总序 Foreword

What exactly does the term ‘British style’ mean? As the Chairman of the British Fashion Council，you would imagine I know，but the truth is，it iscomplex and continually evolving.

It is the classic ideal of a British gentleman in an immaculate Savile Row suit. It is the affl uent female wrapped in cashmere and premium denim. It is thechallenging，edgiest aspects of culture: Vivienne Westwood’s punks，the re-emerging underground rave scene which has so clearly informed the currentseason’s explosion of neons and sports-inspired pieces. It is the ‘hipster’ crowd，the young students，bloggers，aspiring musicians. It is the quiet，grownupchic of Kate Middleton; it is the rocky，sexy edge of Kate Moss. It is the razor sharp tailoring of Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen (whoselegacy endures)； and it is the deconstructed，rough-and-ready brilliance of a sixth former with an eye for vintage shop fi nds and a fl air for customising. It isall these things at once—and many more.

Where does it come from，this peculiar mixture? I’ve puzzled over it often. We Brits are，somewhat famously，a mild-mannered and not especiallyfl amboyant bunch: so how can one explain this outburst of style； this overwhelming passion which unites an otherwise somewhat diverse nation，andfuels the British fashion industry，which is (I’m very proud to say) evidently one of the most powerful and infl uential in the world? It might，in part，be entirely related to that mild-mannered，somewhat ‘buttoned-up’，repressed nature，our style is a creative outlet，an opportunity for expression. Itmight also be that we are defi ned by our multi-culturalism. For hundreds of years，we have been absorbing and comparing infl uences from elsewhere onthe planet，re-imagining them so that they make sense within the context of the UK.

Most signifi cantly，it has resulted in a varied and incredibly exciting fashion market. We have incredible established designers，who make us lookgreat—both literally and symbolically—on the world stage，including Burberry，Stella McCartney，Alexander McQueen，Erdem，ChristopherKane，Jonathan Saunders and Mary Katrantzou，to name a few. We have an extremely varied and vibrant high street，which serves an equallyvaried and vibrant customer base–a vocal customer base that makes its evolving demands known and expects a response. And we have a new breedof designer，emerging constantly，whom I am delighted and privileged to work with through the medium of the British Fashion Council.

There is so much to be proud of in British fashion. London is a world centre of creativity and design talent，creating a multi billion pound industry，attracting the world’s attention. Qing Ou is a Chinese fashion author，with a special interest in researching the British Fashion industry. Present ata variety of fashion events，I can always see her，participating with great enthusiasm，interviewing different people，making a record of theseevents.

Harold Tillman CBE

Chairman，The British Fashion Council （2008~2012）

6th March 2012