Why is it movie stars and celebrities are role models for “fashion”. To me they are the worst examples! Why because they are false. Most come with a stylist, makeup artist, hairstylist and they wear expensive designer clothes. Anybody could look good given all that help. But is it really fashion? Sarah Jessica Parker, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Victoria Beckham come to mind as just a few.

I’ve been a clothes designer for 28 years. Fashion has been my life, from the age of eight I was sewing clothes for my Barbi doll and my friend’s Barbi’s. I started making my own clothes when I was ten and by the time I was twelve my Dad bought me my first sewing machine, which he said was the best investment he ever made.

I’ve spent most of my design career in London, I worked in the High End designer, showing in Paris and London catwalks, and I’ve designed and excelled in the fast high street fashion stores. I traveled the world with my work, from inspirational trips, trade shows and manufacturing. I breathed it and lived it all my life.

So what is Fashion? From the 20’s through to the 60’s its easy to account for. There were certain styles and looks which were definite statements, the flapper dress, Chanel’s trousers and suits, Dior’s New Look, and Mary Quant’s mini-skirt, then the hot pant and the maxi, to name but a few.

But Fashion has changed, the world has become much smaller, there are no surprises any more. No new looks, nothing big and revolutionary to change the way every body looks. The world is open for trade, we all use the same factories, fabric suppliers. High street fashion has access to top designer clothes as they come off the catwalk and can have a copy in the stores before the designers have a chance to sell the original.

So were does that leave fashion? Well it comes down to individual style and thats what makes fashion these days. In Italy its easy to see, they are natural at putting clothes together and accessories and looking fantastic, with little effort. They don’t have to be movie stars to do this. I could sit for hours in a coffee bar in Florence and watch a fashion parade in front of my eyes.

London also has its own hip fashion look. Kate Moss is a great example, she may be a top model, but she has her own style and Fashion look, most of it is not made up of expensive designer clothes. She is very individual and has a huge following, thats why Top Shop stores uses her name to promote a line designed by her and sell thousands of clothes.

So I guess all I want to say is that today when anything goes as far as fashion is concerned, its all down to the individual to make their own personal statement.