What is fashion?

Quintessentially the industry may be about clothes, but those who are successful in the business know that fashion is all about creating an image.

Although trends sweep through society like wildfire conforming the public to a preconceived notion of style, truly fashionable people never loose their own sense of individuality.  Sometimes being stylish means knowing what works for you: your body, your skin tone, your overall personality.

For example, would you wear a skirt that hit your legs at an unflattering length just because all the fashion magazines said it was the “in” thing?  Worn a colour that was wrong for your complexion?  Bought clothing that did not quite flatter your figure?

We have all fallen into the fashion trap at one time or another.  It can take time and experience to realize what works for us and what does not.

The same is true in the business of fashion.  A designer may be innovative and fresh, creating new designs every season.  However, they must always stay true to their own sense of style, which can mean catering their clothing to a certain kind of woman.  They must realize who their consumer base is; otherwise their clothes would not be marketable.

A store that does a particularly well executed window display that not only enforces their image but portrays their consumer’s style is Escada on Sloane Street in Knightsbridge.  With elegantly dressed, platinum blond mannequins posing in swell of dripping diamonds, Escada definitely has a look in mind.

Window design expert Mary Portas explains the importance of mannequins in her book, Windows: The Art of Retail Display, 1999:  “By investing the merchandise with the moment’s attitude and verve, the mannequin mimics customer’s aspirations, whilst working within the images of the retailer and designer label.  The mannequin takes on the face of the moment and reflects it back through the glass of the window shop…Mannequins are far more than just a torso and limbs.”

The look is bold and direct.  More than clothes, it sells an attitude of the person who wears the clothes, like they are meant for someone in particular.  In other words, Escada does not seem to want to portray that their clothes are for everyone.  They seem to want to say only a select few are fit to wear Escada’s apparel.

Dacia Abel

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