The Fashion Fringe judges discuss how their careers began and what makes British fashion great.
BY John O'Ceallaigh | 19 September 2011
Claudia Schiffer with FYODOR GOLAN, centre, and Roland Mouret, right. Photo: Fashion Fringe
From Lourdes in France, it was to London rather than Paris that fashion designer Roland Mouret came to forge his career. What was it about the city that drew him here? "I think London is real. Whatever you create on the catwalk, there's someone who wants to wear it. That's the best thing that can happen to a designer. England is the best platform in Europe." For Claudia Schiffer, who still looked pristine, effortlessly elegant and preternaturally beautiful at 41, London's appeal is simple: "It's cutting edge. There's an excitement about whatever comes out of London."
The designer and the model were two of the judges speaking directly before this weekend's Fashion Fringe , a competition launched by style writer and fashion historian Colin McDowell to nurture and promote undiscovered British fashion designers. It's had some success with that: design duo Basso & Brooke were its inaugural winners in 2004; Erdem won in 2005.
This year's finalists were FYODOR GOLAN, a married duo with Fyodor from Latvia and Golan from Israel; Californian Heidi Leung, and Nabil El-Nayal who moved to Sheffield from Syria aged 14. Joining Claudia and Roland on the judging panel were Anne Pitcher, the managing director of Selfridges; Bel Jacobs, the fashion and style editor at Metro and Professor Roy Peach of the London College of Fashion.
Having been whittled down from a throng of talented applicants, the finalists were subject to effusive praise from the judges. For Claudia it was their self belief that shone through: "what's surprised me is the wonderful confidence they all have. You have to have that to survive". In Roland's eyes, one of the main attributes a successful designer needs is endurance. Making triumph at the fringe sound almost like the receipt of a poisoned chalice he counsels ominously: "[winning is difficult] because they have to work hard for the rest of their life. It's an amazing beginning but it's the beginning of hell. But if that's the hell they choose, then good for them?" Perhaps best known for his Galaxy dress - worn by everyone from Scarlett Johansson to Cameron Diaz to Victoria Beckham - the designer claims his own success came through personal tenacity and ability. "I never had a lucky break; I made it myself. I believed I could make it and that was one way [of finding success] but I'm really happy another way exists [through Fashion Fringe]."
Dresses from FYODOR GOLAN's 'Flowers of Evil' collection. Photo: Ian Gavan @ Getty Images for Fashion Fringe
For those outside the industry, ongoing economic uncertainty is considered an obstacle to forging a successful career in fashion but the panel dismisses this. For Anne Pitcher "the economy makes things difficult at times but great talent always shines through." Roland is more blunt: "They're lucky to do what they want to do [and] it's no more difficult than 10 years ago. If you have the talent you'll make it." Claudia countered that luck played a big part in her success and that's why she was eager to support Fashion Fringe: "We've been very lucky with our careers and we just want to give back and to help young talent that might need a little push".
The judges has more to say, but with that we were ushered from the pre-show Samsung-sponsored VIP lounge to the show itself. The event was running late and the crowd was becoming impatient. First up, FYODOR GOLAN presented their SS12 collection 'Flowers of Evil'. Inspired by Charles Baudelaire's poems and artworks by Vincent van Gogh and Frida Kahlo, the collection was vividly coloured in glossy greens or bright yellows with flower bud embellishments lacing the dresses, or starkly finished in gothic blacks or pure white. Heidi Leung's was inspired by Orientalism and celebrity vacation photos from the 1960s, (the latter influence explaining, to a degree, the models' Styrofoam sandals which were decorated with neon-coloured plastic flowers). Nabil Nayal's collection 'All The Riches She Deserves' expressed the rather dramatic tale of a protagonist being carried to safety at dawn, as her opulent mansion burns to the ground. The designs themselves seemed to be favourites with the crowd, strong, sexy and powerful pieces in creams, greys and whites.
In the end, however, the winners were FYODOR GOLAN who wowed the judges with, as Bel Jacobs put it: "the sheer breadth of their imagination, their technical skills and the wondrous clothes that were a product of these two factors." They win cash instalments to fund their first two collections, continued support from the mentors, a slot on schedule at London Fashion Week to showcase their debut A/W and S/S collections, as well as an equipped studio space in Somerset House for two years. For them, 'hell' has now started and it's time for the real work to begin.
Harpo Marx Zeppo Marx Walter Matthau Ethel Merman Paul McCartney
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