It was the most spectacular and scandalous Paris fashion week in years, and many of the big names – not least John Galliano – were left counting the cost.
However, for many designers less well-known outside the rarefied world of fashion, sensational headlines brought a potentially profitable silver lining. One such was Haider Ackermann, an independent designer who has been described by some fashionistas as "the new Yves Saint Laurent" and is being tipped for the top job at Dior.
"It was a very bizarre fashion week, but a very good one for us," said Katou Brandsma, who represents Ackermann. "Everyone was congratulating us. We had buyers from shops, like Barneys in New York, we've been waiting for 10 years to turn up to our shows. Our designs stood out because everyone else – apart from McQueen – was so boring."
Among the other designers to reap the rewards of the unusually scrutinised fashion week was the Italian-Japanese designer Nicola Formichetti, who counts Lady Gaga among her fans and was widely congratulated for her debut collection for Thierry Mugler.
Following unconfirmed reports that she had been chosen to design Kate Middleton's wedding dress, British creator Sarah Burton's collection for the label of the late Alexander McQueen also drew plaudits.
Some observers had feared that the aftermath of Galliano's dramatic firing from Dior – for allegedly making antisemitic comments in a drunken rantin a Paris bar – would result in a fashion week dominated by scandal rather than sartorial fireworks. Their worries were not soothed by the hullabaloo greeting Kate Moss's appearance on the catwalk smoking a cigarette. One writer at the event, who declined to be named, said his editor demanded: "Give us a good story about fashion week, but don't bother about the clothes."
For the unluckiest on the French capital's fashion circuit, the controversy did indeed spell disaster: Brussels-born designer Anthony Vaccarello's show was scheduled for the first day of the week – the same day, it transpired, that Galliano was fired. Vaccarello, remarked the New York Times, had a "fine presentation whose fate it was to be forgotten instantly".
Others, however, remain convinced that a good dose of publicity never did any harm. Dana Thomas, a Paris-based fashion writer and author of Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Lustre, said the fall-out from l'affaire Galliano and the subsequent rumours of musical chairs at the big-name fashion houses had produced a "win-win situation"...
Full story on Guardian.co.uk http://tinyurl.com/5v86db2
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