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Op-Ed | Could Crisis Re-Energise Fashion? It Happened in the 1970s

Turbulence and trauma gave rise to Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Gianni Versace and more. It could happen again, argues Michael Coady, former editor-in-chief of Women’s Wear Daily and CEO of Fairchild Publications.
Designer Yves Saint Laurent with models Betty Catroux and Loulou de la Falaise | Source: Getty Images
By
  • Michael Coady

Fashion designers gave up their roles as style leaders of society a decade or more ago. Could Covid-19 and the resulting social upheaval be the catalyst that energises the next generation of talent, ending a tired and painfully boring period in fashion? The fashion explosion of the 1970s suggests it could.

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