including music, blend to result in a style that can only be described as quin-
tessentially British. This style has been given several names including
‘Boho’, ‘Bohemia’ and ‘Vintage’ and all point to the existence of a fashion
manner that originates in Britain.
In addition to the consumer style, Britain also has an enormous amount of
creative fashion design talent. Several of these designers wield unmistakable
high influence on the global luxury fashion scene. They include the talented
men’s tailors of London’s Saville Row, who established a fashion tradition at
the beginning of the twentieth century; and the highly prominent designers of
major global luxury brands. Notable among these are John Galliano at
Christian Dior, Ozwald Boateng at Givenchy, Matthew Williamson at Pucci,
Christopher Bailey at Burberry and Phoebe Philo who was the Creative
Director of Chloé until 2006. The influence of the British fashion talent has
never been more apparent in the history of luxury fashion as now. This is
hardly a surprise, after all, the first inventor of haute coutureand first fashion
entrepreneur, Charles Frederick Worth, was an Englishman.
The British fashion influence has been propelled by globalization and
convergence of consumer lifestyles through increased mobility and communi-
cations. This has blended the tastes of fashion consumers worldwide, leading
to the creation of channels of inspiration for fashion designers and entrepre-
neurs. This evolution has resulted in the emergence of new British luxury fash-
ion brands such as Alice Temperley, Stella McCartney and Anya Hindmarch;
the re-emergence of old luxury brands like Burberry and Mulberry; the rein-
forcement of established brands like Vivienne Westwood and Nicole Farhi;
and more interestingly, the appearance of luxury-fashion entrepreneurs such as
Tamara Mellon, the founder of Jimmy Choo. Just as America did, Britain has
also embarked on a luxury fashion branding revolution.
British luxury brands have shaped a unique place for themselves in global
luxury fashion, through an understanding of the requirement of both high
imagination and creativity in product design and a solid entrepreneurial flair
in retail and brand management. This is one of the keys to their successful re-
entrance into the luxury-fashion arena of the twenty-first century.
As a country with a deep root in education, Britain has some of the best
fashion schools in the world. Notable among these are Central Saint Martin
School of Fashion, London, which has produced talented designers, including
John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Zac Posen. In the
past however, the talented graduates of the British fashion schools were often
forced to find their fortune abroad, notably in France and the United States,
as a result of minimal funding and support at home. Examples of these
designers are Norman Hartnell who was the dressmaker to the Queen of
England, and Zandra Rhodes who dressed the English royal family and the
stars of the 1970s and 1980s. These designers were tremendously talented yet
they never made any real money in Britain. This is because at their time, the
British culture did not promote fashion as serious business, despite its great310
luxury fashion branding