Stevie Nicks in John Galliano for Zara?! Chanel Cruise shoes(ish), brunette Paris Hilton @ Gucci Resort 27 & Stella McCartney X H&M
One of my favourite activities is arranging things. It could be anything – flowers, jars of pasta, pots in the garden or my vast collection of vintage vases – in fact anything that I think might look better in a different combination. When I was a teenager I told my mum I wanted a job that involved arranging things. Her knowledge of such careers was fairly limited – she was a primary school teacher – but she realised that I took after my dad as I spent most of my spare time drawing and clearly wasn’t going to follow her path. So she took me to an art college to speak to a tutor and the rest, as they say, is history.
It turns out visual merchandising was what I was describing and many years later when my own daughter expressed a desire to arrange things for a living, I was delighted to tell her that it was indeed an actual job. She chose a different career path in the end but still loves nothing more than laying a beautiful table or discussing a new colour scheme.
Floral Joy
Growing up with very little entertainment – three television channels and not much else – meant being creative was an advantage because I was never bored. My head was always buried in a book and I devoured everything from Harold Robbins to Emily Brontë with little parental interference beyond being shown how to use the library – and use it I did, every week. If I wasn’t reading I was drawing. Endless sketches of girls in all the latest outfits – platforms and maxi skirts that I wasn’t allowed – arranged in family groups of fashionable sisters with names like Nancy and Kim. As the older sister of a younger brother in real life, I longed for an all-female house full of stylish siblings.
Years later, sitting in corporate meetings, I could still be found doodling away – sketching caricatures of the most interesting person in the room or designing the outfit I couldn’t quite find in real life. And I’m still never bored. In fact I doubt I will ever finish the many creative projects living in my head or half-finished in my overflowing loft. Bags of fabric, collections of sea glass, shells, ribbons, tapestries, oil paints and calligraphy pens inherited from my lovely dad. So many projects, so little time.
Recent research has revealed that creative pursuits can actively protect against cognitive decline and slow biological ageing. Activities such as painting, dancing, playing instruments and even strategy games strengthen brain connectivity and can reduce the pace of ageing by up to 4% – a benefit comparable to regular physical exercise. What a relief. Try as I might, I have never really enjoyed exercise beyond cycling and dog walking, so this information may help me hold on to all my marbles in later life.
No such thing as too many vases
But what has happened to creativity in fashion?
Youth culture, music and entertainment have always helped shape fashion, but traditionally luxury brands also led the way through originality and innovation. Profit and the bottom line have always been part of the equation, but creativity is the key driver when creating exciting fashion. Increasingly though, big fashion brands – whether through desperation or lack of vision – seem to be turning runway shows into spectacles designed for clicks and conversion, with the clothes becoming almost secondary.
Lacoste “Locker Room” @ NK Store, Gucci “Memoria” vending machines at Milan Design Week
And the High St seems to have lost its way and is caught up in chasing the mysterious Gen Z and the endless trend cycle generated by social media and celebrity culture. Collaborations with celebrities, run clubs, festivals and branded cultural events may help build community and connection. But many die-hard fashion fans are beginning to ask where are the clothes we actually want to wear? Is all this talk of community and sustainability simply another form of marketing designed to sell us more stuff?
As for sustainable fashion – that also seems to have been some sort of marketing term or “trend’ – with with Shein acquiring Everlane and Allbirds pivoting from eco-sneakers to AI, the worlds of technology and finance seem to have entered the chat – and not in a good way.
Met Gala backlash, Anna Wintour with honorary co-chair, Lauren Sanchez-Bezos
Li Edelkoort has been warning for some time that fashion is increasingly “governed by greed and not by vision” and the Bezos takeover of the Met Gala feels like a case in point. What was once aspirational and elite has become tacky and tainted with too much money. Ofcourse it has always been about money – thats the point, it’s a fund raiser after all. But there is money and there is billionaire’s money.
But enough of that. Back to creativity.
Designers seem caught somewhere between commercial and comedic. Stella McCartney is designing for H&M and Galliano is working with Zara. Meanwhile Louis Vuitton‘s latest Cruise collection and Chanel‘s heel-only shoes feel like crimes against style. And as for Gucci – I have no words. Well I do actually, lots, but let’s not go there.
Henry Holland, Dries Van Noten, Martin Margiela
The really creative people seem to be moving elsewhere. Dries Van Noten is gardening and creating cultural spaces and art foundations, Martin Margiela has moved into contemporary art and sculpture and Henry Holland retrained in ceramics and launched his own pottery practice. Lots of my friends have also had enough of the endless cycle of hype and constant pressure around the bottom line and gone back to why they became designers in the first place – drawing, painting, throwing pots and arranging things.
Creativity requires one to slow down, concentrate intently and use your hands, or sometimes your voice, in the most basic of ways. I find chopping vegetables strangely meditative and love the focus cooking requires, assuming the recipe isn’t too taxing. My Wednesday night choir sessions demand complete concentration – holding my part of the harmony, remembering the words and moving around at the same time, which feels a bit like rubbing your head and patting your tummy.
We asked one of our interns on her last day what she had learned at USP and I was delighted when she replied: to be interested and interesting.
That is my definition of creativity and I really hope she carries that through her life and consequently lives to a very old age.
And if you need me, I’ll be in the loft looking for that canvas to paint.
