COOL BRITANNIA
...looking towards hot new radicals
This new cohort is part of the Internet age and with the stratospheric rise of networking sites such as Myspace, all the latest and greatest filters through the UK and all over the globe and its official; Cool Britannia is back with a boom.
Designers are looking to these hot new radicals as their muse rather than dictating the trends themselves and with the orb of knowledge spreading through the media; a storm is brewing and fashionistas are hot on their heels. Nothing inspires fashion more than music and with music getting a big old shake up too, it’s been an explosion of neon glitter dust raining down on the runway parades meshing a bass line boutique of fashion chic. Right now, it’s all about street culture, club culture and contemporary art. Combustions of creatives streaming from the underground to the mainstream.
Fashion has been given license to be as flamboyant, carefree and crazy as you like. Clashing is the new matching and neon is the new black. With the East End dubbed the epicentre of London, the fashion and club culture has captured people’s imaginations. When the indie and dance scenes meshed, so did the fashion that has become an integral part to the party. Indie dance bands and record labels such as Modular, Kitsuné Maison, Hot Chip, New Young Pony Club, Digitalism, Simian Mobile Disco are a few of the zeitgeists of de jour.
No conventions, no rules, this is our new mantra. Narcissism, hedonism or tongue and cheek? It doesn’t matter because being unique and different has altered people’s perceptions of what they can wear, so anything goes. Delving into your parent’s retro wardrobe, hitting markets such as Spitalfields and Camden proved to be platforms for up and coming designers to showcase their creations or charity shops for vintage cool. Put together the craziest outfits you can stumble upon, accessorise with lashings of makeup (including the boys), get into character and you will be hot to trot.
Cultural clubbing mutiny such as Boombox in Hoxton is an interactive advertisement for the current style movement. Polysexual parties coalescing drag queens, sky high platforms, masks, spectacular wigs, theatrical makeup and licks of peroxide. Expect the unexpected. By hooking up with designers such as McQueen during Fashion Week and lending their name in association with cosmetic brand MAC, they know where the fashion party is at. New Romantics meets Nu Rave meets House of Holland. Their code of conduct is no effort, no entry.
A kaleidoscope of colour and buoyancy is fuelling the streets, who knows what fashion trends will seize us next but as Shakespeare famously quoted ‘All the world is a stage’ so lets live up to his allusion, be dramatic, be daring, be bold, be fierce, be addicted to fashion.
