The Fashion BusinessShirin Guild is fastidious about the design and high quality of her work,
which is in perfect harmony within this context, as is the minimalist
photographic representation of her collections. Models wearing her designs
often assume contemplative poses and are photographed by Robin Guild
against a plain white background, entirely devoid of stylistic props or cultural
signifiers.
As it is primarily the ephemeral quality of high fashion that distinguishes
it from other forms of dress (such as ceremonial and occupational), it could
be argued that Shirin Guild operates outside its parameters. Because her
designs are never really ‘in’ fashion, they never fall outside of it either.
However, it is difficult to find nomenclature to accurately define her work.
Joanne Eicher’s useful definition of world fashion, that embraces garments
such as tee-shirts, denim jeans, business suits and sports shoes that are worn
across continents,^9 is inappropriate – and clearly, it is not ethnic. Her work
has been defined as ‘conceptual’ which could imply that it is rooted in ideas
rather than function, which is certainly not the case. Perhaps most suitable –
although not without complexities – is the term avant-garde in its commonly
accepted definition of being that which is in the forefront. Avoiding grandiose
rhetoric, the designer simply states that she creates ‘clothes’ she wants to
wear herself and is pleased that other women appreciate them too.
In 1997 Mark Leonard’s perceptive report, Britain – renewing our identity
was published by Demos (the independent think tank committed to radical
thinking on the long-term problems facing the UK and other advanced
industrial societies). The author highlighted the gulf that has opened between
the reality of Britain as a creative and diverse society and the worldwide
perception of Britain as ‘ a backward-looking island immersed in its heritage’.^10
A similar sentiment was expressed in the New Statesman (1997) by Yasmin
Alibhai-Brown who wrote that ‘The big project for the next century is to
create a multi-ethnic British identity which is inclusive and not exclusive;
progressive and not shrouded in pathos and longings for the past.’^11
Arguably, Shirin Guild’s designs contribute towards the achievement of
this objective by utilizing cross-cultural references and drawing on the past,
yet resolutely looking to the future.
- Eicher, Joanne B., Dress and Ethnicity, Oxford: Berg, 1995, pp. 299–300.
- Leonard, Mark, Britain: renewing our identity, Demos in association with the
Design Council, London, 1997, p. 15. - Alibhai-Brown, Yasmin, ‘Bring England in from the Cold,’New Statesman, 11 July
1997, p. 26.