by germinal » Thu Jan 16, 2014 6:40 pm
on fur: emerging markets want luxury, so the fabrics traditionally associated with luxury are getting pushed really hard. fur, exotic skins, pony hair. it also helps these are all high profit margin pieces. the super-rich buying them aren't going to mind a coat costing £20k instead of £15k, or £4k leather jacket instead of a £2.5k one. burberry and prada et al have understood this for a long time but recently smaller, privately-owned labels like dries van noten, thom browne, rick owens etc. are getting in on the act. i liked what you said hmwut about the binary of fur - astrid andersen has talked about this wrt to her latest collection - it's a sensual, tactile material but commands such power at the same time. a lot of the designers showing in london are interested in that boundary i think, either showing feminine clothing stripped of all it's sensuality (anderson) or showing more masculine clothing rendered plush and shiny and silky (andersen).
on this podcast: it was good and i enjoyed what you covered but i think you could have been better prepared... stuff like not knowing if milan was still going etc could have (and should have) been looked up beforehand.