Fashion trends for spring 2011
If anything characterises the past decade in fashion then it must surely be the
concepts of both volume and speed. While designer fashion was formerly a
strictly limited edition and elitist pursuit, today there is a truly spectacular
amount of product to choose from – and it's aimed at anyone and everyone the
world over, no longer just the privileged few. Add to the skincare, fragrance,
accessory, footwear and diffusion lines of yesteryear, second and third lines,
pre-collections and cruise collections, knitwear, denim, fine jewellery,
swimwear and more, all at various price points and arriving in store on a
monthly basis ensuring that merchandise is "fresh", and one could be forgiven
for thinking that our desire is insatiable. And by and large that has proved to
be the case. Amongst the most highly visible and overtly glamorous symbols of
capitalism, fashion responds to demand. It's as simple as that. And the growth
of the luxury goods industry to hitherto unforeseen heights is nothing if not
testimony to that.
"Fast fashion" – 10 years ago no one knew what such a thing was – must take at
least some of the credit (or should that be blame?) for this.
After all, in order to keep up with the budget copies of designer clothes, many
of which are available only weeks after the designer originals that inspired
them were first shown, the high end has retaliated in kind. In this case, the
internet, not to mention the weekly glossy magazines filled with paparazzi shots
of celebrities endorsing the new season's designs, have both played more than a
small part.
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