The Fashion Awards 2016 Annual by British Fashion Council

The Fashion Year 2016

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

Brilliant by design KARLIE KLOSS

INTRODUCING THE NILE COLLECTION

VISIT ATELIERSWAROVSKI.COM

WITH THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THIS YEAR’S CEREMONY

Nadja Swarovski, Natalie Massenet and Caroline Rush Creative Direction

Patrick Kinmonth, Antonio Monfreda and The Visual Clinic Set Design

Es Devlin Opening And Closing

Nick Knight and SHOWstudio The Vision Committee

Dasha Zhukova, Edward Enninful, Jefferson Hack, Ronnie Cooke Newhouse, Sally Greene and Samantha Cameron Special Thanks

Bertie de Rougemont, Inca Productions, Marc Newson, Nikki Tibbles and Wild at Heart, The Fashion Awards Voters and The Royal Albert Hall In Partnership With

Presenting Sponsors

Official Sponsors

The British Fashion Council would like to thank the following Patrons for their continued support AllSaints Amazon Fashion American Express Arcadia Group ASOS Bicester Village Boden Burberry Coach Condé Nast International Debenhams Fenwick Limited Gap Grazia H&M Harrods Hearst Magazines UK House Of Fraser Hunter Huntsman Intel Jimmy Choo John Lewis Partnership KPMG LLP Land Securities LVMH Marks & Spencer Mayor Of London McArthurGlen Group Mulberry Next Nicole Farhi Pringle Of Scotland River Island Rodial Selfridges Shaftesbury The Woolmark Company Very Exclusive Yoox Net-A-Porter Group

The Awards Welcome to The Fashion Awards 2016, in partnership with Swarovski – an evening that celebrates the very best talent from the global fashion community, in London. To mark the occasion the British Fashion Council presents The Annual – a concise compendium that salutes the year in fashion from break-out stars to the industry’s biggest stories, as well as the groundbreaking creatives feted tonight. Great Britain is renowned for its wealth of fashion talent and the trailblazing graduates that emerge from world-class universities and colleges. Diverse talent is given an incomparable platform here, and we are all aware how important it is to identify and nurture these young people, as they will go on to power international fashion businesses in a range of key roles. Consequently, The Fashion Awards has a core aim: to raise £10 million over the next decade to support future talent through the British Fashion Council Education Foundation. Donations from The Fashion Awards will help a new generation access world class training and education. We are thrilled to host these awards in the beautiful and iconic Royal Albert Hall – a building that was constructed in 1871 to celebrate the Arts, and was built using profits from the Great Exhibition, a truly international event that showcased the very best of design from Great Britain and around the world. It’s a stunning, but also fitting backdrop to the evening. The Awards celebrates both British and international talent, applauding the best design and business minds, as well as recognising icons and outstanding contributions – accolades that are all the more credible for having been nominated by an international audience of media, retailers and creatives. The generosity and commitment of our sponsors is more vital than ever. Thank you to our Partner Swarovski for their support of The Fashion Awards 2016 as well as Official Presenting Sponsors of the event American Express, M·A·C and TONI&GUY, and Official Sponsors Cîroc, Marks & Spencer, MercedesBenz and SHOWstudio. Thank you for joining us at this very special evening.

The Fashion Year 2016 produced by Spring Studios in collaboration with the British Fashion Council Executive Creative Director Robin Derrick, Editor Clare Coulson, Art Director Lewis Cham, Senior Editor Ben Perdue, Assistant Editor Rebecca Broadley, Editorial Director William Alderwick, Group Account Director Silvia Agrestini, Junior Account Director Phoebe Salaman, Project Manager Findlay Thompson, Junior Designer Elizabeth Henson, Image Researchers Sarah Gerrard-Jones and Nikolaus Kotsopoulos 6

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Nadja Swarovski, Dame Natalie Massenet and Caroline Rush CBE #FashionAwards #Swarovski

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

The Nominees BRITISH EMERGING TALENT

This award is about hope, optimism and the enthusiasm and energy of the start-up.

Alessandra Rich Charles Jeffrey Faustine Steinmetz Molly Goddard Self-Portrait

BRITISH MENSWEAR DESIGNER

Menswear is all about extremes, and this designer is a fashion cult in the making.

Craig Green for Craig Green Grace Wales Bonner for Wales Bonner Jonathan Anderson for J.W.Anderson Tom Ford for Tom Ford Dame Vivienne Westwood for Vivienne Westwood

BRITISH WOMENSWEAR DESIGNER

The winner joins a special list of voices causing a frisson on the global stage.

Christopher Kane for Christopher Kane Jonathan Anderson for J.W.Anderson Roksanda Ilincic for Roksanda Sarah Burton OBE for Alexander McQueen Simone Rocha for Simone Rocha

ISABELLA BLOW AWARD FOR FASHION CREATOR Bruce Weber is recognised for his incredible achievements within the industry.

THE SWAROVSKI AWARD FOR POSITIVE CHANGE

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LEADER

The industry needs people who respect and embed creativity within business strategy.

Adrian Joffe for Comme des Garçons & Dover Street Market Christopher Bailey MBE for Burberry Guram Gvasalia for Vetements Marco Bizzarri for Gucci Stefano Sassi for Valentino

INTERNATIONAL URBAN LUXURY BRAND

By rethinking luxury with a collaborative mindset they fuse street and designer salon.

Adidas Gosha Rubchinskiy Off-White Palace Vetements

INTERNATIONAL MODEL

The face inspiring designers, photographers, stylists and social media worship.

Adwoa Aboah Bella Hadid Gigi Hadid Kendall Jenner Lineisy Montero

INTERNATIONAL ACCESSORIES DESIGNER

Their challenge is to elevate the mundane with artful weapons of mass distraction.

Alessandro Michele for Gucci Anya Hindmarch MBE for Anya Hindmarch Johnny Coca for Mulberry Jonathan Anderson for Loewe Stuart Vevers for Coach

Franca Sozzani will be honoured for her positive commitment to diversity.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION Celebrating 100 years of fashion.

BRITISH BRAND

This brand’s clear, convincing identity is so important in today’s crowded marketplace.

INTERNATIONAL READY-TO-WEAR DESIGNER

This individual has the potential to change both how we look, and how we think.

Alessandro Michele for Gucci Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga Donatella Versace for Versace Jonathan Anderson for Loewe Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy

Alexander McQueen Burberry Christopher Kane Erdem Stella McCartney

Ralph Lauren invented the lifestyle brand, building an American empire from scratch.

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OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT

Maker’s Marc

The Fashion Awards’ crystal trophies combine Marc Newson’s incredible design expertise with Swarovski’s unparalleled craftsmanship. The distinctive trophies awarded to tonight’s winners are the result of a special collaboration between Swarovski and industrial designer, Marc Newson, who has applied his signature biomorphic style to crystal for the first time. Taking his inspiration from clustered formations of natural crystal, Newson has created fifteen unique trophies, which come together to form one truly stunning sculpture. Celebrating the pure beauty of crystal, each trophy is a perfectly clear hexagonal column, handcrafted by Swarovski’s master cutters in Austria, and engraved on the base with each winner’s name. Here, the designer tells us about his striking concept. Can you tell us about your trophy and plinth design? My inspiration was natural crystal formations. We kept the trophy quite pure and clean in order to highlight crystal’s brilliance and reflectivity. When arranged together they create a very interesting effect - reflecting the light and whatever is happening around them - an effect we could not have achieved in that quality with any other material. How does the use of crystal impact on the design process? Crystal is a unique material to work with, due to its regular and irregular natural formations. My approach to design is about a set of principles that can be universally applied to anything; the only thing that changes is material and scale. Fundamentally there’s no difference in designing a large-scale project like a boat to a smaller object like the trophy. Did you face any technical challenges? We pretty much doubled the volume of the previous trophy – a huge challenge when working with crystal. But it wasn’t a problem for Swarovski – with their consummate expertise! One of the things I like most about my job as a designer is the opportunity to immerse myself in different industries and acquire knowledge of their manufacturing processes, materials and technologies. How does fashion feed into your creative process? My creative process begins with a lot of thinking - mental doodling and sketching. I get inspiration or rather, an understanding from popular culture – in all its forms – fashion, film, music, art. What the fashion industry has and my world (the world of industrial design) doesn’t, is this incredible sense of speed. It’s brutally efficient. 10

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

Google/BFC Collaboration

British fashion’s rich history and heritage come together in a unique and celebratory digital platform.

