From WSJ, by Ray A. Smith and Maryanne Murray
The fashion world may often inhabit its own bubble, but fashion doesn’t exist in its own vacuum. Designers are influenced by other designers, past and present, whether they realize it or not—and whether they admit it or not.
There are varying degrees of osmosis, homage paying, and “borrowing” during fashion week as well as camps and schools of thought. Ideas run from designer to designer, especially from one generation to the next.
Some younger designers, like Prabal Gurung, have formal mentors. His is Carolina Herrera. Each attended the other’s show this week and it’s clear there is some link between Mr. Gurung’s polished elegance and that of his mentor as well as lions like Oscar de la Renta. Derek Lam worked at Michael Kors and surely some of Mr. Kors’ aesthetic seeped into Mr. Lam’s own.
