LONDON FASHION WEEK OPENS WITH CELEBS, CATWALKS AND CONTROVERSY OVER SKINNY MODELS
By Katie Fretland, Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
September 18, 2006 Monday 5:19 PM GMT
Ultrathin models walked the runways at London’s Fashion Week on Monday,
opening the weeklong event with a clear rejection of arguments that
waiflike young women should not be permitted to showcase designs.
Despite a ban on superskinny models imposed by Spanish organizers at
their fashion week in Madrid, slinky women in London were ready to
flaunt the spring and summer collections of designers such as Julien
Macdonald, John Rocha and Zandra Rhodes.
The British capital was hoping to recapture a bit of bling and ditch
its reputation as the poor cousin of more glamorous events in New York,
Paris and Milan, Italy.
"We are not a traditional capital for fashion, but we are a very
creative crucible," said Stuart Rose, chairman of the British Fashion
Council, which organizes London’s twice-yearly Fashion Week.
Paris-based Garen Demerdjian, a Lebanese-Armenian designer, presented
a layered look with shorts and skirts over long leggings, high cinched
belts and leather jackets.
His models, stone-faced with tangled hair, walked slowly down the
catwalk sporting hues of brown, green, apricot, black and silky white
amid flashing lights and trancelike music.
Later, John Rocha presented a collection of cropped cargo pants,
silk shirts and parkas in shades of black, ivory, stone and khaki.
On Tuesday, designer Bella Freud was set to relaunch iconic 1960s
label Biba, pioneer of caftans and flamboyant scarves.
A-list stars including Beyonce and Alicia Keys were expected to attend
the Emporio Armani catwalk show Thursday. U2’s Bono was expected to
be on hand to help launch Armani’s Red collection, which will give
a portion of its profits to help fight AIDS in Africa.
Kate Moss added star power by sitting in the front row at a pre-event
show for British retailer Topshop on Sunday, alongside its billionaire
owner Philip Green.
A debate over whether models were too thin has raised London Fashion
Week in the headlines, with a government minister’s calls to follow
Madrid’s lead and ban extremely thin models from the catwalk.
"The fashion industry’s promotion of beauty as meaning stick-thin
is damaging to young girls’ self-image and to their health," Culture
Secretary Tessa Jowell said Saturday.
Rose dismissed calls for a ban as "a knee-jerk reaction," but said
the debate was a legitimate one and that he would discuss the issue
with colleagues. Fashion Week canceled its opening photo shoot to
avoid giving the issue more publicity.
"I think that it’s a debate that will happen all in good time, and
all opinions are welcome," said supermodel Erin O’Connor.
The event, which runs through Friday, has long been known as a venue
for seeing cutting-edge work from creative, young British designers,
while the big fashion houses tend to showcase their wares in New York,
Paris or Milan.
This year, though, there is an air of excitement around the
spring/summer collections from designers including Jasper Conran,
Paul Smith and Betty Jackson, and new talents such as 23-year-old
Christopher Kane.
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