Noted by Colin McDowell
Was Longfellow right when he wrote, “Youth is lovely, age is lonely”? Not when it comes to London
fashion. For designers here, it is more a case of age cannot wither them. Sprinkled around the young Turks so fêted in this city, we have Paul Smith, Caroline Charles, Margaret Howell, Jasper Conran, Nicole Farhi, Vivienne Westwood and Betty Jackson. All have been commercially successful for impressive lengths of time. Their total age? Well over 400 years.
So it’s important to remember that London’s 25 years of survival rests on designers who aren’t just here today, but whose businesses thrive. In this celebratory season, we should look back and praise those whose design and business skills have enabled London to survive this far. While also hoping that some, at least, of the current crop might do the same for the next 25 years.
If you read Robert O’Byrne’s Style City (the only book that traces London’s fashion history), you will learn the full story of a remarkable tale of survival since the 1970s and, like me, hope that the current designer darlings might do as well as the old.
colinmcdowell@mac.com

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