He’s one of the most outspoken fashion critics of our time and perhaps the most revered British writer in the industry. Alongside the likes of Suzi Menkes, Cathy Horyn and Vanessa Friedman, Colin McDowell remains one of the few voices of reason in an industry that frequently needs taking down a peg or two. True to form then, when McDowell has a bee in his bonnet he’s not one to sit back and keep his own council – rather the opposite, he sharpens that pencil (we imagine) and gets stuck into the state of the fashion front row and a few select (and mostly young) designers who enjoy throwing their weight around. All of which has not gone unnoticed by the critic, who confronts the situation head-on in his most recent article for the website buisnessoffashion.com
Leaping to the defense of his colleagues, such as Horyn, who famously felt the wrath of Hedi Slimane after she gave his first Saint Laurent collection a less than favourable review, resulting in her being branded ‘a bully’ by the designer and compared to a ‘stale 3-day old hamburger’ by Oscar de la Renta. And yet regardless of how Horyn or indeed any of her cohorts choose to praise or denounce a brand, collection or designer, the retaliation tactics amount to needless childish behaviour that make a mockery of the fashion media whilst discouraging necessary open debate. It’s a recipe for disaster and McDowell knows it.
With so few real-deal, authentic critics left (lesser established newbies are just too afraid to compromise their relationships), the industry is in danger of becoming, as McDowell so eloquently puts it, ‘a self-congratulatory, smoke and mirrors, candy floss edifice of fashion which could collapse into unedifying goo’. We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
In order to stave off any press related negativity, McDowell goes on to list the ways in which a designer can get their own back on such critics who dare to offer up any form of viewpoint that does not adhere to the ‘everything I do is amazing’ mantra. From denying these ‘truth-telling miscreants’ a ticket to any further shows through to relegating them to the back, there are seemingly no lengths these brands won’t go to in order to induce public and professional humiliation. The most dramatic example of these revengeful acts would be almost farcical if they weren’t entirely true; after assigning said journalist to front row seat, they are winched from it seconds before the show begins to be replaced (very deliberately) by some z-list celebrity, thus getting unwittingly thrust into the limelight for all the wrong reasons. Quite simply, it’s Mean Girls gone mad.
These power plays might be hilarious if they weren’t making a serious impact on fashion journalism itself with McDowell quick to point out the pitfalls, explaining, ‘Whereas most art forms are kept on their toes by informed commentary, the fashion world has virtually none. No wonder it is currently so unhealthy that the only news that it can proudly muster concerns store openings, profit reports and the continual musical chairs of designer appointments and departures. Never a word about creativity’. Hear, hear.
Caught up in their own sense of greatness, many of these designers and houses refuse to allow any negative comment, leaving the future of truly insightful fashion journalism in doubt. When the new generation are so desperate to please, objectivity goes completely out the window and with it fashion’s original intent – as a vehicle for genuine expression. Yes, it’s difficult when fashion is seen as both a business and an art form but it really does feel as if we have lost our way, caught up in an onslaught of trends without seeing fashion for what it really is – a valuable and vital contribution to the creative industry. Of course, it can’t be all ‘profits be damned’ but surely there is room for healthy discussion as well as a healthy business model?
Perhaps McDowell’s main gripe is the way in which such designers rise to bait of criticism, making public declarations online that include vile insults and unnecessary heckling. Yes, they might very well see it as a case of ‘don’t dish it if you can’t take it’ but as the wonderful Mr. McDowell so rightly points out, ‘A true creator always accepts criticism without rancor and, of course, never replies’. Sir, you are a gentleman and a true fashion industry gem, long may your commentary continue.
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