LONDON, United Kingdom — After months of speculation and almost a year of going without a head designer, Halston announced in May that it had appointed Marios Schwab, the half-Austrian half-Greek Lond0n-based designer, as its new Creative Director.

Many in the industry breathed a sigh of relief. Amongst the various names that had been bandied around in the rumour mill, including Olivier Theyskens (apparently the strong choice of Anna Wintour), Schwab’s name was the one that seemed to create the most excitement amongst fashion insiders for his potential to develop commercially viable collections in the spirit of the brand’s DNA.

Making the final cut was no easy task. Amongst others, Schwab had to pass the muster of board members including Bonnie Takhar, Halston’s CEO, Harvey Weinstein, the notoriously demanding Hollywood heavyweight and investor in the Halston brand, and Tamara Mellon, Founder and President of Jimmy Choo. With a vested stake in the Halston brand, each of these big guns also knew that their decision would directly impact the bottom line at a critical time for the newly-relaunched label.

I caught up recently with Marios on a sunny day at London’s Shoreditch House to learn more about his decision to join Halston, his plans for balancing two labels, and his advice for young designers just starting out in the business of fashion.

BoF: With your own label to manage and so many other opportunities available to you, why did you accept the Halston role, and why now?

MS: Working with a brand in America was always one of my dreams. I was ready for a new challenge and felt an instant chemistry with Halston; it came naturally to me. It’s very challenging to take on a role like this, maybe more challenging than ever before, especially in times like these. All of this was very attractive to me.

When Halston started his label, he created something completely different from anything else available at the time — it was almost anti-fashion. People didn’t want to go for fittings in Paris. They wanted to have something comfortable. Halston came at the right time and he created something beautiful and timeless, that every woman could make her own, to bring out her own personality.

The Halston woman is not a seasonal, trendy girl. She has a contemporary outlook on fashion and wants something more relaxed than what I do in my own collection. Halston is about a lifestyle that people want. It’s innovative and has the fun fantasy side of fashion that I think people are really looking for now.

The collaboration and combination of these two roles is both good for me and for Halston. They get the energy of a young designer and I will benefit from the experience of working in a larger, more structured company. It’s a win-win situation.

MS: Coming from Greece, obviously there was the element of being surrounded by a culture that to me, in some aspects, is still humble. There is some sort of ancient element in the characters that you meet on an island. As a kid, I [could never go] to a beautiful gallery to see new things. I probably had two to three magazines that I would buy monthly. [I] didn’t have the internet, obviously.

Once I came to Berlin, and then to London, it was a completely mindblowing situation…especially London because you see the mixture and the diversity. This is mainly why I was so appreciative of all this information. I like diversity and I think once you have seen lots of things, touched lots of things like textures, your vision grows and you are highly more versatile. And, that’s what fashion needs at the moment as well. You need to adapt to certain situations.

BoF: Can you tell me a bit about what the business of fashion is for you?

MS: Personally, I like the risk of creating something and making it successful. For example, creating something that people are unaware of and may not be familiar with…something they need to observe and then accept. This is something that fascinates me. This is what a creator should be…challenging himself to create something that people want to observe and learn more about. It’s not just fashion, it’s also an object that they want to invest in and own, have, look at.

So, I think it’s very important that through learning about the business aspects of the fashion industry that you remain true to your creativity. This is what fashion is about. It should move forward. It’s an evolution. As our personalities evolve through popular culture and music, we need to do the same in the way we clothe and portray ourselves.

BoF: Finally, what advice would you offer to young designers who are just setting up their own businesses?

MS: The younger generation seems to have different expectations about fashion. When students come to work for us, they often come with this notion that fashion is about glamour. They don’t research enough. They don’t touch things enough. How can you design a building without knowing how to construct it? The same is also true for fashion. For young designers, I would say make sure you understand the technical aspects of a design.

I would also say that you must be very organised, and you need to carefully balance the business side and the creative side. Find the parts of the business you like and focus on them and for the other things, make sure you find people to work with you. You just can’t do everything yourself.

RSS and Email subscribers: To see a video excerpt of the interview with Marios Schwab, click here.

Saks S/S 09 ad campaign, courtesy of Saks

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ZURICH, Switzerland – The Swiss Textiles Award is not the richest fashion design prize available — the 300,000 euro prize from Mango takes that category. But, over the past 5 years it has emerged as perhaps the most influential award of its kind, and the only one to operate with a global remit.

In 2003, a little-known Belgian designer named Raf Simons won the prize and went on to wow fashion critics, who were now playing close attention to his work. Cathy Horyn had this to say of his Simons’ men’s 2005 Spring/Summer collection, shown in Paris in July 2004:

What Mr. Simons did in an instant was to render the day, and most of the previous one of the spring men’s collections, obsolete. In 18 years of reporting on fashion, the last 5 at this post, I have stood up from only a handful of shows with a conviction that everything had been transformed.

The next year, Simons was tapped by Prada Group to become the Creative Director of Jil Sander. The brand has had its ups and downs since then and was subsequently sold to private investors. But, while it has yet to find its commercial rhythm, there is no doubt that Simons work for Jil Sander has propelled him into an elite group of global designers who are genuinely pushing design forward.