Discover millions of images, places and stories in one single platform

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This evening, the British Fashion Council will announce an exciting new initiative, partnering with Google Arts & Culture on the creation of a landmark digital legacy project for the British fashion industry. In 2011, the Google Cultural Institute was launched and joined together with museums, galleries and cultural destinations to create a comprehensive digital repository for the Arts online. Today the non-profit Google Arts & Culture platform contains more than six million artworks, videos and documents from over 1200 institutions across the world. And now the British Fashion Council has collaborated on a project designed to inspire and educate the next generation of fashion talent. British Fashion will showcase the UK’s unique creativity, from the most influential designers through to the craftsmanship that continues to fuel fashion and, more specifically, defines British fashion. “We’re providing the platform and technology for the BFC to tell their story so that fashion lovers around the world can enjoy and engage

with their content” explains Google Cultural Institute’s Director, Amit Sood. “And to give them a place to celebrate the rich culture and history of fashion, its design, creators, and its intersection with technology.” This evening, we’ll see the unveiling of a virtual reality experience that brings the project to life. Guests can also explore the platform, which hosts exhibits with biographies, key fashion archives and artefacts (curated by brands, designers and makers themselves) and videos that document and entertain on subjects of UK fashion and craftsmanship, for anyone, anywhere in the world to access. “I think the real power of technology lies in its ability to give everyone access to culture and make connections between people in new ways,” adds Sood. “I hope this project will help young people discover and understand the role of fashion in their own culture and other cultures as well, and spark a dialogue.” To explore British Fashion on Google Arts & Culture, go to g.co/britishfashion

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

WWW.TONIANDGUY.COM F : TONIANDGUYWORLD T : TONIANDGUYWORLD I : TONIANDGUYWORLD YT : TONIANDGUYWORLD S : TONIANDGUYWORLD

Franca Sozzani WINNER OF THE SWAROVSKI AWARD FOR POSITIVE CHANGE

The Italian Editor-in-Chief has worked tirelessly for charities at home and abroad, using her position and voice to improve the welfare of others.

USING

During her 28 years at the helm of Vogue Italia, Franca Sozzani has been renowned for tackling big issues (diversity, ecology and feminism among them) head on. But alongside her work as an editor, she has displayed a tireless commitment to fundraising for local and international charities, benefitting a great number of worthy causes. She is creative director of Convivio, the AIDS initiative launched by Gianni Versace in 1992 and works with the European Institute of Oncology towards the prevention and diagnosis of oncological diseases. Sozzani is Global Ambassador Against Hunger

for the United Nations World Food Programme, with a particular focus on the empowerment and education of women and girls and she helped found Child Priority, to provide work opportunities for underprivileged children. And within the fashion industry she nurtured young talent with the Who Is On Next? platform, securing support for emerging designers from around the world. “Franca is an incredible woman and a force for good,” says Nadja Swarovski. “And this award is the perfect celebration of her commitment to positive change, both inside and outside the industry.”

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

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BFC Education Foundation

The money we raise on the evening will directly support the future talent of our fashion industry – and it’s never been needed more. The graduates that emerge from Great Britain’s world-class fashion colleges have long been renowned as the most creative in the world – a fact supported by the trail-blazing designers who have built their own brands in London, and the legions of fashion professionals who have fuelled the UK fashion industry. Earlier this year, The Business of Fashion reported that British colleges had once more topped the site’s global fashion school rankings. Yet with fees for a BA degree now running at £27, 000 (not including the cost of rent, living and materials) and the cost of completing an MA even more, these brilliant young people are under greater pressure than ever before. Which is why the British Fashion Council is dedicated to promoting excellence in design by financially supporting students who have the ability and potential to make an exceptional contribution to the fashion industry.  Earlier this year the BFC announced a truly ambitious aim: to raise £10 million over the next decade to secure the on-going success of the Education Foundation. It’s a purposeful target with far-reaching implications for the future of our industry. The Fashion Awards will serve as an 18

annual fundraiser gala to help realise this target. The funds we raise support fashion students on degree courses, as well as those who want to pursue other pathways into the industry via an apprenticeship programme. Nurturing the interest of younger people is critical too, which is why the Education Foundation launched Saturday Clubs in partnership with the Saturday Club Trust which gives students aged 14-16 the opportunity to study fashion and business at their local college or university for free, opening their eyes to potential future careers. The charity’s work is indebted to the continuing and generous support of individuals and global companies who continue to fund scholarships; Coach, Marks & Spencer, Mulberry, Dame Natalie Massenet, Eiesha Bharti Pasricha, Erdem and Charlotte Dellal. The success of students who have already benefitted from the Education Foundation is a reminder of how vital this funding is – and The Fashion Awards will help to secure the future education of many more like them. To donate to this valuable cause please visit: www.fashionawards.com/donate

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

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The American dream may have taken a battering during the 2016 election, but Ralph Lauren represents everything we love about the Big Country: what he once described to me as “ageless, timeless but contemporary. I want to be new in an old world.” At that moment we were standing – Ralph in his worn jeans, riding boots and leather jacket – outside the Ralph Lauren store on the Left Bank in Paris, where he and his wife, Ricky, seemed as equally excited by the beef served in their restaurant, Ralph’s, as about the sensitively restored building. That French architecture was a worthy companion to the Madison Avenue store, where the first Ralph Lauren “See Now, Buy Now” show was presented in September 2016. Next year Ralph Lauren celebrates 50 years in fashion. It’s nearly half a century since the young man from a Russian immigrant family set up a business under the name “Polo’’. But he has created so much more than aspirational clothes with a nod to the British aristocracy, and a romantic, allAmerican vision of Wild West rustic prairies. Ralph Lauren was the inventor of the lifestyle brand, in which fashion encompasses a great sweep beyond clothes. By offering items for the home, for sport and for family life, as well as clothing, he created an aura of the life well-lived – that sense of belonging to something intangible. Although his heart may be with the glamour of The Great Gatsby and the quirky style of Diane Keaton in Annie Hall, his company has expanded rapidly since the 1970s, into an empire of tailored and casual clothing. It is one of a few global brands whose products are instantly recognizable. The digital age has taken the company from the tennis court to cyberspace. With the encouragement of his second son, David Lauren, holograms and digital projections have entered the hallowed world of his New York flagship store. Ralph Lauren has used his fortune to support health care, particularly cancer research, in America and the UK, where he has been lauded by The Duke of Cambridge for his generous contributions to the Royal Marsden Hospital. Lauren’s private passion is collecting vintage cars, but it says everything about this dynamic figure that his 70th birthday gift from his family in 2009 was a motorbike. Suzy Menkes is International Vogue Editor. 22

WINNER OF THE OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Ralph Lauren

Suzy Menkes applauds the gamechanging career of an all-American visionary. Portrait by Bruce Weber.

