As New York Fashion Week is closing and the London fashionistas are eagerly awaiting their five minutes of fame on the fashion stage, there has never been a better time to take an interest in the direction our fashion industry is taking.
Twice a year the four biggest fashion cities in the world are lit up by endless amounts of buyers, reporters, celebrities, bloggers and all sorts of taggers along, all carrying a contagious bug that doesn't give you a runny nose but is decidedly nicer and does make you want to dress that bit smarter or finally try that bright lipstick that you always thought was a bit garish. It is an exciting time in the fashion world and the culmination of a lot of hard work and sweat for all those involved in creating, designing, and running these truly inspirational shows.
And although most people are interested in looking their best, what they are wearing and where they buy their clothes from all year round, it is often hard to see the tenuous link between the catwalks and the clothes we put on in the morning for the rest of the day. The catwalks may seem a million miles away from our lives but in reality they have a much more noticeable impact than we realise. It is true that the catwalks set the trends for the high street retailers for the next season.
Flashes of lace or a smattering of neon on the catwalk can dominate our lives for months as the high street like nothing better than a passing fad to fill their shelves with. But a catwalk show doesn't just show us what we will be wearing for the next season; it is a general meeting place for music, art, and technology to come together in one myriad of colour, light, fabric and creativity. Fashion week at the moment represents the way our fashion industry is growing and how inclusive it can be to other industries.
Luxury fashion is now more ethical than ever before and the endless collaborations between designers and those outside of fashion continue to create an influence with the wider world. Our fashion industry now produces the most inspirational collections in past years, and never before has the phrase 'there's something for everyone' been so relevant. But the catwalk revelations seem to have something more to them than just dictating the trends for next season; they invoke other feelings in us. Maybe one of pride, maybe one of creativity, maybe for one time we just want to be something a little bit different to our normal selves. Maybe it's a mixture of all of these.
The fashions seasons can inspire ideas in us that we can imagine and create into something real and tangible. In essence they can make us feel good, not only about what we are wearing but about ourselves as individuals. And although you may not be that interested in fashion or what the model of the season is tottering up and down the catwalks in, there is one thing that you can feel from this exciting time, pride. British fashion has come along in leaps and bounds and is now one of the most creative and innovative manufacturer of fashion designers. So if you're not interested in fashion take from these next few weeks a sense of creativity and pride with you and use it for whatever you want, not just on what you wear.