Tony Glenville, fashion journalist and Creative Director of the London College of Fashion, sat
front row at Fashion Scout’s Ones To Watch show this morning. Ready to be
surprised and impressed by the fresh talent on show, Glenville enjoys
discovering designers not necessarily splashed all over mainstream fashion
media.
What do you think of Fashion
Scout as a platform for young designers and emerging talent?
I think it’s a great idea that away from the establishment there’s a
real showcase for people who are starting their careers. People who perhaps have a
different approach to fashion to the mainstream. Fashion Scout is the perfect
showcase for them.
What other Fashion Scout shows
are you seeing this season?
Almost everything, I think. It’s only day one and I’m sorting my schedule out, but I know I’m watching quite a lot.
Is there somebody that you are
most looking forward to?
No, because I’ve learnt that every season there’s a surprise. I’ve learnt after many years of shows that someone you loved last season may be not as strong the following season, so I’m completely open and I love the surprise.
Have you seen any key trends
coming out of fashion month already?
I think I would quote Cathy Horyn from the New York Times and say that it’s all about the pieces; it’s all about reality and clothes. I think that there’s a definite change, and if you look at Galliano, Marc Jacobs, McQueen - all the lavish spectacle, we’re slightly over that at the moment. We want to see what the fashion business is really about.
So how do you feel about the
‘Normcore’ aesthetic of the past few seasons?
(Fakes yawn) I think it’s always been there, just at the moment it’s the newest thread to hang a story on and it’s a new name.
What do you take from fashion
week?
From the shows, I get inspiration. I get the opportunity to see people not necessarily getting so much PR because they’re not in every supplement, they’re not on all the websites. Vogue and Style.com don’t necessarily cover them, so it’s a great opportunity to be in the room and see the stuff.