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

Bruce Weber

WINNER OF THE ISABELLA BLOW AWARD FOR FASHION CREATOR

Calvin Klein reflects on the groundbreaking campaigns and era-defining vision of his friend and long-time collaborator. The first important campaign I did with Bruce was in Santa Fe in 1979. We were shooting every category – jeans, men’s, women’s – and I knew I had something very special with Bruce’s images. I called my business partner from the shoot and said that I wanted to run multiple pages in one portfolio – we ending up running something like 25 pages. It was the first time anyone had done anything like that. Those trips were lots of fun but they were also an incredible amount of work because Bruce in those days – and I don’t think he’s ever really changed – liked to shoot endlessly. He’s prolific. Architecture and landscapes were always key in those pictures. In 1982 we did a shoot in Santorini with Tom Hintnaus to launch underwear. He was a pole-vaulter and runner and he had the body, the face, the whole thing, and Bruce kept placing him against this structure that resembled a phallic symbol. At a certain point, he looked at me, I looked at him and we both thought: “Oh wow, this is a great introduction for the underwear.” We put that ad in 24

bus shelters and people were stealing them. It was an amazing moment. I had a unique relationship with Bruce that was different to any other photographer. And he’s never lost that incredible passion for his work, that enthusiasm that you need to keep going. There was always a story to tell because that was something that we both believed in. When we did fragrance we created these stories in our crazy heads and he brought them to life. Obsession was a very sexual scent and at the time I was excited about this young South African model, Josie Borain. Bruce put her in the middle of all these limbs, giving the impression that there was this orgy going on. I distinctly remember Bruce saying, “What about scratching the image?” You know how a young guy might rip out a page of Playboy if his mother interrupted him – this is how his mind works! Noone knew why there were scratches on the photograph except Bruce and I, but we ended up with something that stopped people in their tracks.

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“Architecture was always key,” says Calvin Klein. “Bruce did a wonderful photograph of a group of models naked on the roof of an Art Deco hotel in Miami for Obsession in 1986 – it became an iconic image.” THE FASHION YEAR 2016

Best Of British SPECIAL RECOGNITION

Robin Derrick, ex-creative director of Vogue, on 100 years of a peculiarly British magazine. Photograph by Tim Walker.

In 1916, paper shortages (and the German navy) made it impractical to ship Vogue from America to its growing fan-base in Britain; Condé Nast, ever the entrepreneur, decided to launch a British version of his fashion and society magazine. From those inauspicious beginnings, the magazine would become a fashion bible, although it was always so much more than just that. It was a mirror of society, through war and peace, constantly evolving but always infused with an indomitable spirit. Characteristics that are echoed in the magazine’s imagery. British Vogue is a pillar of the establishment – every coronation, funeral and jubilee is an excuse for a souvenir issue. I did the Diana memorial issue which, in its day, was the highest selling issue in the publication’s history. The magazine has documented so much of this country’s culture that this year the National Portrait Gallery celebrated 100 Years of Vogue. The magazine has always had a determined irreverence. As cultural liberalism swept through the Sixties, Vogue responded by nurturing a new breed of working class photographers; the bold style – and total disregard for conventions – of Bailey, Donovan and Duffy reinvented fashion editorial. But British fashion has always nurtured iconoclasts from Punk to Galliano and McQueen and they ALL found a home in British Vogue. It’s a spirit that echoes through the magazine now too, from Kate Moss in Ziggy Stardust mode, to Tim Walker’s Hurricane bomber crashing into a grand country house. Long may it continue, here’s to 100 years of a very British Vogue. 26

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Spring congratulates all this year’s winners and nominees, and acknowledges the BFC’s invaluable support for British fashion talent.

The Fashion Year 2016

Creativity Connected Next generation creative agency/ Brand building/ Design specialists Refined digital innovation/ Cultural and influencer partners State of the art studios and facilities/ Industry-leading post-production High profile event organisation/ Exclusive members club. Spring House, 10 Spring Place, London, NW5 3BH Tel:+44(0)207267 8383 Spring Studios, 6 St Johns Lane, New York, NY 10013 Tel:+1 212 257 5600 springstudios.com

ALEXANDER FURY ALEXANDRA SHULMAN BRUCE WEBER CALVIN KLEIN DYLAN JONES GODFREY DEENY HARRIET QUICK HOLLI ROGERS JUDITH CLARK JUSTINE PICARDIE KELLY WONG LISA ARMSTRONG LUCY YEOMANS PANDORA SYKES PENNY MARTIN ROBIN DERRICK ROKSANDA ILINCIC SAMANTHA CONTI SARAH ANDELMAN SARAH MOWER SARAH RUTSON SUSANNAH FRANKEL SUZY MENKES TIM BLANKS TIM WALKER TOMMY TON

London Calling Sarah Mower reviews a year in which the UK’s identity was challenged to the core, while British fashion flourished on a global stage. Left to right: Melania Trump in Roksanda at the Republican National Convention, Ohio; Samantha Cameron leaving Downing Street wearing Roksanda; the Duchess of Cambridge on the royal tour of Canada wearing Preen by Thornton Bregazzi.

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

Put it this way: 2016 is not a year which anyone will forget in a hurry. It’s been a twelve-month span during which the inconceivable has happened, a bizarre and surreal roller coaster of a time during which we’ve all felt the lurching sensation of history sweeping us up and propelling us to who on earth knows where. British fashion and its culture in all its breadth, high and low, has been swept up in events, every step of the way, starting with politics. With the totally unpredicted result of the Brexit referendum on 23 June, and the equally unexpected election of Donald Trump as President of the United States on 8 November, London designers have been mixed up in the life-changing dramas of our times. It started like this: On 24 June, as David Cameron resigns as Prime Minister, Samantha Cameron wears a lozengepatterned dress by Preen by Thornton Bregazzi while standing in front of 10 Downing Street to hear his historic speech. On 13 July, as the Cameron family leaves Downing Street for the last time, Samantha Cameron flags her long-time support of British fashion – she has been a BFC Ambassador since 2010 – by wearing a graphic colour-blocked mididress by Roksanda. Later on 13 July: new Prime Minister Theresa May enters Number 10 wearing a colour-blocked coat by Amanda Wakeley and her favourite leopardspot kitten-heeled L.K. Bennett shoes. Apart from everything else, she goes down in history as the first British Prime Minister who has admitted to being a subscriber to Vogue. Her refusal to moderate her taste for good clothes and fancy shoes was described by a friend as “defiant”. On 18 July, Melania Trump gives her first full speech in support of her husband at a rally in Ohio. Apart from the fact that much of her script appears to echo an address by Michelle Obama, the press is all over the fact that she is wearing a Roksanda white bell-sleeved Margot dress. The now future First Lady bought it at retail. On 19 September, Theresa May throws a Downing Street reception for fashion industry leaders, educators and apprentices, to open London Fashion Week. She pledges government support for British fashion and its exports, which are worth £28 billion to the UK economy. She surprises her THE FASHION YEAR 2016

