AS IF to underline its resurgence as a world centre of creativity, London at the moment plays host to two major fashion exhibitions. Neither should be missed by anyone visiting the city over the next few months, since they give an exceptional insight into the strengths and weaknesses of British design over the past half century.
The enduring streak of eccentric individuality among the country's principal players in this field is deftly demonstrated at the Victoria & Albert Museum where The Cutting Edge explores 50 years of British fashion, beginning in the immediate aftermath of the second World War. The exhibition is divided into four principal sections: Romantic; Tailoring; Bohemian; and Country. Of this quartet, tailoring traditionally was the area most closely associated overseas with Britain, particularly for menswear. Accordingly, the show includes suits by Saville Row tailors Anderson & Sheppard as well as more radical designs by Tommy Nutter and Paul Smith. There are, also tailored pieces for women running, from a 1950s ensemble by Digby Morton to work by Alexander McQueen.
Country clothes are probably the other section of fashion where Britain has had a" global impact, thanks in large measure to the preeminence of rural sports and the manufacture of hardy fabrics such as tweed and moleskin as well as knitwear. The V&A exhibition understandably focuses on the leading commercial players in country clothing - Burberry, Barbour, and Pringle" among others - who have established markets worldwide for their products thanks to Britain's reputation.
More erratic and therefore more interesting are the other two main sections of the show where the idiosyncratic nature of British design comes to the fore. Romanticism, for example, encompasses an ivory silk gown made by Norman Hartnell in 1957 for Queen Elizabeth to a Mary Quant mini dress in black crepe dating from 1968. More recent British romantics such as John Galliano and Vivienne Westwood are also represented, the latter by her dramatic green, shot silk Watteau gown of last year. Bohemians, meanwhile, include Zandra Rhodes, Scott Crolla and Richard James. There are also separate sections devoted to underwear and accessories as well as a special tribute to the late Jean Muir.
The strongest impression conveyed by this exhibition is of the sheer diversity in British fashion, which is one of the reasons why it so rarely achieves widespread commercial success. Only those businesses which have established and maintained a clear identity (again, usually in the areas of either tailoring or country clothing) tend to enjoy international appeal. For the rest, they suffer from a perception of Britain as being a country producing an abundance of often poorly disciplined and unfocused talent. This show does little to alter that image.
The V&A exhibition also suggests that the standards of design and display in static shows have altered little over the 50 years being covered. While the clothes are terrific, the manner in which they have been presented is unimaginative and compares poorly with equivalent events in the costume galleries of New York's Metropolitan Museum.
That criticism could not be levelled at the other fashion exhibition in London right now. Forties Fashion and the New Look at the Imperial War Museum opens with items from the mid 1930s such as a black crepe de chine evening dress made for Greta Garbo by Adrian of Hollywood and a Charles James cream silk satin gown with blackchantilly lace bodice and velvet bows which was created for the late Anne, Countess of Rosse.
From this, the show moves on to cover the war years in Britain and fashion's response to restrictions of the period. War uniforms and workwear is placed alongside specifically patriotic pieces - a dressing gown made from fabric printed with appropriate "This Scepter'd Isle" quotations from, Shakespeare's Richard III and posters exhorting "Ask Your Hairdresser for a Liberty Cut". Utility clothes for men, women and children are displayed, with cosmetics, stockings and other accessories.
Next comes the immediate aftermath of the war when French designers, anxious not to lose their pre eminence in fashion, created the Theatre de Ia Mode, a puppet display in which all the figures wore scaleddown couture clothes. The theatre is included in the Imperial War Museum, with pieces by Nina Ricci, Pierre Balmain, Marcel Rochas and Jacques Fath. Although Britain had won the war, rationing remained in force for some time, as exemplified by a 1947 wedding dress with a skirt made from surplus mosquito netting while the embroidered muslin bodice and sleeves, were recycled from the wedding gown made for the bride's great grandmother in 1850.
Given such exigencies, no wonder that Christian Dior's New Look of 1947, with its extravagant use of fabric, caused quite such a stir. Several pieces from Dior's first collection, as well as subsequent seasons, have been lent to the show, including the famous ivory shantung Bar jacket and heavily pleated black wool skirt and an evening dress embroidered with sequins and rhinestones which the designer made for Princess Margaret's 21st birthday. As if in response to the exhibition running concurrently at the V&A, this dress shows that no matter, how good British fashion, France retains its lead.