadly nearly four months since Yves-Saint Laurent died.  A leading figure in fashion, he led from the front.  He worked tirelessly on making everybody look good.  Yves himself said that “dressing is a way of life.”  He was an inspiration to many with his stylish pret-a-porter lines.  In fact, before him fashion was only available to the few.  Yves was committed to making sure that we could all present ourselves better.

Our appearance is shaped by our clothes.  We are what we wear.  Words in many cases are second to what people see of us.  And that is down to designers like Yves.  Designers like Yves make words that we PRs play with redundant.

If we look good, we start better, which is why for many PRs dressing up our clients for the media and their benefit is part of our job.  As they say, first appearances matter.

In the lead up to the last Paris Fashion Week Yves Saint-Laurent house commissioned the following promo.  They wanted atmosphere and style, items so important when presenting a brand like YSL.  The video was shot in London and shown behind-the-scenes after their show in Paris earlier this year.  It is the kind of promo that presents a brand as it should, without any compromise.  Brands like Yves Saint-Laurent understand the value of visuals.  They dress us and the promos that we make dress, for many PRs, the companies we work for.

See for yourselves [and I suggest you go big screen!].

Yes, Coleen McLoughlin, the self-style queen of the wag pack has publicly declared her occupation as being that of a “journalist.” Or at least that what she’s stated in her wedding banns at Crewe registry office. Maybe she thinks this as being her job because she picks up a ‘meagre’ £10,000 for her weekly column for Closer.

The truth of the matter is that with this as a salary she is half way to what aspiring journos staffing newsdesks on local, regional and even national papers take home. I do wonder what the NUJ make of her declaration that she’s a hack?

In today’s Guardian, Roy Greenslade hits the celebrity nail on the head by asking how many doorsteps she’s been on. I myself would like to find out what she was wearing when she was doorsteping a target. Was it some Prada kitten heels with a matching Dior dress? Or was it perhaps an a-line couture outfit especially hand made for the occasion.

The only thing I can add is that if she wrote into the wedding banns Wayne Rooney’s job as being a ‘proffesional’ footballer.  We wonder, did she get her GCSE English. Oh, never mind.

GQ Editor Dylan Jones

Here I was at a client today (I’m not Dylan Jones by the way), typing up a document when I was asked where I get my clothes from. Raising an eyebrow to the individual and casting a glance away from my keyboard, expecting a cheeky or dodgy remark, I asked, “why?”

See, the reason for this is that I am currently within a great corporate team where suits are the uniform of choice. After all, these are corporate issues, so we must all dress up in shirts, suits and tie. Well, all except me and a few others. You see, as much as I enjoy wearing a suit, I believe that there is a time and a place for one.

Anyway, the individual mentioned that he and a few others were heading over to a client, or potential client, for a meeting or pitch and that word had reached them that suits were a ‘no, no.’ Panic descended amongst him and a few others. The mere thought of going suit-less, well it was just difficult, confusing. Another hurdle to overcome to get the client or potential on their side.

Comments such as, “don’t they know we do corporate?” and , “I just don’t know how we should look!” came forth. I suggested dressing down, which really felt like asking Tom Ford to skip into the pub-shoe of choice, the Reebook classic. You know what I mean. Anyhow, they knew that it had to be done. I asked who the client was and on hearing this gave them my advice. To much laughter I added that maybe Gok Wan should come in to give them a style make over. No idea how that went down.

Anyhow, it really did make me think about how PRs dress and how we should dress? And if there are no-no’s in how we should present ourselves. After all, a suit can look the part and inspire confidence within a certain group of people, while others, as sharp as you might look, will think of you as stuffy, not flexible, not creative. Dressing for pitches or meetings is a minefield, which is best walked through with confidence.

While it would be ok to go with the newest jeans from Japan to a client, other creatives might see this as just opulence, where style might be more important to you than substance. Pre judging is comment place in our job, in our industry. As PRs we always want to make a good impression, even if we have to compromise our values, which is not right.

The next day, the group headed over, had the meeting and came back, with the job in the bag. And how did they look? Well, who cares. Job done!

As for me? Well the day before was some Paul and Joe items, 7 jeans and Paul Smith brogues, if you care.