guests by wearing a crisp, avant-garde asymmetric Michele Clapton. A former student of the London College of Fashion, she is also responsible for white shirt, from the just-released minimalist costumes in Game of Thrones, another epic collaboration between Palmer/Harding and John Lewis. Most surprised of all are Central Saint production of our times. In September she picked up her second Emmy in LA for designing Seven Martins’ MA graduates Levi Palmer and Matthew Kingdoms-worth of armour, robes, pelts and rags Harding, who are the last to know. for casts of hundreds, and of course, Khaleesi’s It’s often hard to resist the thought of what Her queenly gowns. As the phenomenon of vast TV Majesty the Queen must think of all this. On 16 April, Elizabeth II celebrated her 90th birthday, a series multiplies, so do employment prospects for the huge teams of British-trained designers and year in which she might not have anticipated makers, in Belfast (home of Thrones) and beyond. saying goodbye to her 12th Prime Minister and hello As for the real Kingdom, the Queen’s birthday was to her 13th – not to mention the prospect of celebrated in exhibitions of the clothes she’s worn preparations for the inevitable state visit by the on state occasions, engagements and tours – enough Trumps. Still, 2016 has not been an annus horribilis to fill Holyroodhouse, Windsor for the monarchy at all. Quite the Castle and Buckingham Palace. opposite: never has such serious UK FASHION Among them were the outfits worn interest and affection been focused IN NUMBERS on her first state visit in 1957 to on the reign of the Queen by so many. Canada – where the Duke and In October the release of the 113,348 Duchess of Cambridge headed on Netflix TV series The Crown, INSTA POSTS TAGGED #LFW their own tour, with their children, Stephen Daldry’s lavish bio-drama 83 at the end of September. of the Queen’s life, was a huge hit, S/S17 LFW shows The work of British designers not just because of the brilliant 37% acting, but also because of the SHOE SALES ARE TRAINERS Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi shone on this occasion, too. Their incredibly accurate, impeccably£28 BILLION UK FASHION INDUSTRY chic red full-skirted, ballerinajudged costumes by British designer length dress, nipped at the £12.4 BILLION UK ONLINE waist, won the Duchess her Theresa May enters FASHION SALES highest fashion plaudits since her No. 10 wearing a dress and coat by Alexander McQueen wedding Amanda Wakeley dress by Sarah Burton. Just reward and L.K. Bennett to the designers, who celebrated kitten heels. their 20th anniversary at London Fashion Week with a spring collection, inspired by the witches and magic of their birthplace, the Isle of Man. It was loudly praised by critics as their best ever. The Duchess of Cambridge had her other fashion moment, of course: she was the cover-girl of the 100th anniversary edition of British Vogue in March. The portrait, styled by Lucinda Chambers and photographed by Josh Olins, showed the future Queen, dressed down as a countrywoman. Vogue’s coup was clinched as part of the National Portrait Gallery exhibition of 100 years of the magazine’s photography, curated by Patrick Kinmonth; it was just part of a year-long series of Vogue celebrations, including a televised series looking inside the life of the magazine, and the publication of Editor-inChief Alexandra Shulman’s diary of the 100th year. 32

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MY FASHION YEAR

“Christopher Kane’s 10th anniversary collection was a spine-tingling show moment: his sheer creativity, open-heartedness and warmth is very moving.” SUSANNAH FRANKEL

Christopher Kane celebrates a decade in business with a greatest hits show at the Tate on 19 September.

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

MY FASHION YEAR

“Dior brought a Parisian spirit to Blenheim Palace, laying on the Orient Express to take guests from London. As we travelled through the countryside in driving rain, a three-course lunch was served on white Dior tablecloths. It was a perfect marriage of England and France.” LUCY YEOMANS

Christian Dior shows its cruise collection at Blenheim Palace on 31 May.

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

That culture – the belief in the energy of mouldFor Christopher Kane, there was another breaking ideas – is greatly encouraged by British anniversary. It’s ten years since he burst onto the retailers who are daring enough to pick up young scene in 2006, straight from Central Saint Martins’ designers in the first stages of their careers. In MA course, with his tight, neon-bright body-con dress collection which shook London fashion into a March, Dover Street Market, one of the greatest champions of new independent talent – Molly new, optimistic course. In September he looked back – if only a bit – by reprising a couple of the lacy Goddard, Simone Rocha, Phoebe English, Craig Green and Charles Jeffrey among them – reopened nylon dresses in that first show, and they looked just as hot. The House of Holland is a decade old, too. in a huge new location (Burberry’s former In 2016 Henry Holland celebrated with a new set headquarters) in the Haymarket, a new state-ofof the cheeky rhyming T-shirt slogans with which the-art shopping magnet for every industry visitor and enthusiast who comes to London wanting to he launched his Fashion East collection. Times have know who’s who and what’s what in fashion. changed since UHU GARETH PUGH and GET No wonder then that pre-Referendum London, YOUR FREAK ON GILES DEACON; now it’s admired for all its confidence, Cara Delevingne and Karlie Kloss. dazzling royalty and young cultural Since 2006, of course, talent FASHION attractions, was suddenly the place from London has just not stopped ANNIVERSARIES where not one, but two major coming, or receiving international European fashion houses wanted to recognition. This is the year in which DAZED & CONFUSED be seen. In May, Christian Dior Grace Wales Bonner scooped the 25 swept into the country, put its LVMH young designer prize in JIMMY CHOO international entourage of guests Paris, not just for her immaculate 20 aboard the Orient Express at tailoring for men, but also for her PREEN Victoria station, and took them to ground-breaking portrayal of chic, 20 Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, for a dandyish African male identity. By CHRISTOPHER KANE resort show in the same venue in no coincidence, Wales Bonner 10 which Christian Dior presented his happens to be another graduate of HOUSE OF HOLLAND collection, before royalty, in 1954. Central Saint Martins, which is the 10 In June it was Gucci’s turn. source – along with the Royal Alessandro Michele, a confirmed College of Art – of 90% of all Anglophile, managed to book the designers showing in London cloisters at Westminster Abbey for Fashion Week. The world-class standing of British fashion education was itself a Gucci resort show which celebrated multicoloured London youth-styles, from Seventies aristos to formally recognised in 2016 in The Business Portobello hippies to East End club kids of today. of Fashion’s rigorously researched ranking There was sadness, too, this year. In January the of international fashion schools. Central Saint death of David Bowie sent waves of shock through Martins scored first, while Kingston University a British fashion community – and generations of made second place. fans and creative people – inspired by his myriad No wonder that London is acknowledged as mercurial ch-ch-changes. A huge spontaneous chief European breeding-ground for avant-garde gathering of people, many with their faces painted fashion in men’s and womenswear alike – it begins with Ziggy lightning-flash makeup and dressed at school. Talented people want to study here, a fact in glitter, came together to mourn and sing Bowie statistically registered in The Business of Fashion’s songs outside the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton, which scoring system: 45% of students at Central Saint displayed the words: “David Bowie, Our Brixton Martins are international. The vibrancy of London Boy, RIP.” His deep legacy continues to live on fashion culture has been a net beneficiary of that openness to talent from everywhere for a in fashion. Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley quoted The Thin White Duke in their Hillier Bartley generation, and the capital is home to fashion stars collection. “He’ll always be there,” as Bartley puts it. from all over Europe and beyond. THE FASHION YEAR 2016

Charles Jeffrey’s Loverboy club night: a new generation of London designers emerges with a DIY attitude and heaps of ingenuity.

MY FASHION YEAR

“A certain uncertainty - from elections, referendums and within the industry as a whole. There’s a shift happening. Whether it’s seismic, or a storm in a teacup, only time can tell.”

