ABSTRACT
SO, what of the future? How will fashion change and adapt to the emerging world? Can fashion survive the continuing rise of self-expression? Fashion has shifted enonnously in recent years. The rise of individual self-
couture houses are engaged full time in this with the necessity for every new design head to express their own ideas and skills while, at the same time, evoking the style and skills of previous designers. Would Tom Ford's designs have been so desired and praised without the heritage of Gucci? Would Galliano have been seen as so 'radical' without the archive of Dior? Would any of this be possible without the access to money and lack of taste of those very few women who can avail themselves of the imagination and skills of these designers? The couture houses have become ever more 'virtual', the thrust of their businesses being the sale of accessories and coloured and scented water at huge profit. The clothing at this level exists only to drive the perceived value of a brand by providing an endless series of images for consumption by an ever-eager press which, in truth, prefers the ridiculous to the exceptional.
