Case illustration 5: what does ‘Britishness’ mean in luxury
fashion?
There has always been a silent credence that the traditional luxury fashion
arena belongs to France and Italy. This is perhaps because of the special affin-
ity these two countries have had with fashion as an intricate part of their
cultures for centuries. This fact is apparent from the host of the current major
global luxury fashion brands originating from France such as Louis Vuitton,
Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Chloé, Hermès and so on; and
from Italy such as Prada, Gucci, Armani, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Bvlgari,
Valentino and so on. In the same way, the major influential global fashion
capitals have often been regarded to be Paris, Milan, New York, London (in
this order) and recently Tokyo, once again indicating the prominent positions
of the French and Italian cities. As a fashion city, London has been viewed for
a long time more as an important luxury retailing centre, than as a city that
influences fashion. However, the current luxury market context challenges
these preconceptions as Britain is continuously playing a significant role in
the development of the modern luxury fashion goods industry.
Historically, designers from France and Italy ruled the global luxury fash-
ion scene for a long time, while the rest of the world silently obeyed their
creative outputs and have also been in awe of the products of their highly
artistic machinations. The art of ‘high-fashion’ branding belonged to these
two countries, just as Switzerland has been the home of the craft of watch-
making for centuries. However, the American fashion branding uprising from
the 1960s to the 1980s brought a change to the luxury fashion scene with the
emergence of brands like Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein.
Although several American brands have yet to attain the ‘luxury’ landmark
according to European definitions, a distinct place has been created for the
Americans in the global luxury fashion arena. Just as the American brands
strive to make a mark in the global fashion scene, several British brands have
also embarked on a luxury fashion branding revolution.
The British traditional fashion style is characterized as conservative and
ceremonial while from a modern perspective, it can be described as quintes-
sential and elegant. Somehow, the rest of the world does not naturally ascribe
the attributes of fashion creativity, sophistication, chic and art de vivreto
Britain. This perception could perhaps be historically justified (or not) but the
current global luxury fashion-branding scene indicates the high influence of
Britain in defining luxury fashion style, design and business direction.
Britain has always used fashion as a platform to express different aspects
of its society through the styles and attitudes of its consumer public. This was
exemplified by Mary Quant, Biba and Ossie Clark during the pop culture
revolution in the 1960s and the punk uprising of the 1980s. The current
sophisticated consumer culture also amplifies this fact. Today, the popular
street culture and several aspects of art, literature, history and entertainment
chapter 10 309case illustrations