'POWER OF FASHION'

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 106, 8 May 1933, Page 3

'POWER OF FASHION'

FACTOR IN INDUSTRY

WISE SPENDING URGED

•ART IN BUSINESS

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, March 14. Before the Royal Society of Arts, Mr. Edward H. Symonds (president of the British Fashions and Fabrics Bureau) delivered a very interesting address on "The Power of Fashion." He did not, however, confine himself to clothes —he dealt with fashion in many departments'of trade and industry, and stressed the important development of what he, called "eye-appeal." Fashion was a factor to be seriously reckoned with in almost ev,ory field of human endeavour. Industrial cooperation with art ho held to be vit»l to' the future success of British trade, for the touch of the artist stimulated interest and created buying. Mr. Symonds recalled some remarks made by the Prince of Wales when speaking to manufacturers and merchants at Manchester not two years ago. The Prince had formed the impression that among British manufacturers there were some who adhered too closely to pre-war types of manufacture, and were apt ' to; forget that a change of taste had come over the whole world since the war. In the past British articles have sold mainly on account of their quality and durability, whilst today the majority of people would appear to desire goods, not so long lasting. Ho said the appeal of the eye was becoming more important, and that there'was a universal call for goods of a bright, rather ,than a sombre, character. On a more recent occasion the Prince had expressed the opinion that if British trade were to hold its own in the markets of the world it must do more than maintain ,tho technical excellence in which it has so long enjoyed leadership; it must raise the standard of design in its products, for in design it was ' outstripped by other countries. The resources of art education must be brought increasingly into closer relationship with the creative side of British industry. It was not enough that we should be the financial and technical ' centre of the, Empire; we must also be the cultural centre. ■ The remarks of the Prince of .Wales were based upon world-wide personal observation which clearly indicated the powerful influence of fashion in the •lives of everyone, and the urgent necessity of adjusting ideas and the things here produced so that they should accord with the change in the taste of the consumer. ART AND COLOUR. Mr. Symonds referred to the remarkable growth of the motor industry of Great Britain, the undoubted popularity of our cars being due in a large measure to manufacturers having studied the post-war fashion for "eye-appeal" and adapted the same with great skill and artistry to the building and finishing qf attractive-looking car bodies. The motor shows of London in these days were a veritable feast of beautiful lines and colour, for the manufacturers, knew only too well that, whether they were selling luxury cars or inexpensive models, they stood a very poor chance of meeting "with success unless their models had an attractive appearance. Then he spoke of the improvements made- by tho gas industry, gas stoves today having been beautified out-of all recognition. By following the trend of fashion for beauty combined with utility, the gas industry was selling moro gas stoves than ever,- and the national consumption of gas has been substantially increased. The artist in the,world of pictures who was'not in the fortunate financial position to be able to paint for art'sisake alone, must also follow the trend of fashion. Many famous artists, whose works enriched our generation, had suffered no loss of prestige in collaborating with manufacturers and' traders.dealing in goods and services of every class and description. One could see reproductions of their beautiful works of art on the public hoardings, in newspapers, in magazines, and in the form of trader's showcards. Brightness and cheerfulness characterised the realms of the house builder, decorator, and furnisher, replacing the drabness and dreariness of pre-war days. The heavy'and cumbersome furniture of the last century was almost unsaleable today. From kitchen to attic, from furniture to pots and pans, fashion had changed the all-important buying incentive from stern utility to pleasing lines and beautiful colours. TO PLEASE THE EYE. In no branch of industry had postwar fashion worked such havoc as in that of textiles. Its effect had been most widespread and most insistent in the branch of textiles concerned with the manufacture of fabrics for women's wear. The changes of fashion in the materials used in this section during the post-war years had been so violent in regard to texture and finish as to cause almost a complete revolution in textile manufacturing throughout the world. In bygone days, materials were bought mainly for their durability. The first consideration of the marinfacturers and the distributors today was fashionable texture and colour. Tho remarkable development in the field of artificial silk and tho fabrics produced therefrom whether alone or in conjunction with rotton or wool, had provided the world, hungry for materials of beautiful appearance at moderate prices, with a range of choice that satisfied the most discriminating and artistic buyer. The whole range of textile fabrics for women's wear and substantially:' for the furnishing trades was now definitely controlled by fashion, and fashion" was controlled by artistic, appearance. Neither the style of a dress nor the style of a fabric could become fashionable today unless the appearance pleased the eye. "For the past ten, years pr more," continued Mr. Symonds,, "I have persistently expressed tho view that the paucity of fashionable designs, textures, and colours in British fabrics is due substantially to the manufacturers not being willing to pay the price for creative work that would ensure their productions being fashionright. The continnous and phenomenal post-war success of Continental fabrics has been'duo primarily to their 'attractive textures, artistic designs, and colours. TRAIT OF CONSERVATISM. "In technique our manufacturers have nothing to learn. British fabrics, whether cotton, wool, silk, artificial silk, linen or mixtures, are of perfect construction, and frankly admitted the world over to be the finest quality goods produced, but, unfortunately, we have manufacturers in our midst who still retain the British trait of conservatism and decline to admit that the artist of imagination and vision can enrich or can direct the enrich-, mont of their, productions to any profitable extent. Yet there is abundant evidence in every branch.of the textile industry that the most successful ;and profitable results are obtained by the skill of the technician being harmonised with the talent of the artist. The key-note for succesSj both in dress and furnishing fabrics, is, fpleasarit-to-the-eye,' and when our textile industry as a whole makes its productions as fashion-right as they are quality-right, we shall once again occupy Vdominat-