MARIA ZIEGELBOCK FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES STYLE MAGAZINE

ALEXANDER FURY

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

More sadness came to the many friends of place, and British creative talent influencing modern culture all over the world. Seismic political Richard Nicoll with the news that he had died changes and subcurrents in Britain, Europe and suddenly of a heart attack in Sydney on 21 October. the United States in 2016 may have unleashed an As a designer who studied at Central Saint Martins, graduating in 2002 from Professor Louise Wilson’s era of uncertainty, but this much remains true: in the MA class with Jonathan Saunders and Roksanda darkest and toughest of times, you can always rely Ilincic, he was a much-loved member of the young on London’s young people to subvert the gloom, and come out sparkling. London designer community. After winning New To find that dazzle you only need check out what Gen sponsorship, Richard’s own collection, which the very newest people are up to. There’s Charles began in 2006, became known for his talent for slick modern tailoring with an effortless sportiness, for Jeffrey, nominated for emerging talent tonight, both women and men. He also applied that talent whose Loverboy collection is also a club movement, run with acgang of friends at £5 a ticket. In the wings over the years to consultancies, including the creative directorships of Cerruti, Fred Perry and there’s Matty Bovan, the glittery total-look star who took Fashion East by storm in September, and the Jack Wills. Richard is much mourned by his hilariously subversive Luke Brooks colleagues and collaborators, among and James Theseus Buck, whose whom is the radical feminist-punk UK'S BA/MA SCHOOLS Rottingdean Bazaar installation at artist Linder Sterling, for whom he IN BOF'S RANKINGS London Fashion Week Men's costumed a ballet, The Ultimate instantly spread the word that Form, in 2010. Anyone who was lucky enough to buy a piece from his CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS something never-before-seen is on 1st the rise in London. spring 2011 collection, which By no coincidence, all of these contained the photomontage prints KINGSTON UNIVERSITY 2nd designers – Charles, Matty, Luke, made with Sterling, has a souvenir of LCF James – also graduated from the Richard which will last a lifetime. 7th same place of excellence, Central This turbulent year has been WESTMINSTER Saint Martin’s MA degree course. witness to another kind of upheaval 12th Without the unique creative – one which is fast rearranging the BRIGHTON crucible of British education, whole system of showing fashion. 13th London Fashion Week would Again, that began in London: arguably not have Christopher Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative Kane, Roksanda Ilincic, Mary and Chief Executive Officer of Katrantzou, Simone Rocha, Burberry, was the firestarter of the Marques Almeida, Craig Green, Christopher “See Now, Buy Now” revolution, the first international leader to announce that clothes would Shannon or Molly Goddard, who went to Central be available to the public immediately after the Saint Martins, or Christopher Bailey, Erdem, show in London Fashion Week in September, and Christopher Raeburn, Matthew Miller or Alex that the women’s and men’s collections would be Mullins, whose careers sprang from the Royal amalgamated into one show. He chose a clever College of Art. That is why the 2016 Fashion Awards are theme for it: Virginia Woolf’s dreamy, timetravelling, gender-fluid historical fantasy novel, dedicated tonight to raising scholarship funds for Orlando, in which the hero gradually transforms the British Fashion Council Education Foundation. into a heroine. References to Elizabethan ruff As fees, rent, expenses and student debt rise exponentially, every donation is a vote for optimism collars and military greatcoats had girls and boys and a classless, diverse future for British brilliance alike rushing to stores. which will shine as brightly in 2017 and beyond. So here we are: at the end of 2016, the year time will not forget, London stands as an epicentre of Sarah Mower MBE is the British Fashion Council’s Ambassador for Emerging Talent and new thinking, creative freedom, openness, Chief Critic for US Voguerunway.com enterprise, energy, with the Royal Family in a great 38

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

MY FASHION YEAR

“Sarah Burton’s silver sea-foam dress at Alexander McQueen, and the whole show, was a welcome reminder of the power of creativity on the catwalk.” LISA ARMSTRONG THE FASHION YEAR 2016

MY FASHION YEAR

“Alessandro Michele’s Gucci show at Westminster Abbey was a gloriously creative highlight of the year, and yet more evidence of how the Italian designer has galvanised contemporary fashion with his inspiring celebration of bold eclecticism. It’s also wonderful to see the influence of British culture on this quintessentially Italian brand — truly, a very special relationship." JUSTINE PICARDIE

Alessandro Michele brings Gucci to London with a cruise collection shown in the 13th-century cloisters of Westminster Abbey on 2 June.

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

MODELS WHO WALKED THE MOST CATWALKS LINEISY MONTERO A/W 16

6,000,000

BRANDS WITH TOP SOCIAL INTERACTIONS FOR S/S 17

DISTANCE TRAVELLED BETWEEN SHOWS IN EACH MAJOR CITY

TRENDING HASHTAGS #WhoMadeMyClothes

#TommyxGigi

ODETTE PAVLOVA

#BlackModelsMatter

#GucciGram

LIA PAVLOVA

Godfrey Deeney reports on a year of blockbuster shows, gamechanging creative directors and the rise of a new creative class.

EDITORS' AIR-MILES FOR THE RESORT SHOWS

It’s been a telling year in fashion, where politics, displacement and even religion have been ever present. A year marked by our current obsession with gender-bending eccentricity, where outsiders and émigrés have been the biggest stars. The year, above all, of Brexit, which saw Britain rethink its role in Europe; ironically, when the standout show in Paris was by Ulsterman Jonathan Anderson, doing poetic artisanal chic at Loewe in September. His location? The world headquarters of UNESCO, an organization dedicated to “building peace in the minds of men”. On the Continent, it’s a year that has been dominated by the supposed dangers of mass immigration. Where, nonetheless, the most talkedabout fashion moment was the collaborative collection of Vetements, staged in Galeries Lafayette during couture season. It was created by Demna Gvasalia, a Georgian, whose family fled their home region of Abkhazia after it was invaded

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

#BurberryMakersHouse NEW YORK 130km

MAARTJE VERHOEF MILAN 194km

Prada 3,058,706

Giorgio Armani 3,341,636

Louis Vuitton 3,836,519

Moschino 3,931,242

Fendi 3,971,716

Balmain 4,655,555

Topshop Unique 4,683,724

Chanel 5,041,493

Christian Dior 5,895,056

Gucci 6,519,139

The Global View

LONDON 104km

MARJAN JONKMAN

PARIS 89km

3,000,000

LFW

250,934

NYFW 850,241

PFW

295,847

22,546

by Russia. His multiple link-ups were Carhartt material cut as oversized jumpsuits, metallic Manolo Blahnik boots that reached the hip bone, Reebok insignia windbreakers with a Vetements logo hood or a blood-red velour catsuit with Juicy spelled out in rhinestones. Taken together, these were a bona fide fashion paradigm. My favourite moment in Italy was Prada. 2016 was meant to be the year in which a woman finally broke through the highest political glass ceiling. Miuccia seemed to foresee Hillary’s defeat in November, in a brilliantly staged show, before six David O. Russell black-and-white silent videos projected on huge screens. They starred Freida Pinto, Connie Britton and Allison Williams as Hitchcockian actresses escaping down escalators inside giant airports and malls, in a surreal dream. The clothes, on the other hand, were practical yet frivolous. On the catwalk were models in bright houndstooth jackets, windowpane check coats and

TWITTER MENTIONS IN 2016

MFW

191,280

beach shorts. Cuffs, waistlines, trousers and midriffs were fringed with marabou feathers. Signora Prada designs for women who have brains: the very core of the feminist philosophy that women are defined not just by their beauty and ability to reproduce, but by their desire to shape their lives based on their own ideas and dreams. Where the new star of Milan, Alessandro Michele, decorates women, Prada dresses them as dynamic personalities creating their own destinies. Nothing sums up today’s love of fashion frivolity more than Moschino, which Jeremy Scott has turned into the hottest youth culture brand in Italy. In September he had a moment with 3D versions of 2D hand-drawn mannequins from 1960s comics. It was a revival of the Valley of the Dolls, in which knowing femmes fatales and icy screen goddesses wore the house’s signature red-and-black polka dots and micro little black dresses. Working his atelier, and computer

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

MY FASHION YEAR

“It’s been a telling year in fashion, where politics, displacement and even religion have been ever present; where outsiders and émigrés have been the biggest stars.” GODFREY DEENY

