LONDON FASHION WEEK IN THESE TIMES

So LFW is upon us once again -- and this time celebrate its 25th anniversary! Last time it was 'that time of year', ie, the autumn 2008 there was a measure of uncertainty in the air. The economy wasn't looking great, mighty banks rumbled at their foundations and retail looked headed for slower times. Buyers dithered over order sheets in the tents at the Natural History Museum.

That was then. Now many mighty banks have simply crashed, the economy is into one of the worst recessions ever, retail has not just slowed, in pockets its simply stopped and buyers, well, many of them don't have jobs at all. What a difference 5 months can make.

But what difference is this context making to fashion? Well, lets see --
1) cavalier, 'i-need-a-new-trend-a-week' spending has declined. GOOD. Now those of us who have been banging on about buying seasonless, trend-neutral but high quality clothing, are likely to gain a more sympathetic audience. More important, the joy of shopping for, possession of and caring for one's wardrobe can be experienced (for some 20 year olds, this might be a first). In itself such a change will have a wonderfully healthy effect on one of ethically sound fashion's goals, ie, slowing things down (you just have to do some minimal googling on the disasterous effects of fast fashion, to understand why this is such a key goal...start here if you like).

2) high quality design and designers will get a more air-time. GOOD. As people become more concerned about spending intelligently they will seek out more than just what the latest glossy touts as a must-have. Part of the new wave, I predict, will be designers who have in some way, built in green/ethical/eco responsibility into their collections. Quality is likely to be associated more than ever with the entire product rather than just its media stickiness. And independant, responsible, talented designers, who would have otherwise been lost among those that had the financial muscle to flood the space with great PR, glamourous lookbooks and celebrity backing, will get a fair chance to shine.

3) the love of adorning oneself, the thrill of shopping for something beautiful and the general joys of fashion won't go away, rather, the focus will shift. GOOD. Accessories and staples (jeans, the perfect white shirt) with a creative twist, a special something, will get more attention. These are items with many lives and with great CPW - they will work hard for what they are worth and justify their presence in your closet.

Also styling will become more than just a buzzword among fashionable types and/or a way to describe some people's entire career (the 'stylist industry', btw, I predict will be a big area of lay-offs). Style will become about knowing what works on you, digging deep in your wardrobe for pieces that become you and putting your look together based on this knowledge. It will move away from looking like what fashion editors tell you you ought to look like.

All this makes me look forward, more than ever, to London Fashion Week. As has been pointed out in the mainstream and online press, it may not have the money or glitz of nyc or milan, but London has the talent and the edge. I would like to add that, as Estethica's growing success shows, London Fashion Week also has the conscience to suit these times than perhaps any other of its competitors.

There are some exciting new names at Estethica this year including Ada Zanditon, Butcher Couture Eyewear, M.I.A. (winner of 2008's Make Your Mark in Fashion, which DeviDoll was proud to sponsor) and Numanu plus those we know but whom never fail to surprise and delight, such as From Somewhere, Beyond Skin (launching a new logo and look this season) and Anatomy.

DeviDoll is proud to sponsor LFW on greenmystyle because we're proud to be part of the thinking and innovation behind what is truly, genuinely and rightly, fashionable.

Deborah Lindquist -- Queen of Green

Who in ethical fashion hasn't heard of Deborah Lindquist....her of the rock roll style vintage cashmere couture? Her origins were in that 'look' and she still does it better than anyone else but she has now moved into wider pastures - hemp, peace silk, organic cotton and more.

I had the pleasure of meeting Deborah at LFW this year - we were lucky to have her. DeviDoll continues to be a big fan and supporter.

BACK TO LIFE, BACK TO REALITY

How long have I been gone from blogland ("blogosphere" is too technocratish for me)?!? Too long. Everything I have been longing (okay, I'm going to get my thesaurus out) to say has piled up and now is melting one into another ("compost" comes to mind).

Rather than dig through all the pile I picked one thing I wanted to talk about and with that get the blog ball rolling again.

September 16 saw ethical fashion grow up a little with the very slick, very enjoyable 'Make Your Mark in Fashion' catwalk show at the Hospital Club. Organised by Nolcha and a handful of sponsors (DeviDoll among them) this event made it clear that ethical fashion has absolutely no reason to be stuck in the hemp-sack, austere, glamourless doldrums of yore. No siree....not only are eco-fashionistas doing it for themselves they are doing it pretty damn well.

