Tag: charles

FashionTV gives you a look at three of the most memorable Avant-garde fashion moments in history. Creative fashion visions, extravagant inspirations, and models that truly put on a show are all included…

All fashion shows are very similar to each other. They generally begin with music to set the mood, then the first face emerges leading other stunning models in a parade on the catwalk, and finally the designer appears waving to an applauding audience. With such similar routines, many fashion shows don’t manage to leave a mark on the crowd, while some of them do it big time.

FashionTV presents you with three of the best Avant-garde runway shows of the past decade. As part of our 15-year anniversary celebration we are taking you front row and back in time to relive those extravagant and unforgettable fashion moments.

John Galliano – Spring 1997

Top designer John Galliano has had countless Avant-garde designs go down the runway during his outstanding career. However, his Spring 1997 show was a spectacle that beat them all; the show included a rope, two chairs, and lots of room for the models to flirt with the crowd. The dresses and suits he designed were inspired by tribal and baroque motifs. This playful and ultra-innovative show was refreshing and of exceptional standards.

Nearly twenty years after the show’s debut, we can honestly say that Galliano is one of the most sophisticated and talented designers the world has ever seen. His designs were, and still are, innovative, creative, and memorable.

Alexander McQueen – Fall 2003

The late Alexander McQueen is responsible for some of the most extravagant and outstandingly Avant-garde moments in the fashion industry. For his fall 2003 collection, the designer took the crowd on a magnificent journey of far-east inspirations and creative additions of graphic and modern art.

The collection displayed unforgettable hats, unique dresses, and a brilliant runway design that marked the show an unforgettable moment in fashion history.

Jean Charles de Castelbajac

Although he is less known than the first two designers on our list, Jean Charles de Castelbajac has also landed a spot in the making of fashion history with a mesmerizing Avant-garde show in 1998. Printed floor-length gowns, along with sexy jackets, and one overly dramatic black dress were just some of de Castelbajac’s extravagant designs.

'Clothes have to combine style with sustainability,' writes Prince Charles in GQ magazine. Photograph: Getty Images

He may not be monarch for a while yet, but for the next four days he is undisputed king of the front row. With the first ever week of men's catwalk shows in London falling hot on the heels of the jubilee, Prince Charles is the man charged with leading the British menswear industry into battle with the titans of France and Italy.

Tonight Prince Charles will host several hundred representatives from the fashion industry at a reception at St James's Palace, in celebration of the menswear shows that begin tomorrow.

Whether the prince will adopt Anna Wintour's trademark sunglasses for the duration is not known; what is certain is that the lure of a gold-embossed palace invitation is a significant coup for the British Fashion Council as they strive to fill the London front rows with the world's most powerful buyers and editors.

Despite stiff competition from parties hosted by Tinie Tempah (featuring crazy golf on the roof of Selfridges) and retailer Mr Porter (with DJ Alexa Chung), the St James's Palace invite the week's hot ticket. Menswear by Margaret Howell and Claire Malcolm of Hardy Amies on display during the reception, alongside designs by Christopher Raeburn, the winner of the emerging talent in menswear award at the most recent British Fashion Awards.

But the prominence of Prince Charles signifies more than simply a wish to capitalise on jubilee fever. The rich Savile Row tradition of British tailoring and a drive to promote quality British craftsmanship are a key part of the message of this fashion week. Those steering the event are keen to move the image of British designer menswear on from the creative-but-crazy label and into more commercial territory.

This is a shift which has been successfully made in womenswear, where the London collections are now a slick and respected element of the global industry rather than the eccentric afterthought they once were.

Writing in Vogue two years ago, Prince Charles demurred from being labelled "fashionable", but acknowledged that "there have been those generous enough to call me 'well dressed'". The Prince is a longtime customer of the shirtmakers Turnbull & Asser, whose shirts are made in a small factory in Gloucestershire, and the distinguished Savile Row tailors Anderson & Sheppard.

"Clothes have to combine style with sustainability," writes the prince in the current issue of GQ magazine, "and I find British-made tailoring more than meets that challenge – much to the amusement of my staff, who are sometimes surprised to find that what I am wearing turns out to be as old as or even older than they are".

This week's showcase for British designer menswear hopes to capitalise on new findings which show that while women are cutting back on luxury fashion and spending more on high street purchases, men are prioritising luxury purchases.

Research by American Express shows that in 2011, men's year-on-year spending on luxury fashion grew slightly by 1%, while spending on mainstream fashion fell by 1.2%. In contrast, women cut back slightly (0.7%) on luxury fashion spending, while increasing spending on mainstream fashion by 5.2%.