JASON LLOYD-EVANS

graphics, like a master, Scott added in trompe l’oeil in my view, unfairly criticized for bringing this detailing to swimsuits, tuxedos and sassy regiment of VVIPs to Havana. However, in a score red carpet gowns. Wacky Dadaist Moschino paired of conversations I had with ordinary Cubans with another new Italian phenomena: Milan’s everyone I met burst with pride that a great French second-generation Chinese die-hard fashion fans. brand would honour their homeland with a proper Moschino is their must-see collection, and almost show. All the way to the gang of ladies of the night a thousand of them attempted to hustle their way in neon lycra, who cheered and danced from the into this show. rooftops of a crumbling baroque villa overlooking In menswear the year was marked by two key the show on the Paseo del Prado, the tree-lined names. The first was the brilliantly clever Grace colonial avenue. Wales Bonner, who scooped the 300,000 euro The most influential cruise collection, and LVMH prize and whose gender fluidity indeed designer today, is surely Alessandro has none of the giddy absurdity of Gucci. Instead Michele at Gucci, who invited us pampered editors it’s a dignified take on the African male, in which to London in June for his homage to “the world’s the cutting manages to be simultaneously noble first rock star, Queen Elizabeth I”. It was a and sensitive. The other major procession of Britain’s greatest menswear statement was Demna stylistic tribes, all radically rePARIS PLAYLIST Gvasalia’s debut at Balenciaga, a imagined inside Westminster sensational, voluminous and often Abbey: New Romantic beauties NEW ROMANTIC ecclesiastically themed show that in Indian kaftans; Bloomsbury Andy Stott was staged on the rooftop of the top lady authors in knit wool suits with SCRIMSHAW Jesuit college in Paris. Gvasalia cricket stripes; Elizabethan punk Anna Meredith varied the silhouette from coats princesses in flesh-baring tartan PLAISIRS AMÉRICAINS with humongous, faintly grotesque gowns. It was all somehow perfectly Bernardino Femminielli shoulders, though cut with such ahead of the curve culturally, FEEL LIKE I DO skill that boxy topcoats were especially when you just know the Disclosure wrapped elastic tight around the single most influential TV series on DÉPASSÉE PAR LE torso. His finale was a quintet of the catwalks next February will be FANTASME looks in Roman imperial jacquard Netflix’s The Crown and even if the Essaie Pasw and cardinal red, provided by an gender-bending Faerie Queen of Italian source that supplies the Michele is light years from the Vatican. “I liked the ecclesiastical formality of Ma’am today. We were idea, as the fabrics were serious and in and out of churches all year: dry and cold. Moreover, Balenciaga himself was notably with the latest brilliant First Communiona very religious person,” explained Demna. He style collection from Simone Rocha, presented was raised in the Eastern Orthodox Church in inside Southwark Cathedral in London. Sukhumi, a city named after the ancient This year was a time when we mourned the Dioskouri (Dark Gods) Castor and Pollux. passing of many friends: Sonia Rykiel, Bill In this last year one was almost suffocated by the Cunningham, Andre Courrèges and, saddest of all, amount of times people mentioned the concept Richard Nicoll. A year of intense uncertainty: “See Now, Buy Now”. Though, quite frankly, living where designer heads have rolled. One could in Paris, I take the French view that the whole idea almost hear someone shouting: “you’re fired!” will be ruinous for fashion creativity. Fashion has become, in short, a revolving door, In an era in which the Internet has almost where the most awaited event of 2017 will clearly vaporized the magazine business, it was instructive be the arrival of Raf Simons at Calvin Klein. It to visit Cuba with Chanel. Think of it as The will be to open a new chapter in fashion; to create Invasion of the Fashionistas, as 700 fanciful aliens beauty anew. were ferried in candy-coloured 1950s convertibles Godfrey Deeny is the Editor-at-Large for Fashion around Havana, a city devoid of wi-fi. Chanel was, of Le Figaro

Jonathan Anderson’s S/S 17 collection for Loewe shown at UNESCO House in Paris on 30 September.

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

DEMNA GVASALIA

shows his first collection as Artistic Director

HEDI SLIMANE

leaves his position as Creative Director after a barn-storming reinvention

ALESSANDRA FACCHINETTI steps down as Creative Director

shows her first collection as Artistic Director

CONSUELO CASTIGLIONI

MARNI

CARVEN

the brand’s founder steps down after more than 20 years. She’s succeeded by Francesco Risso

ROBERTO CAVALLI

BRIONI

CHRISTIAN DIOR

OCT

VALENTINO

SAINT LAURENT

SEP

OLIVIER THEYSKENS

CALVIN KLEIN

AUG

JUSTIN O’SHEA

BOUCHRA JARRAR

It’s been a whirlwind year of change at the helm of many fashion houses. Here’s the 2016 merry-go-round in microcosm. THE FASHION YEAR 2016

JUL

OSCAR DE LA RENTA

JUN

LANVIN

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG

MAY

Transfer List 46

MARIA GRAZIA CHIURI

leaves his position as Creative Director

makes her debut as Artistic Director

TOD’S

CALVIN KLEIN

departs after 13 years as Women’s Creative Director

APR

PETER DUNDAS

becomes Creative Director, six months after leaving Versus

is named as Chief Creative Officer

is appointed Chief Creative Officer

FRANCISCO COSTA

SAINT LAURENT

MAR

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO

ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA

FEB

BALENCIAGA

resigns after 16 years as Creative Director

leaves after three years as Head of Design

ANTHONY VACCARELLO

RAF SIMONS

JONATHAN SAUNDERS

MASSIMILIANO GIORNETTI

STEFANO PILATI

PETER COPPING

leaves his post as Creative Director after two years. Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia are announced as his successors

leaves after just six months as Creative Director

OLIVIER THEYSKENS returns to Paris Fashion Week with his namesake label after a 14-year hiatus

PIERPAOLO PICCIOLI shows his first solo collection as Creative Director

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

ALEXIS MARTIAL AND ADRIEN CAILLAUDAUD leave after 18 months as Creative Directors

MY FASHION YEAR

“I don’t take the view that the system is broken, I think that is ridiculous. I also hate the word disruption that is becoming a bit of a cliché. But I think change to look at what people want to buy, when they want to buy, how people want to sell – is worth examining.” ALEXANDRA SHULMAN Louis Vuitton travels to Rio de Janeiro to showcase its resort collection at Oscar Niemeyer’s Niteròi Contemporary Art Museum on 28 May.

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

MY FASHION YEAR

“Favourite fashion moment? The opening of the Fendi couture show in Rome, the instant the Trevi Fountain kicked into life, just before Kendall Jenner stepped out on to the perspex catwalk that created the illusion of models walking on water. First, dead silence, then the sudden roar that accompanied a curtain of glacial turquoise, liquid glass pouring into the pool below. I jumped. If I was half a century younger, I’d probably have clapped with childlike glee.” TIM BLANKS

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

Fendi celebrates its 90th anniversary with a block-buster show at the newly restored Trevi Fountain in Rome on 7 July.

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

The Business Year

Samantha Conti reviews a year in which politics, economics and shifting social landscapes forced a dramatic fashion evolution.

“The customer is shopping in new ways, and engaging in new ways, and we have to change our process and traditions. The industry is changing dramatically for all of us – business as usual is not possible for anyone.” CHRISTOPHER BAILEY

JASON LLOYD-EVANS

Burberry stages its See Now Buy Now extravaganza on 23 September. The brand transforms the former Foyle’s building into a temporary ‘Maker’s House.’