ing position in the international field of textile suppliers. "Those British textile manufacturers who appreciated that times had changed, that the masses of womenfolk throughout the world were being daily educated in fashion-conscious-ness by the Press, the cinemas, the retailers' shop windows, and in many other directions, and therefore applied themselves to the problem of provid-' ing the distributors with the fashionable .kind of fabrics that the worldwide change in popular taste necessitated, have niet with international success no less favourable than Continental manufacturers. "Today there is a larger community of happy British textile manufacturers, and their number is steadily increasing. To find in all branches of the textile and allied industries a growing appreciation of the commercial value of blending technical efficiency with beauty, is a most welcome and encouraging change. The national value of such a policy can hardly be overstated. . . . "I have never been able to appreciate the attitude of those manufacturers who. regarded .fashion as the arch enemy of their industry. It is true there is nothing so changeable as fashion, also that fashion controls the sale of fabrics for women 's wear, but, as the greatest inspirer of a new dress creation is a beautiful new fabric, it is surely self-evident that the textile manufacturer who produces fashioninspiring materials weaves his own fortune.'' BATTLE^ OF SKIRTS. Touching upon the controversy of short v. long skirts, Mr. Symonds said: "Evening gowns touch or almost touch the floor; gowns for formal afternoon wear are in some cases as long as evening gowns; in others, within a few inches of the ground; dresses and frocks for general morning and afternoon wear reach the centre of the calf, and in many cases are even longer. In other words, skirt lengths from morning till night are a complete transformation from the days of the short skirts, and as such furnish overwhelming evidence of the power of fashion by the defeat of both Press and private efforts to influence women against adopting the new vogue. i "I am foot suggesting that sho,rt skirts, when kept within the bounds of propriety/ are less" pleasing than long skirts, or that wo are never likely to see the pendulum swing back again. What I am suggesting is that fashion is a power far mightier than we are apt to realise. It is a power unto itself, brooking no interference. "Take another instance. F/or generations wool.under-garments and stockings were worn by women in .every station of life. To be clothed without wool underwear was unthinkable. Without wool next to their skins women, were in danger of pneumonia and many other death-dealing ailments. That was the general theory until comparatively recent times, and with many it still holds good. It. would not, however, be an exaggeration to say that the majority of women and girls in this country now wear silk or artificial silk stockings and 'undies'—as certain garments are euphoniously called. LABOUR-SAVING DEVICES. "The question which has a profound bearing upon international prosperity is, to what extent can fashion, using that term in its widest sense, affect the unemployment problem1? We must endeavour to visualise conditions ten years ahead. The introduction of labour-saving machinery and mechanical devices of all kinds is proceeding at such a rapid pace as to cause alarm all over the world. Leading economists say that, owing largely to machinery, production has already outstripped consumption. America has adopted that view very seriously, and is giving earnest consideration to a reduction of hours and a five-day working week for everyone. The international conference at Geneva in January discussed the possibility of an international agreement for a 40-hour week for all classes of workers, without reduction of wages. The displacement of manual labour by machinery is not a new problem. "The new and vital problem is that of finding work for the vast army of unemployed that faces almost every nation. World prosperity will not be recovered until the majority of the great army of international unemployed are back at work. Employment is controlled by consumption, and international consumption has .been steadily i declining during the past decade, with unemployment,' in consequence, steadily increasing. One of the factors contributing to this unfortunate state of affairs is, in my view; the success of the super-economy campaigns in this and other countries. INDISCRIMINATE SAVING. "Speaking of this country, the Government is responsible for the creation of an economy fashion that has become so excessively popular as to be almost dangerous. It has made supereconomy the most widespread fashion of the post-war era. We all,know how fashionable it has been-for many years past to plead poverty, and we all know how today the big banks, the savings banks, and the building societies are bulging and choking with money. Hoarding . and indiscriminate saving have unfortunately been a national fashion for- years, and as such have added to the difficulties of our unemployment problem. No nation ever became rich and prosperous by hoarding and indiscriminate saving. Only by wi.se and consistent spending, national, municipal, and individual, shall we recover our lost prosperity, and provide work for the workless. "At last there are signs wo have realised the folly of our ways. We are- beginning to appreciate that a good thing overdone can become an evil. I hope the national Press will soon change the economy fashion for a spending fashion, and I trust they will prove as successful as those vuscen hands that made women war long skirts that nobody wanted. Higher wages, a higher standard of living, and a reduction in the ranks of the unemployed would accompany such a change of fashion. Before we can reestablish pre-war prosperity, we must re-establish the' pre-war fashion of spending. Within recent times we have heard a good deal about 'technocracy,' a doctrine put forward by America as a. panacea for unemployment and general trade depression. I think a more practical idea and one more easy of understanding and application would be the adoption of an international policy of encouraging more frequent fashion changes in goods of every kind, with tlie definito view of rapid absorption of the enormous quantities of materials and goods which are being produced in this machine age. Such a policy creating increased spending,, increased consumption, and increased employment, would be invaluable to trade and industry all over the world, and t might well bo christened fashionocracy."