Vivienne Westwood meets James Lovelock on Video

Designer and activist Vivienne Westwood meets a hero and inspiration of hers, scientist James Lovelock.
Text by Rod Stanley Published 25 June 2009

Photograph by Lina Scheynius
"If young people don't listen to him, they're either stupid or they just don't care." So says Vivienne Westwood of James Lovelock, the maverick scientist and climate change guru that she interviews in this short film. A few months ago, I was invited to document this meeting, and you can read the full feature in this month's issue of Dazed, in which he reveals some very uncomfortable predictions about our future. Vivienne and I had first talked about this piece over a year ago, when she guest-edited an issue of Dazed, but James was too busy working on his next book at that time (The Vanishing Face of Gaia, published by Allen Lane). As such, it was exciting to be able to revisit the idea; as he approaches 90, James remains one of today's most influential thinkers and – despite the terrifying nature of his predictions (billions of us will die in the coming century due to climate change) – in person he is warm, engaging and a pleasure to talk to. Here is a short film (nine minutes or so) with snippets from that interview mixed in with some footage of Vivienne at the G20 protests, and some of her recent Active Resistance manifesto readings.James Lovelock, speaking to Vivienne Westwood for Dazed & Confused: "One of the most harmful analogies that has been around recently is the 'tipping point'. Because it seems to imply that if only we pull back at this point then all will be well. It won’t. It’s already changed and it is changing. You see, in the last few years, ice that is in the north polar regions… it’s all going and the whole lot will be gone in between five and twenty years. When it dies, the amount of extra heat absorbed from the sun during the Arctic summer will be equivalent to all of the heat from all of the CO2 we’ve added to the atmosphere. So, suddenly the heating doubles and that’s something we can’t stop at all. We can’t do a thing about it... and that’s only one of many what we call ‘positive feedbacks’ in the system where the earth is moving rapidly to its hot state. We’re not going to stop it. So, what we should be thinking about is not trying to stop it, but preparing for the new world that is to come. It’s not a bad world but it’s not fit for seven billion people. There’ll be lots of places, not only on this island but all of the Arctic places – places like Canada, Siberia and so on – and we’ve got to make wherever we are a civilized and a fit place. It’s an enormous challenge and I hope that we’ll succeed. History tells us we might, you see, humans have been on the earth for a million years now and there have been seven events like the one about to happen during that time... the last one happened only 14,000 years ago. And when they happen, there are massive deaths... that’s were the legends of the floods come from, because the sea-level rose 120 metres at the last one – that’s huge amount. It flooded an area equal to the size of Africa as a continent. So, there were massive deaths during that occasion and on one of those – geneticists tell us – only 2,000 people survived. We’ve all come from that 2,000. It’s amazing, really."

Lessons from the High Street | Merchandising and Multiples

Uniqlo visual merchandising

18 June, 2009 by Guest Contributor

LONDON, United Kingdom — “Men’s and women’s polo t-shirts in 25 colours from £12.99!” Ads announcing this Uniqlo promotion have been plastered alongside London buses this month, as well as being featured front-and-centre in Uniqlo shops everywhere. Same-store sales rose 18.3 percent in May 2009 over last year for the Japanese retailer, and the company’s stock hit five-year record highs.

Over at American Apparel, which uses a similar merchandising approach, total retail sales increased 16.5 percent to $78 million for the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008. It would seem that both American Apparel and Uniqlo have managed to accurately address the mood of the market, hitting a sweet spot in an otherwise suffering sector. Although many factors play into these high street success stories, it is worth having a closer look at the merchandising strategy shared by both, offering a functional item in a variety of colours and encouraging the purchase of multiple units.

Strategic merchandising starts right from collection design and then to ensuring responsive production with quick-access to distribution channels and presenting finished products in a visually enticing manner at the point-of-sale. It requires intimate knowledge of the consumer, her spending habits and her wardrobe needs. A good merchandising strategy increases sales, boosts margins and helps reduce excess inventory. In simple terms, if a consumer needs four tops, one bottom and two dresses to renew her wardrobe in a given season, the collection’s assortment should reflect these ratios.

The luxe ready-to-wear market continues to suffer in this crisis of consumer confidence and credit crunches. Already a segment with limited margins compared to handbags or accessories, further markdowns and poor performances are hurting luxury brands everywhere. And yet, merchandising responses to tough economic times have been as basic as presenting entirely black and white collections — as witnessed in the pre-Fall offering of a few brands.

Traditionally, high-end fashion collections are designed around an elaborate theme and planning is reserved for production and distribution only. Given the current economic climate and changing consumer behaviour however, now might not be a bad time to consider integrating a more responsive merchandising strategy into the design process. If luxury brands have been listening to their consumers of late, they would have heard terms such as “investment piece”, “value”, and “function” several times by now.

By no means should luxury brands abandon the emphasis on design or remove the conceptual elements of the process. Nor should they walk away from those special, limited-edition pieces that reflect the creative essence of a collection. But choosing a few key items and offering them in a small variety of colours to match the season’s theme could go a long way in maximising floor space and boosting sales. Visually merchandised correctly at the point-of-sale, it might even encourage the purchase of multiple items.