Can the Swiss Textiles Award take the credit for Simons’ giant leap? Of course not. But it has demonstrated an uncanny knack for recognising the world’s best fashion talent first, and giving them a platform of wider recognition and financial support to extend their reach. The award winner from 2006, Bruno Pieters, was announced as Creative Director of Hugo by Hugo Boss in 2007.

I spoke to Robb Young, a Business Strategies Consultant for the Swiss Textiles Award (and respected fashion journalist who writes for The International Herald Tribune and The Financial Times), to learn more about the Swiss Textiles Award and its strategy.

BoF: How did you get involved with the Swiss Textiles Award?

The Swiss Textiles Federation asked me to reposition and rebrand the award in the Spring of 2003. The first thing  I did was to introduce a strict nomination system and separate jury to get the widest possible appraisal from truly influential members of the fashion industry.

I’ve been lucky enough to have secured some spectacular partners as either nominators or jury members such as Suzy Menkes, Sally Singer, Carine Roitfeld and Franca Sozzani. Top buyers have also been very supportive like Julie Gilhart from Barney’s, Sarah Lerfel from Colette, and Armand Hadida from L’Eclaireur.

Fashion curators like Pamela Golbin from the Musee de la Mode et du Textile at the Louvre and Valerie Steele at FIT have also chipped in, as well as consultants like Robert Burke, Armando Branchini, Floriane de Saint Pierre, and of course, Diane Pernet.

The world is changing fast so we’ve also been attentive to the rising influence of emerging fashion markets by having excellent buyers and editors from the Middle East, Russia and China on board.

BoF: What is the Swiss Textiles Award and how did it come to be?

Well, essentially, it’s an annual €100,000 prize that puts the spotlight on a young designer who is both a creative maverick and commercial success. It’s given at a critical juncture in their business development cycle. The endowment is put aside for business activities that are tailored to the needs of the winning designer’s brand. The Swiss Textiles federation pays €100,000 worth of bills for the winning designer over a year– typically for the costs of their fashion shows, production, the hiring of specialist staff or whatever will bring the designer’s brand to the next level. Plus, each designer contestant gets vouchers for free fabrics as well.

To be eligible, designers must have presented at least four successive independent seasons in Paris, New York, Milan or London. This makes sure they have already proven some degree of longevity and can make it past the first few business hurdles of their own accord. They should be champions of a visionary and modern style; be on the forefront of seasonal tendencies while having a challenging and coherent brand identity; and they must have substantial retail distribution and media attention.

But contestants have to be nominated by a rotating panel of fashion industry experts – there’s no way to apply. 

Our winners, for one. But you’re right, there are several other awards out there serving a variety of interests nowadays. Some are quite successful in their own niche while others are not. But the Swiss Textiles Award is the only truly international one open to the best young designers from any of the fashion capitals. Other awards are restricted to designers showing at a particular fashion week, as a way to support national industries. And others still are there to promote a high street brand by vetting potential designer collaborators – or they are positioned to reward design students fresh out of school. That’s important too of course, but we’re focused on serious young fashion entrepreneurs.

You know, it’s not only about the size of the prize money – because some awards now bestow higher prizes than ours.  But, in addition to the cash, the Swiss Textiles Award aims to be the definitive authority on up-and-coming fashion design talent.

We’re here to recognise and nurture designers that have star potential to build their own signature brand. We like to think that our winner each year reflects the collective sentiments of the leaders of the global fashion industry – well, as far as that’s possible anyway. Our point of difference is that we have a system in place where we are objective enough – through our esteemed nominating panels and juries -  to look beyond a lot of the politics and nepotism that haunts the fashion industry. It’s about talented designers with a clear business vision and creative ambition for their brands.

And I think there is something to be said for being the first one out of the starting blocks. The Swiss Textiles Award will have its tenth anniversary next year and embarked on its current international strategy six years ago.

BoF: Who are the previous winners of the Swiss Textiles Award?

Our roster of international winners includes Raf Simons (2003), Haider Ackermann (2004), Christian Wijnants (2005), Bruno Pieters (2006) and Marios Schwab (2007). There have been some really touching stories where the award came through at pivotal moments in these designers’ careers to help them push forward through thick and thin.

Next year’s shortlist will be chosen by yet another nominating panel of experts and the ultimate winner will be selected by a jury later that year. So it’s all about designers being tapped for the waves they’re making from their shows and their success on market. Those who make a big impression on the fashion industry leaders should have every chance to be nominated.

For the 2008 Edition of the Swiss Textiles Award, Rodarte, Louise Goldin, Richard Nicoll, Toga, Cathy Pill and Jean-Pierre Braganza will show a selection of their most recent Spring/Summer 2009 collection in Zurich on the 13^th of November to an international jury.