Credit for the event being full-on 100% glam fash-pack event must be divided between

--Nolcha founder, Kerry Bannigan and her trusted lietuenants. That they are bringing their love of indpendant designers to ethical fashion land and to London is good news for everyone in the space
--the Make Your Mark team (not sure if it was them or someone else on this list but someone got the Observer's Lucy Siegle to model on the catwalk -- and what a good call it was!!)
--and of course the designers themselves!! Of the three very talented teams -- R.A.J.E, MIAWI and BERRIE, the winner was MIAWI. Designer Mia Nesbit's inspiration (and soon manufacturing) are based in Malawi, where she plans to involve local communities in her work.

All in all a tastefully done, very well received event that sent all the right messages during the buzz-fest that is LFW.

And I haven't even mentioned the after party......

(ETHICAL) FASHION FESTIVITIES BEGIN...

So while many fashionistas are away sunning themselves (under cover of SPF factor Trillion+, of course) reading all about 'autumn 2008 pre-ordering' -- #2 of Grazia's TOP 10 stories is all about 'pre-collection' ordering (pre-order I understand but pre-collection..? I'm obviously not reading by Grazia closely enough. After this post, perhaps) -- those of us who are part (also) of the supply side of the fashion world, are hoisting up are (pre-ordered) summer skirts, rolling up the sleeves of our (pre-collection, pre-ordered) gauzy hot-weather tops, to get ready for FASHION'S AUTUMN/WINTER 2008.

Now, the fashion world works on 2 clocks (sorry if I am boring you but I find this point endlessly intriguing) -- the fashionista one and its own. The former is about clothes that match the season, ie, AW08 buying for a fashionista is about buying autumny-wintery type stuff....about diving into the debate over knee-high vs ankle boots; chunky knits vs body con cashmere and so on. The other clock is one that buyers (eg - yours truly) adhere to and its set to 1 season ahead. So at all the trade shows (LFW, NYFW etc etc) I will start attending from next week, my concern will be about what will take the fashionista's fancy IN SPRING/SUMMER 2009 (florals?/mini vs supermini/neon vs pastel etc etc). Of course the whole notion of pre-ordering and pre-collections, sort of throws this received clockwork into a bit of a tizzy but that is a conversation for another time -- prepare to receive that dish with lashings of commentary on fast vs seasonless fashion.

You're going to hear from me over the next 2 months about interesting events and happenings from FTZ (fashionista time zone) and OTZ (our time zone). Some even overlap!

To kick off, let me alert you to 'The Eco-Fashion Party' to be held on August 12, 2008 at Surya Bar of the (shiny new) Club4Climate (there is some seriously ecological intention, fronted by the seriously wierd Dr. Earth, behind the Club4Climate - check it all out here).


There is an auction of prize pieces from participating brands (DeviDoll included) and also the opportunity to purchase from their larger collections. Basically a big party (club style, full on party) with the chance to see and buy some seriously fashionable clothes -- all of which look good and are certain to make you feel very good.

Pre-collection or not, these are clothes no serious fashionista can afford to miss. See you there.

BBC THREAD STYLE SEARCH AND DEVIDOLL

DeviDoll is proudly supporting BBC Thread in its Style Search for ethical fashion designer talent. Wondering what BBC Thread is (where have you been?!) - its an online portal (used to be a time when that was only ever a Star Trek word...remember?) that is all about everything relevant to ethical fashion: they talk about style, ethical styling (interesting video with Elisabeth Lasker from Ethical Fashion Forum and Konnie Haq), pure fashion trends, how to be a fashionista as well as whats going on behind the scenes in the manufacturing and production world (hence the strap line 'fashion without victim'), ie, susbstantial issues that no credible ethical fashion lover can afford to ignore.

And now, through the Style Search competition, they aim to support up coming sustainable and conscientious designers. Something DeviDoll upholds as an original principle having from its very inception been an 'incubator' for promising ethical fashion talent, across the globe, by giving it a commercial platform.

So get moving on your designs or at least put the word out! A digital image of a design must be uploaded to the BBC Thread site and away you go. E-A-S-Y! And the prize (ooh-aah) -- a day spent with a catwalk stylist at London Fashion Week in September. Click the picture above for full details.