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IT'S BEEN a peculiar week in the British fashion capital. The absence of Hussein Chalayan due to financial difficulties has been prominent in the daily papers. Equally, insider groaning about the lack of an international presence at the shows, and an infrastructure available to support our young designers has reached fever pitch.
There are predictable and persistent complaints that London is a city that has lost its edge. Worst of all, this week, once again, has thrown up the requisite, and utterly futile, seasonal search for the next Alexander McQueen - no one can be more irritated or embarrassed by this than the man himself. One could be forgiven for thinking that London was a city in fashion crisis.
But this is hardly the case. First things first: Chalayan will be back, if not this season then some time soon. Fashion is too powerful a financial force to allow a talent as unique as his to go untapped. If this seems an unlikely scenario, remember the example of John Galliano, who went out of business not once, but twice, in the Eighties - and just look at him in 2001.
No matter that he now works in Paris, or that his signature line is supported by Christian Dior. It is hardly surprising that designers of his ilk move across the Channel - Paris remains the fashion capital of the world. London is a mere kindergarten, albeit a colourful one, by comparison.
This is why so many of the big international cheeses failed to show their faces here for the duration. The show schedule is a punishing one. Held over four consecutive weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris, with up to 80 shows in each city, it's small wonder that London is the first to be dropped.
The schedule here is only as patchy as it is in Milan or New York. The difference is that there are no big-money labels with big-spend advertising budgets, threatening to pull their custom should a big- name editor fail to attend their shows.
The international journalists who travel to London to write about the shows have been here this week,...