FASHION WAR

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 3 April 1926, Page 8

FASHION WAR

LONDON'S BID FOR LEAD TEN NEW .COLOURS LONDON, Jin 14 Cat; .London capture, the ,v*it of f Wfiiot: fomi Pars? For gmi-r.iLou- Ism c..p/--»' i-i the Empire Las led the. vogue men's clothes, hats. Loots and neckwear, but I’uris. with its cultivated taste and i-l igina lit v in design, lias resigned unchallenged as queen "t women’s wear for ii'ing period Baris if not the only place with taste and originality. Every capital possesses tIiCM quality more or less when there is any pretension to cult tire or refinement. An endless stream of designs flows from the Parisian brain, but it is not necessarily the Parisienne who decides which of its ci rations will become popular. In that decision London women play a lug part by the selections in designs lie;, make. The society leaders choose, and the majority follow. Tlieie is. therefore, some prospect of success for anv well organised attempt by London to wrest the citadel of fashion from Paris. That the attempt is being made and continued I have, every reason to believe. THREE SEPARATE STEPS

i lie first attempt was in the spring nf 1924. when Bradford caught the Wem bley spirit, and paraded its own mannequins at Clandgc s in all-British designed and made clothes. Recently there has been a further slip—the creation of a model house or house of modes in Regent Street, to de sign and make.' its own. toiiets. and la - (•nine, its own arbiter of fashion. This attempt. I understand! is to be backed up by the Federation of British Industries on behalf of the textile industries, and there is a suggestion that- sornebodv high up in the social sea it* will open ft in April. Yet a third step fo secure British control is in preparing special lines of clothes in advance. In other words, all sections oi the trade—spinners, dyers, manufacturers. makers up, merchants, wholesalers and retailers—are concentrating on, the production of ten nowcolours. for the coming season’s wear. Ihe forecast, reveals a reaction from the former bright colours towards delicate pastel shades and half tones.

'Hie probable vogue for grey during the later period of mourning for the Queen Mother will he met by “cloud, for which Baris is said to he clamouring. Fashionable greens are to be (Tinrtreuse, yellowish in tune, and the darker t p-ihn ; gre*'n. SAM AH A AIN I> OAK A! >P r E • p Miiiar m.iuvi .- v. di f.eh mto a mo deli,-ate .-had.- railed Foxglove, and a 11,-w low■ ?!' •: ! : " I lid IS :■' lie Rose Al.ii le. something between brick and varmint 1 . Browns are not likely te- be seen at lid in the higher grades ot tahnvs. and their place will lie lal.eii by pretty fawns, known as Sahara, and a darker, i A her shade. Oaknpplc. Biskra and Dawn are new pinkish shades. Ihe only nine is called Airforce, because oi Ulikeness to the colour of the Rival .Air Fiuor uniform. In ni'd.T In fa-ilitale telegraphic eiders from liie overseas Dominions, each i • !,uii is 1 1 , lie nunihcred. Another phase of fashion control is !,, 1,, ihe wo dil',; firs', e -diihit ion of ai ■ I'd:,.ial silk goods in London from April 19 I" 24. The exhibition will lie entirely British. and will in- a complete deinonsl.ra lion O. what (heat Britain can do in . vci v hram-li of the new industry. The purpose is to provide trade and public with an opportunity to inspect I he ma ii V varieties and uses cl artificial silk, and the exhibits will consist oi the products, -made wholly or in part "f that material, of manufacturers, dyers-, and finishers -t labncs and yarns. The exhibition will lie spectacular. Mannequins will parade along a specially designed platform stretching across ill,’- middle of ito hall. They will he puked out liv spotlights as they appeal on a handsome staircase leading down from a pavilion. The Ill's! exhibition of artificial silk goods, as it will he called, will coincide with the second week of the Drapery Exhibition at the Royal Agricultural Hall. Islington, when many members of tin textile trades will be in London.