“We shareour ups anddowns, andgive eachother advice.It’s importantto create yourown family”Koizumi’s debut show in his Madison Avenue flagship – and
then publicly thanked him for the opportunity to host his
“talent, colour and joy”. “There’s a sense – in fact, a reality- of community spirit that’s widening within the industry,”
says Samuel Ross, founder of A-Cold-Wall and an Abloh
protégé. “Individuals are willing to support one another quite
openly. The internet has reformed the once institution-like
approach to communication, and social media is allowing the
exchange of ideas and conversation to flow faster.” (Incidentally,
in an effort to pay Abloh’s support forward, Ross donated the
entirety of his NewGen bursary to his former employee,
Eastwood Danso, launching his own label.)
But it would be easy for harmony to dissolve behind the
glossy façade of Instagram. It is even more momentous, then,
that the collective mentality extends beyond public perception.
Designers such as Craig Green, Erdem Moralioglu and
Christopher Kane are taking seats on panels at NewGen and
the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund, where they share
with the next generation the lessons they learned when building
their businesses; Matchesfashion.com has set up open days for
young designers to come for advice on commercialising their
first collections; and Paul Smith runs mentoring workshops.
“I feel it’s designers with their own namesake brands who best
understand what young designers go through day-to-day,” says
Kane. “It can be daunting: cash-flow issues, late deliveries...
Fashion is fierce, and you have to be on top of it all or you will
sink fast. Erdem and Roksanda [Ilincic] are among my best
friends – we share our ups and downs, and give each other
advice all the time. It’s important to create your own family.”
“Speaking to people who really understand what you’re
going through is priceless,” says Eden Loweth of Art School,
which, in its nascent stages, was taken under the wing of
Ilincic, London’s queen of fluid, feminine elegance. “As the
brand grew really quickly, we found ourselves struggling with
knowing what to do sometimes. Roksanda has supported us
with crucial advice. What’s amazing about people like her,
Christopher and Erdem is they understand that for London’s
identity as the fashion capital to grow they need to share
honestly with people like us.”
Equally, like-minded peers are beginning to share insights
on factories and suppliers – probably this industry’s most closely
guarded secrets. Richard Quinn, whose eponymous brand went
stratospheric after he was presented with the Queen Elizabeth
II Award for British Design by Her Majesty herself last year,
has long been discussing the best seamstresses with London’s
purveyor of sequined glamour, Michael Halpern, whom he
met while studying at Central Saint Martins. While Mower
recalls a time when CSM students inhabited closed cubicles
and hid their work from each other, breeding “a general culture
of mistrust in which designers were pretty much openly hostile
to anyone external to their own cliques”, opening your address
book – or even your studio – now seems commonplace.
“When you meet people who are on your level, and who
say what they’re doing, it doesn’t feel like a threat – and there
doesn’t need to be that competitive, protective mindset of
‘these are my contacts’,” says Quinn, who turned to Halpern
when he didn’t know what a line sheet was or how to put
one together. Through the print studio he set up in his south
London railway arch, where he has produced fabrics for the
likes of Wales Bonner, Mowalola and Charles Jeffrey
Loverboy, alongside his own designs, Quinn is already passing
on information to the students who come and use his
machinery at a discounted rate when creating their graduation
collections. “I think back to people giving me that sort of
advice when I was starting out. Obviously fashion’s a hard
industry, but it doesn’t need to be cut-throat.”
That new approach is translating into luxury retail, where
an intimidating atmosphere and Pretty Woman sales staff
are being replaced by new traditions. Both physical and digital
stores are extending a spirit of inclusion into their respective
realms: Selfridges’ customers have been invited to boxing
sessions with Michèle Lamy, and Matchesfashion.com has
offered darts nights with Hillier Bartley and house parties
hosted by Neneh Cherry. No longer reserved for big spenders
or VIP editors, retail’s new approach is distinctly democratic:
first come, first served, and available to all.
“We are always trying to amaze, amuse and surprise our
customers,” explains Sebastian Manes, Selfridges’ buying and
merchandising director, who has overseen installations
including a fully operational in-store skate bowl and a
bodega staffed by A$AP Rocky. “We pride ourselves on an
environment that feels warm and inviting, and believe that
every single customer deserves the same great experience.”
Equally, “the aim with [London townhouse] 5 Carlos Place
is to ensure all our activities are inspiring, imaginative,
democratic and inclusive,” echoes Natalie Kingham, fashion
and buying director at Matchesfashion.com. “Our strategies
are unique as we’ve grown from a small business into a large
one, but we always try to go the extra mile, to give a bit of
TLC. Manners and kindness count for a lot.”
In a world that seems ever more divided, fashion is offering
a radical new sense of inclusivity, where people of different
backgrounds, peer groups and practices are uniting to present
a framework for the future. Within a global climate of
separatism, a world long renowned for its isolationist tendencies
is establishing a new agenda. “Right now, we’re setting up all
these boundaries – and my generation’s future is no longer in
our hands,” explains Mowalola Ogunlesi, a young designer
who attributes much of her success to her community, and
extends that free-love liberation on to her runways. “Us being
together and supporting each other means that – no matter
what – we’re going to find a way forward.” nTRENDSALYXFront row at Alyx’s s/s ’19
show in Paris: from left,
Samuel Ross, Tremaine Emory,
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