Sneer if you want but it’s missing the real point

Show-pieces are often just that and don’t ever make it in to production

It may be easy to scoff and sneer at some of the more outré catwalk designs presented at the menswear shows in London earlier this week. But to do so is certainly missing the point.

Designers are hardly dictators enforcing their concepts as a uniform on a downtrodden nation; instead they present the absolute opposite: choice and creativity. It is that creativity that becomes part of a designer’s currency – proving how they can bring it to fruition is only the first step in an arduous journey.

It is right then that designers travel to the bounds of their imagination to create pieces that stand out and grab the attention of an industry that believes it has seen it all before. Going to the effort and expense of staging a catwalk show (venue hire, models, production, security all add up to thousands of pounds) only to present a collection of T-shirts would surely be an exercise in masochism. Show-pieces are often just that and don’t make it in to production, at the very least undergoing a large amount of tweaking to become commercial enough to sell.

A sense of humour and a thick skin are essential to work in fashion so I’m sure the young designers who sacrificed blood, sweat and tears – and any chance of being financially solvent for a few years – will be pleased to have raised a few laughs.