Frances Corner – Sublime

In a Barbie World

Frances Corner — Sat, 05 May 2012 16:00:59 +0000

I am increasingly interested in how certain actions first become acceptable to society and then, ultimately, something that you feel obliged to do. Following on from that, why do society and culture come to see certain behaviours or beliefs as acceptable when they are clearly damaging to the individual?

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Great Expectations

Frances Corner — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:19:33 +0000

In the opening chapter of his biography, Dickens, Peter Ackroyd points out the parallels between our time and that of the Victorians. Dickens’s death came as evidence of a giant transition; in these last decades of the 19th century, the English people were witnesses to the fatal disruptions of an old order and the uneasy...

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Model Of A Woman

Frances Corner — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:50:56 +0000

Flicking through a magazine, fashion seems so ephemeral, lightweight, shallow, that the notion of authenticity appears to be its very antithesis. But get beyond the apparent glitz and celebrity coverage to the people who create and work in such a dynamic industry and you will find that to make an impact, authenticity is essential.

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The Fur’s Flying

Frances Corner — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:54:39 +0000

Why are fur sales rising? The case against fur was made so strongly in the 1980s that many people in the fashion industry wondered if it could ever make a comeback, particularly as technology was producing faux fur that no longer looked cheap and nasty but could easily be mistaken for the ‘real thing’. Yet this realism itself could be part of the reason for fur’s quiet reacceptance.

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Making It Big

Frances Corner — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:36:42 +0000

We see a lot of talent at the London College of Fashion. That’s what we are about – nurturing future world leaders of fashion. I am privileged to see talented young designers at the birth of their career. But watching students progress through the college, and looking at their experiences afterwards, I know that success demands a great deal more than just talent.

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Tailored Choices

Frances Corner — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Or those of us who see clothes as adornment, rather than an external display of internal thinking, fashion is often dismissed as trivial. However we dress, we make statements about ourselves, whether we want to or not.

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The Skin You’re In

Frances Corner — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:00:00 +0000

A recent trip to New York was revealing, not because of the shopping or the food, although these were as varied and wonderful as ever. This time, I was struck by the number of tattoos proudly worn by people from across the social strata. These tattoos were extensive, and showed a permanent commitment to ritual and adornment that clothes cannot and do not involve.

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Going Full Circle

Frances Corner — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:00:00 +0000

Roland Barthes says, that ‘The wearing of an item of clothing is fundamentally an act of meaning that goes beyond modesty, ornamentation and protection. It is an act of signification and therefore a profoundly social act right at the heart of the dialectic of society.’

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Fashionable Soul

Frances Corner — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:00:00 +0000

As Head of the London College of Fashion, a college that has recently celebrated its centenary, I have spent some time contemplating the idea that our current delight in all things fashionable is built on the skills, creativity, craftsmanship and desires of previous generations. Yet what sort of legacy are we creating? What sort of...

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