The idea of presenting key items alongside a full conceptual collection is not new. Ralph Lauren, the master of merchandising from the level of collection planning all the way through to visual presentation, has long benefited from this two-tiered strategy and would serve as an interesting example for other luxury brands in the high-end ready-to-wear segment today.

At its best, the art of merchandising involves striking that magical balance between giving consumers not just what they want, but also what they need. At this difficult juncture in the world of luxe fashion, brands who successfully imagine the luxury equivalent of American Apparel leggings or the Uniqlo polo in 25 colours might just be the ones that emerge on the other side of this economic crisis stronger and in touch with its changed consumer.

Meeta Roy is a luxury brand consultant based in London.

The Antwerp Academy | The Enduring Legacy of the Antwerp Six

Julia Kim's Aerial sketches

Tugce Ozocak's Misstanbul

Karisia Paponi's porcelain teacup-inspired designs

Irina Shaposnikova's Crystallographica

Six Lee shares his research

Stephanie D'heygeres Humanimalus Collection

23 June, 2009

ANTWERP, Belgium — It’s been over twenty years, but the Antwerp Six still holds huge historical importance in fashion, which says a lot in today’s fast fashion world. Last season, I popped into the Paris shop of Dries van Noten, and saw Cathy Horyn of The New York Times, Virginie Mouzat of Le Figaro, and Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune all getting a little bit of between-show shopping out of the way before hitting the Haider Ackermann show. For these important editors, Dries is still the go-to designer for elegant clothing and accessories in his colourful signature style.

Van Noten and fellow members of the so-called Antwerp Six (including Ann Demeulemeester and Dirk Bikkembergs) first took the international fashion scene by storm when they rented a truck and set up shop at London Fashion Week in 1987 (or 1986, or 1988, depending on whom you ask and which source you are reading). What is certain is that were recently minted graduates of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and shortly after hitting London developed international cult followings amongst the fashion faithful. Not only did their London appearance put Belgium on the fashion map, it also positioned the Antwerp Academy, as it is known colloquially, as one of the world’s top fashion schools.

I was delighted, therefore, to accept the invitation of Walter Van Beirendonck, another member of the Antwerp Six and head of the fashion department at the Antwerp Academy to sit on a truly distinguished jury to review the thesis collections of the Academy’s 2009 Masters students earlier this month. Over the course of a day and half, we experienced an overload of stimuli that heightened the senses (visual, aural and olfactory) and provoked the mind. Each designer created an installation to present their work, at times with startling and breathtaking effect, like Stephanie D’Heygere’s Humanimalus collection in the Garden of the Plantin & Moretus Museum.

From beautiful garden to classical sculptural studio to back-alley building and rooftop dome, we met 14 designers and listened to the stories, experiences and passions that informed their collections. The day ended with a huge runway show in an old hangar on the river, featuring the designs of the masters students, but also those of the immensely talented bachelors’ students who will follow in their footsteps. It was one of the highlights of my professional career and one of the most creative displays of fashion I have witnessed — chicken soup for my economically-battered fashion soul.

I was honoured to be among some true fashion greats like Suzy Menkes and Olivier Theyskens and a new generation of fashion thinkers and doers, including Leonardo Girombelli of thecorner.com and Junsuke Yamasaki of Dazed & Confused Japan. Each of the 12 jury members brought a unique industry and geographic perspective to the table. Combined with the expertise of the teachers who also sat on the jury, we had some very interesting deliberations. I learned something from each and every one of them.

I also learned an important fashion business lesson while I was there. While none of the Antwerp Six has created a global brand to rival Gucci or Yves Saint-Laurent, none of them have really aimed for that in the first place. They keep their businesses small and focused, with limited distribution, few licensing deals and little or no advertising to speak of.
This is in stark contrast to Martin Margiela’s business which, under the ownership of Renzo Rosso, has gone from virtual anonymity and unquestioned product integrity to the big brand fashion model, churning out handbags and eyewear in increasingly high-profile stores around the world. Rumours abound that Margiela himself is no longer actively involved in the design or presentation of the collections.

His absence has not gone unnoticed by fashion experts and loyal customers. Recently the JC Report lamented that “a shift has been apparent in the quality of the products since the partnership with Diesel began: the amazing wool and cotton zip-front sweaters are no longer the weight of a vintage military cloak, the cut of the t-shirts went from interesting to extremely basic and banal. What’s more, Margiela showed furniture and interior prototypes at the Salone Del Mobile that exuded a mass production treatment of the usual artisan pieces.”

Maybe there is a lesson here for all of us? It is the very fact that the Belgian fashion businesses have remained small, focused and high-quality that makes them special. They still need to be economically sound, mind you, but they doesn’t mean they have to be big. While there will always be room for the mega fashion brands, increasingly, I believe we will see the re-emergence of privately-owned niche fashion businesses that operate on a more human scale, which enable the founding designers to be involved in all aspects of the business, ensuring that their visions are realized from product to retail with integrity, creativity and yes, humanity.

Imran Amed is editor of The Business of Fashion.

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