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

To every thing there is a season, according to Ecclesiastes, but what happens in a world where there are too many seasons – and things? Fashion wrestled with those – and myriad other challenges – in what has been a year of tectonic shifts in the way the industry sees itself and conducts business. Conundrums that have been brewing for a while – Why can’t we buy what we see on the runway? Are there too many bricks-and-mortar fashion stores? Do they make money? Is fashion too expensive? Where did all the Chinese shoppers go? – bubbled over, with many designers and brands taking bold steps to try to solve them. Changes came as company chiefs played matchmaker with designers and CEOs, looking to create buzz among younger customers and groom companies for growth in a mercurial climate for shopping and international travel. Already tough conditions were made worse by terrorist violence in France, Belgium, Germany and the U.S., which spooked the high-spending Chinese in particular, compelling them to travel elsewhere or stay home. While London may have been spared the latest terrorist violence, businesses faced their own challenges following the Brexit referendum result, which came as a blow to British designers who are figuring out how to move forwards with a weaker pound, higher production costs and inevitable price hikes. The industry was shaken, but its leaders rallied with a series of solutions that remain works in progress. Among them was Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative and Chief Executive Officer of Burberry, which has changed shape dramatically over the past year. As New York awaited its answer from Boston Consulting Group about the future of the fashion calendar and the viability of consumer shows, Bailey took the first leap, announcing that

the brand would unite its menswear and womenswear on one seasonless catwalk, and sell the collection immediately. Tom Ford, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors followed, while smaller brands and fashion houses, such as Mulberry, began mapping their own solutions, shortening delivery times or going straight to the consumer. (The French and the Italians haven’t been as enthusiastic about see-now, buy-now, arguing that their products are worth waiting for.) Generating sales – and profit margins – has never been more critical. Earlier this year Kering chief Francois-Henri Pinault, one of the industry’s kingpins, said it was time for his group’s stores to generate higher profits. As he mulled potential densities per square foot, Pinault also oversaw a host of creative and commercial changes at Kering, notably the Gucci turnaround under CEO Marco Bizzarri (a Kering veteran who built up Stella McCartney’s business and was previously in charge of the group’s fashion and leather goods division) and designer Alessandro Michele. Pinault also installed Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga, following the departure of Alexander Wang, and Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent, after Hedi Slimane’s exit. Pinault wasn’t the only matchmaker: at least a dozen brands have seen a change in creative director while others have seen exits after long tenures or blink-and-you-missed-it stints. Meanwhile, Versace, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane and Bottega Veneta welcomed new CEOs, as they battle to remain relevant and scintillating to customers with a thirst for newness and experiences. Samantha Conti is London Bureau Chief of WWD

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

GUCCI’S FUR-LINED PRINCETOWN SLIPPER

The soaring success of Alessandro Michele’s 'GG' bag, with ornate embroidery and a tiger clasp, topped with the designer’s signature thrift store twist is proof positive that we are well and truly in the age of Gucci.

With a smooth, snaffle decorated upper and kangaroo fur inner, Alessandro Michele combines the suave and the visceral in his reprise of the brand’s classic loafer. The decadent mule has been one of Gucci’s biggest hits.

MANOLO BLAHNIK’S CRYSTAL PUMPS

MULBERRY MAPLE TOTE

Hot Right Now

Blahnik's Nadira, with a spray of crystal, appears as if from a lucid dream. In these, any day becomes extraordinary.

Would Johnny Coca reprise his minimal Celine-ness at Mulberry? The answer is, yes. His clean Maple, topped with signature press studs, adds a note of modern cool to a utilitarian staple.

BALENCIAGA’S SLASH STILETTOS

A pointy stiletto with an apparently 'snapped' slanted heel says a lot about Demna Gvasalia's wicked sense of humour. Every girl's worst nightmare made 'fake real.'

From sell-out shoes to the most coveted bags we ask two insiders for their must-have accessories that defined 2016.

MIU MIU'S PUNK ROCK BALLET SLIPPERS

J.W.ANDERSON PIERCE BAG

PANDORA SYKES' BAGS OF THE YEAR

The Pierce won over street style regulars and consumers alike. In September it was reported that for each bag on retail platform, Lyst, 100 people tried to buy it.

Miuccia Prada's style thrives on perversity, and what could be more provocative than her sugar sweet ballet flats with punk rock riveted straps?

BALENCIAGA BAZAR SHOPPER

LOEWE PUZZLE BAG

One of Jonathan Anderson’s first designs for the Spanish house was the geometric ‘Puzzle’ which comes in two sizes and a rainbow of colours (candy pink, bright orange, silver, black, tan....) or, if you're Susie Lau and prefer the men's, a larger bowling bag size.

Did we expect one of the most popular bags of the year to be a striped, laundry bag? No. But in cult designer Demna Gvasalia's hands this isn't any normal laundry bag - it's a pop art masterpiece, in sumptuous leather. THE FASHION YEAR 2016

HARRIET QUICK’S SHOES OF THE YEAR

GUCCI DIONYSUS

CHRISTOPHER KANE EMBELLISHED CROCS

The cult of the 'ugly' has hovered over fashion since the 70s with designers relishing in pulling generic styles into the arena. Kane's Crocs, glammed up with Swarovski crystals, were just waiting to happen. VOGUE: THE SHOE by Harriet Quick (Conran Octopus £75 out now) THE FASHION YEAR 2016

Double Vision

Dylan Jones reflects on the shifting cultural relevance of double-breasted tailoring, as he looks back at another standout year for London menswear.

E TAUTZ S/S 17 Patrick Grant’s DB combined muted shades with a soft-structured, resort silhouette.

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN A/W 16

Vintage pinstripes and 70s lines lent double-breasted suits a retro edge.

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

CASELYHAYFORD S/S 17

Classic DB styling was offset with a bold, unexpected colour palette.

RICHARD JAMES A/W 16

A matching Prince of Wales check tie updated Savile Row tradition.

MARGARET HOWELL A/W 16

Boxier fits and flannel create a DB rooted in British workwear.

The sociology of taste is now something of an industry, one lovingly kickstarted in this country by the cultural commentator Peter York. There were many others long before him who also understood that the world was changing. In 1954 the culture critic Russell Lynes published The Tastemakers: The Shaping of American Popular Taste, a lengthy meditation on the nature of taste, which Lynes believed had supplanted class as the new social hierarchy. As it happened he was about a decade shy of the curve, but he could feel the rules beginning to bend. Taste, Lynes argued, could be broken down into three obvious categories: Highbrow, Middlebrow and Lowbrow, each with its own subsections. No Nobrow for him. Nor indeed Nubrow. Quite naturally, his meditation included a fair amount on clothing. A supplementary chart in The Tastemakers includes the following sartorial hierarchy: Highbrow – fuzzy Harris tweed suit in town, same in the country; Upper Middlebrow – Brooks Brothers suit and repp tie in town, tweed jacket and knit tie in the country; Lower Middlebrow – double-breasted suit and “splashy” tie in city, sport shirt and coloured trousers in the country; Lowbrow – “loafer” jacket and woven shoes in town, old army clothes in the country. What? Hold on a minute! Did Lynes just call the double-breasted suit middlebrow?! I can understand how the cartoon gangsters and the

