Guccci, Dolce & Gabbana, Emilio Pucci, Emporio Armani, Prada and Versace; all names you'd associate with the fashion industry in Paris, Milan, New York and London. They determine the styles of the coming seasons; what's hot and what's not!
They decide which colour is the new black, and pinpoint a style or period in time for the new season's fashion to be focused upon!
Whether it's the hippie, gypsy look or the clean cut 50s style of bold bright colours, minimalist geometric shapes and crazy patterns, it can radically change at any time! But how much do we really take notice of the fashion from Paris and Milan?
To be honest you can often look at some of the ridiculous catwalk fashions, laugh, and think "I would never be seen dead in that". So how much gets translated into street fashion and put into high street shops such as Topshop, River Island and H&M? This Autumn/Winter , the 'Russian Princess' look is set to be big, with colours of purity such as white and beige with fur trims. Other winter 2003 trends are set to be crisp white shirts, Paisley prints and cropped cuffed trousers. Sheepskin and super-chunky knits are forecast for those cold wintry nights. Despite the kimono being hot this season, there has also recently been an oriental explosion in footwear; if it's oriental, flat and pointy it's in! Topshop have a huge range of Oriental-inspired pointy shoes with elasticated sides. So it seems this season is all about wrapping up in pale colours, fur and knitwear, and for a little bit of spice dressing up in your kimono and pointy shoes to be this season's hottest Geisha girl! With this season's fashion in mind I decided to go out onto the streets of Middlesbrough to see if any of the Paris/Milan catwalk fashion has filtered through or whether the streets of Middlesbrough are just one huge fashion faux-pas!
Pop open the gallery window and see what street style we found in Middlesbrough From all the people I spoke to, the general consensus was that the fashion on the catwalk, whether it be in Milan, Paris, or New York, is distinctly different than the clothes that appear in all the high street stores. They agreed that some of the basic ideas, colours, and themes are translated into the clothes that appear in high street stores like Topshop and River Island, but in a practical, wearable way!
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