Rodarte

Louise Goldin

Richard Nicoll

Toga

Cathy Pill

Jean-Pierre Braganza

As I looked out on the waiting crowd for Giles Deacon’s show last evening, there was something special in the air. Where else could you see wunderkind Gareth Pugh nestled next to Italian eccentric Anna Piaggi and Vogue’s Hamish Bowles and a raft of other notable fashion names, all crammed into a tiny space in a small schoolhouse waiting for a fashion show to start? No New York designer of similar repute would even think of forcing the fashion A-list into this cramped setting. But then again, the fashion A-list probably wouldn’t even bother turning up to a show in a similarly  uncomfortable setting for a New York designer.

London fashion is officially hot again.  And, this time it’s not just hype. Many of the New York collections were well-executed and wearable, but they were limited in terms of new ideas and came off feeling a bit flat. London has thrown this flatness into sharp relief. There has been a renewed sense of confidence about fashion in London this week, yet there could be a lot more reflection on why things haven’t worked out for London in the past after other short-lived periods of creative renaissance — and a great deal of this has to do with the business of fashion, not the creative side.

London has never been lacking in creativity and this season its young designer set has been bursting with new ideas that show off their multi-faceted skills sets. Christopher Kane sent out a collection that felt new and fresh; like he was taking actually fashion forward. Jonathan Saunders, the master-of-prints, showed that he can cut a dress with the best of them. Marios Schwab went the opposite route, using stunning, unusual and arresting prints combined with his already proven strength in tailoring.

And then, last night, Giles Deacon wowed his small VIP fashion audience with a collection that meandered from cross-stitched denim pieces to heavily-worked dresses of tulle and eye-catching prints of Kate Moss à la Andy Warhol emblazoned onto a crisply cut hot pink jacket. One unforgettable moment was seeing model-of-the-moment Agyness Deyn come out in a simply cut dress with her trademark platinum blond cropped-mop dyed a bright pumpkin orange. Did Giles convince her to do that? He is quite the charmer, after all.

After the show, Ken Downing of Neiman Marcus asked me what I thought. And the first thing that came to mind were the words "beautiful" and "romantic". Ken seemed genuinely overwhelmed by what Giles had conceived. Hilary Riva of the British Fashion Council said that she thought the collection might make her cry. It’s so nice to see veterans of the industry who still get excited about great design.

But, abundant creativity aside, the big question is whether this is yet another meteoric period for London which will quickly flame out. Will these talented young designers be able to build businesses based in the city that they find so inspiring? Or, like other high profile talents before them, will the businesses collapse due to lack of business structure, investment and planning? Will they need to move to New York or Paris to make it big where there is a more cohesive support system for growing fashion businesses?

If they want to be around 10 years from now, they may want consider taking a page out of Matthew Williamson’s textbook. While he normally shows in New York, his business is still based in London and yesterday’s one-off 10 year anniversary show was an excellent mix of what Matthew does best. Fun, playful and embellished clothes for an international jet set woman who spends her time living the good life.

It must be said that the show got started on an exceptional note — Prince’s note, to be exact, and this may have played  a role in the exuberant feeling in the marquee which had been specially erected in Eaton Square to celebrate the occasion. Prince, one of the world’s most talented pop musicians, started things off by singing from the front row and then joined his bodacious dancers in a catwalk performance that had the fashion set on their feet. I was blown away. It was only left to Matthew to keep the audience on a high after this surprise!

But, back to business. While Matthew’s aesthetic and client may be quite different from some the more thought-provoking emerging London designers that have been creating all the buzz this week, his formula for success could still work for them:

1. Find a business partner: With his business partner Joseph, he has shown once again what a strong creative-business partnership can do for a fashion business. Ask many industry insiders about the keys to Matthew’s success, and Joseph is one of the first things they will mention.
2. Know your customer: Matthew’s "girls" were crawling all over the show and afterparty yesterday and he seems to understand what they want. He spends time with them and understands what they need to fit with their lifestyles.
3. Learn from the best: By working as the creative director of Pucci, an LVMH owned brand, Matthew has not only gained credibility as a designer of international repute, he and Joseph must also be learning a great deal about how a world-class fashion business is run and structured.
4. Work the PR angle: Like it or not, a good story is an essential part of making a high-end fashion business work. Matthew’s story is often based on his strong celebrity following. It’s a story that works for him, but might not work for everyone else. The important thing is to have a compelling story to tell, whether it is based on the designer, their clientele or their product.
5. Sort out the money side: With equity injections from the Baugur Group and TSM Capital, Matthew and Joseph have also shown themselves to be savvy fundraisers, who are still firmly in control of their business.

It’s no wonder Matthew asked Suzy Menkes "Where are my peers now?", referring to another slew of hotly-tipped designers whose businesses failed to take off during London’s last creative heat wave. Matthew certainly has something to be proud of. It remains to see which of these London designers will follow in his footsteps to celebrate their own 10 year anniversaries. Here’s to hoping this heat wave lasts a long time.

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Christopher Kane, Spring/Summer 2008

Marios Schwab, Spring/Summer 2008

Jonathan Saunders, Spring/Summer 2008

Matthew Williamson, Spring/Summer 2008

Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders and Marios Schwab photos and videos courtesy of Style.com. Other photos and all other content are copyright of The Business of Fashion. See our legal disclaimer for further details