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

zoot-suited pachucos and the wartime spivs soiled The world of fashion has changed, perhaps the pants-seat of the post-war door-to-door forever. What was once a secret world surrounded salesman, but over here, in Britain, where by actual and metaphorical velvet ropes, keeping gentlemen still stalked the streets? Mr Lynes the fashion cognoscenti safely away from grubby obviously didn’t travel well. civilians, has exploded into a street party. For However, there was a time when it was difficult decades, the process of designers showing their for any man in Britain to wear a double-breasted creations to the press and buyers was a firmly suit, as it had been made socially unacceptable by established one, which was almost written in Yuppies in the Eighties. Designers tried to slip a stone. And if not in stone, then at least on the cover few double-breasted suits into their collections, of your favourite fashion magazine. but there was never a great take-up by either buyers Firstly, you have some designers making their or punters. Thankfully, the birth of the hipster in clothes available to the consumer as soon as they recent years not only encouraged more men to get have finished showing them. Secondly, you have funky with their face furniture but also encouraged other designers who have decided – for reasons – and indeed was largely responsible for – the of creative cohesion, cost or simply logistics – to return of the double-breasted suit (or doubleshow their men’s and women’s clothes together. barrelled, as I’ve always preferred to call it). Then you have other brands that are deliberately Nowadays, if you walk around showing out of season, to gain even Mayfair or St. James’s I can more press attention, in such LFWM IN NUMBERS guarantee that you will see more unusual places as Palm Springs, double-breasted suits than their Havana, Naples or Honolulu. On £325 BILLION single-breasted cousins, which, top of this, you have designers who Global men's sales by 2019 frankly, makes for a far betterare changing fashion capitals for 59% dressed postcode. Plus, as DBs Male shoppers buying online the purposes of publicity, whether 27% tend to use more fabric, they’re that’s Coach showing in London more expensive, and so make more Male shoppers buying British instead of New York, or Paul Smith 22.5% money for the people producing forsaking Paris for London. Menswear growth 2015–20 them. A perfect storm, then. Or at All of these changes have £17.3 BILLION the very least a perfect doublehappened for four reasons. The UK men's market by 2020 breasted storm. first is to try to shorten the distance The return of the doublebetween a dress (or a pair of breasted suit is just one of the big trousers) and the consumer; the themes of the year in menswear, second is to try to make some noise a year in which we subtly changed the title of in a media landscape where you can’t see the wood men’s fashion week from London Collections Men for the trees. The third reason is the increasingly to London Fashion Week Men’s (which is what we monstrous costs of putting on fashion shows, and wanted to call it originally, but we changed our the fourth due to a general perception in the minds at the last minute as we couldn’t honestly industry that the world is changing, and the process call three days a “week”); a year in which the as it is just can’t continue forever. This disruption menswear industry has gone from strength to has occurred in a climate that has been very strength commercially (the British menswear helpful to the menswear economy. As menswear retail economy doesn’t appear to have suffered continues to grow, and as London becomes not because of the Brexit referendum result – yet); a just a platform for homegrown designers but also year in which LFWM hosted more designers than a hub for menswear globally, so consumers and ever before, including an increasing number from designers alike will undoubtedly benefit. Asia; a year in which Vivienne Westwood returned Oh, and who is this year’s Best Dressed Man? to show her menswear in London; and a year in Well, let me tell you, it isn’t Donald Trump. which there has been an extraordinary amount of Dylan Jones is the Editor-in-Chief of GQ and (positive) disruption. the Chairman of London Fashion Week Men’s 58

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

WALES BONNER S/S 17

Strict formal influences were translated into beautifully tailored, romantic DB suits.

MY FASHION YEAR

“Not a discovery as such but we got to know the work of Grace Wales Bonner quite intimately at The Gentlewoman and we lıke what we learned.” PENNY MARTIN

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

Urban Renewal

The rise of streetwear has dominated catwalks and stores alike; retailers pinpoint their biggest hits.

FENTY X PUMA

VETEMENTS

GOSHA RUBCHINSKIY

Y/PROJECT

“Athleisure was a great performer - with Rhianna’s star power, the laceup sweatshirts sold out in two weeks.”

“Gvasalia’s aesthetic is a phenomenon. There’s been major demand for ubiquitous pieces, including sweatshirts.”

“Guys come to the store and buy a t-shirt, because they want to buy part of Gosha, part of this energy, part of the story.”

“Glenn Martens is an immense talent with a keen eye. The Edwardian sweatshirt was an instant sellout.”

KELLY WONG, LANE CRAWFORD

SARAH RUTSON, NET-A-PORTER

ADRIAN JOFFE, DOVER STREET MARKET

HOLLI ROGERS, BROWNSFASION.COM

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

GIOVANNA BATTAGLIA She is simply the walking embodiment of la dolce vita. Always spicy with a touch of sweetness, her love of colour and print is put together with restraint and chicness.

LUCY CHADWICK

This hardcore CĂŠline fan is a favorite of the fashion set for her empowering, intellectual approach to clothes.

YASMIN SEWELL

Always cool with a capital C, whether she's out there rocking Vetements, or going tomboy glam in full Gucci.

VERONIKA HEILBRUNNER

A statuesque German beauty who makes wildcard choices, like wearing customized Brioni.

ADA KOKOSAR

The absolute master at marrying layers and proportions; you become instantly mesmerized the moment that you set eyes on her.

Snap Chat

Tommy Ton introduces his who's who guide to the most stylish women he loves to shoot in fashion capitals from New York to Paris. 62

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

GILDA AMBROSIO

An Italian chameleon who always takes the plunge when it comes to combining her global vintage pieces with cutting edge designers.

JENNY WALTON

This overnight style star is one to watch right now, thanks to her unique, old world glamour apprach to creating nouveau vintage looks. THE FASHION YEAR 2016

PERNILLE TEISBAEK

Quickly emerging as one of the most watched street style stars because of her ability to inject everything she wears with that Scandinavian cool. 63

Museum Pieces

Judith Clark is curator of the Barbican’s The Vulgar: Fashion Redefined, and Professor of Fashion and Museology.These are her museum-worthy pieces from 2016.

COMME DES GARÇONS

The Ceaseless Century describes the endless fascination for the 18th century; Comme des Garçons does 18th century punk.

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

PRADA

Miuccia Prada’s styling for A/W 16 was another step in her layered decoration, and all about her peculiarly anti-Italian mismatching.

VETEMENTS

Vetements collaborative couture show in Paris was rich with significant pieces including this Juicy Couture look.

SAINT LAURENT

First and last collections revisit the archives and aggressively move away at the same time; a case in point - Hedi Slimane’s swansong take on 80s YSL.

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

DIOR

And at Dior: a first collection, including a T-shirt with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED Talk quote. When could this not be a good idea?

Goodbyes

You’ve got the invite, we’ve got the outfit.

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ALEXANDRE REZA ANDRÉ COURRÈGES BETSY BLOOMINGDALE BILL CUNNINGHAM DAVID BOWIE FRANK RIZZO GENE WILDER JAMES GALANOS JOAN HELPERN LEONARD COHEN MARC RIBOUD MARIE SCOTT MARTA MARZOTTO MATT IRWIN MUHAMMAD ALI NATHALIE PERNOT PETE BURNS PRINCE RICHARD NICOLL SALLY BRAMPTON SONIA RYKIEL ZAHA HADID

THE FASHION YEAR 2016

Richard Nicoll 1977-2016

Roksanda Ilincic fondly remembers her close friend and fellow designer. I met Richard fifteen years ago, in the front of Saint Martins. We were on different courses but I remember it so vividly because he was one of those people that the moment you lay your eyes on him you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget him. That smile â&#x20AC;&#x201C; so warm and charming, and those beautiful azure blue eyes. Richard, myself and a few other designers all appeared around the same time. We all had similar aspirations but also similar challenges in achieving them. Richard was always there to share both the disappointing moments and the many triumphant moments, and often to really laugh and joke about it all. He had an intoxicating sense of humour. I always felt his work was so progressive and forward thinking; he brought all the easiness and vibrancy from Australia and then mixed it all up with London influences. His sense of colour was extraordinary and his vision was very precise. He was one of the first designers to introduce the idea of sportswear with soft, elegant tailoring. Now, more than ten years on those things are just the norms in fashion but he was definitely the pioneer. When we heard the shocking news from Sydney, we had a spontaneous gathering of many friends; people that Richard touched and changed with his presence and friendship. It was incredible to see how many of my friends I met through him and how many wonderful and diverse people he introduced me to. He was like a magnet that people gravitated too. He was an extraordinary person and I just wish that he had more happy moments to share with us all and more time to prove to the rest of the world how diverse his talent was. 68

THE FASHION YEAR 2016