The Chain Store Challenge

7

The Chain Store Challenge

Brian Godbold

This chapter takes the form, initially, of an autobiography. Its story is not
only that of my own life, but that of British fashion since the 1960s; I was
fortunate to find myself right at the centre of the art school culture of that
period, which as I hope to show, sparked off the design-conscious mass-market
phenomenon by which I, as the Divisional Director of Design at Marks &
Spencer was ranked as number 8 in The Face magazine’s 100 most powerful
people in fashion,^1 and at number 15 by Elle.^2 This chapter aims to describe
the developments, challenges and opportunities for contemporary designers
and retailers with reference to radical changes in consumer attitudes,
redefinition of age profiles, the revolution in how and where we shop, and
the advent of ‘lifestyle’ consumerism. But to place my analysis and projections
for the future into context, I must refer to the past.
I cannot talk about my career without mentioning Walthamstow School
of Art. As a schoolboy I had always been good at art, and my father had
always encouraged me in the hope that I would eventually study graphics
and enter the family’s printing business. In 1961, he took me to the local art
school for an interview. When the Head saw my work, he immediately
suggested that I join the fashion course. My father nearly fell off his chair
but I was delighted; it was something I had always wanted to do but never
dared mention.I must emphasize that I was embarking on a journey into the
unknown; at the time there were no existing high-profile, art school trained
designers whom I could regard as role models. Part of the exhilaration of
those days was the feeling that we were pioneers. As it turned out, I was
well advised; the graphics department was good but fashion was excellent.
The legendary, and even then influential Daphne Brooker^3 was head and

1. ‘100 most powerful people in Fashion’,The Face September 1994 pp. 74–80.


2. ‘Elle’s hottest 100 names in fashion’,Elle, April 1998, p. 115.


3. Not a great deal has been written about Daphne Brooker, but when the definitive history
   of post-war industrial fashion is compiled, she undoubtedly deserves a prominent position. As