Because you can't have depths without surfaces.
Linda Grant, thinking about clothes, books and other matters.
Pure Collection Ltd.
Net-a-porter UK

Tuesday 27 May 2008

What are these people on about?

Apparently the designers are pushing the cruise collections because global warming means we no longer have a winter. So that's why sales of shearlings have collapsed and why you can't see one in the shops and Joseph doesn't stock them any more . . .

You can no longer always tell what you are looking at," said Liz Walker, executive fashion editor at Marie Claire. "A winter fashion show may have no coats or sweaters, and the only thing that reminds you it's a summer show is if you see a girl in bikini."It's definitely to do with climate change. Ten years ago you knew you were going to have to shoot coats and sweaters in Russia or Iceland, but nobody wants those clothes anymore.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

The other interpretation is that the designers are just lazy. -40C temperatures still fresh in my mind, and seeing global warming bringing us drought and extreme weather - not just endless balmy days! - we still need warm clothes.

Winter outerwear and heavier fabrics are more difficult to work with and more difficult to make stylish than filmy summer fabrics. They drape differently. Perhaps designers of yesteryear were just more up for a challenge than the ones today.

Gi said...

there's also globalisation to think about....


think about it, Asia is shopping more couture than ever, where the market is already at a tipping point in Europe and North America..

Anonymous said...

And all we want is to be able to buy well-fitting clothes in a variety of styles when we need them....
I live in Texas where it's very hot and humid most of the year. Sometime in August when temperatures are roaring, winter coats appear in the stores and stay there for a fortnight. Buy quickly or you run the risk of arriving in NYC for that winter trip in a far from fetching ensemble of espadrilles, wooly tights and three of last years cardigans.
Cruise collections, my arse.

Elizabeth said...

The writer clearly hasn't lived through a Chicago winter.

Anonymous said...

This makes me think that the only coat purchase worth making is a waterproof raincoat with a zip out wool liner.

Mary Martha said...

I think it is pure laziness. That, and the fact is that the population that is purchasing couture is likely to jet off to warmer climes every time the mercury dips. Staying in the cold weather is clearly for the middle class.

However, seeing as I am middle class and live in Chicago (where the promise of 'global warming' is still unfulfilled when I shovel snow in below zero temps) I do hope that someone takes the time to design some smart winter clothes.

Anonymous said...

I always thought the cruise collection was a modern day version of the spring wardrobe, ie. lighter clothes than winter but not flimsy enough for August summer holidays.

If you think about the gap between Christmas sales and shopping for summer clothes, there is a gap of about five months which could leave many designers and shops with little income. The cruise collection which appears around end January is there keep business buoyant.

And as for not wanting coats, in the UK that means nothing. In a country as wet as ours one would assume that everyone would invest in effective raincoats, but walking over London Bridge on a rainy morning you wouldn't believe what I see, at any time of year!

Anonymous said...

Cruise/resorts collections....like pre falls are simply away to make the fashion calender 4 season instead of the traditional 2 seasons. Basically they are transitional between S/S (cruise/resort) and F/W (pre fall).

Personally I think it's just a way to make yet more money and has nothing to do w/ global warming (eyeroll). As for the shearlings and the like, this author seems to forget about the Russians bing more and more HUGE buyers of fashion.

These days, designers seem eager to flood the market w/ stuff and will use any excuse to do so. It's about money.

Anonymous said...

Linda, I mean this in the most gentle, lighthearted way: I'll bet your dear fiend R. never thinks about cruise collections.

Anonymous said...

Global warming, my heiny--if it becomes any warmer in my part of the country (Ohio Valley), I'll have to break out the sweaters again! Coats are quite the necessity here, and I can't imagine anyone in my town suddenly not buying them anymore. I agree that most wealthy folks can or do simply zip off to someplace warmer when they don't like the weather, and that the growing-Asian-market comment makes a bit of sense.

Anonymous said...

What has turned me away from my beloved heavy wools has been the need to work in over-heated buildings and buildings with poorly designed heating and cooling systems, not global warming.

Anonymous said...

my god, the writer needs move to tasmania and have a hobart winter. i'm wearing long johns. like others have said here, it's only the rich who can afford to chase the sun who will never need a winter coat.