LIZ JONES FASHION THERAPY Which diffusion lines should you have designs on ... - Daily Mail
By Liz Jones
Last updated at 10:11 PM on 28th August 2011
Designer collaborations with High Street stores started out as a very good wheeze — the first I can recall was when Karl Lagerfeld produced a capsule wardrobe for H&M a decade ago. But now there is barely a High Street store without its designer love-child in tow — with hiked price tags to match.
New this autumn is a range of shoes by London designer Mark Fast for Aldo, but the list of unlikely marriages is almost endless. The idea, as well as the fabric, has worn a bit thin.
And now, as well as these couplings, the new buzz word in fashion is 'diffusion'.This is when a high-end label brings out a cheaper range to widen its appeal and recruit new, younger customers to ensure they become loyal fans and mature into the main line.
Affordable: From left, Matthew Williamson Butterfly dress, £60; Preen shirt, £42, skirt £35; Jonathan Saunders coat, £199. All at Debenhams
I have been wracking my brains to think which designer came up with this idea. Giorgio Armani launched Emporio in 1981. Miu Miu was launched by Prada in 1992. And now, as all the major labels are struggling with the recession, it seems the number of names who have a cheaper imprint has mushroomed. There is RM by Roland Mouret, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Philosophy by Alberta Ferretti and See by Chloe.
But are they good value? My feeling is that, with the proliferation of collections every designer is required to produce — the average is now ten a year — a designer has little time left to devote to a diffusion line.
Producing his collection for New Look, Giles Deacon leant heavily on the services of Suzannah — a former designer at Marks & Spencer who's about to show at London Fashion Week next month for the first time. Donatella Versace recently revived her cheaper, funkier range Versus, but wisely got Christopher Kane to design it for her.
Too many established designers are incapable of thinking young and funky as they have simply lost touch. So even if you think you are buying into a big name, you are merely shelling out for their apprentice.
Leading the way: Debenhams, was the first store to ask designers to create more affordable collections
But this autumn/winter there are some new names who have ventured into producing cheaper, slightly younger ranges that are good value for money. Matthew Williamson launches his MW range in mid-September, and after a sneak preview I can vouch it has all the heady prints, beading and boho sex appeal of his main collection at half the price. (This is far superior to his long standing and rather bling Butterfly range at Debenhams.)
Clements Ribeiro, too, are venturing into collaborations and diffusion. The husband-and-wife team have produced a one-off line for Selfridges, which goes on sale on September 2. The collection, called Project 6, is cheaper than mainline CR, with a top at £285, a dress at £395 — only slightly dearer than the Mary Portas' House of Fraser line. Cheaper still will be the London design duo's collection for plus-size High Street brand Evans, launching next spring.
But one of the best champions of design at a price we can all afford is, of course, Debenhams, the first store to ask designers to come up with more affordable collections. In 1993, it recruited Jasper Conran, John Rocha and Betty Jackson to design for it — and this big idea continues to be one of its best-sellers.
Fashion house Balmain is launching a diffusion line in December called Pierre Balmain
This week, Roksanda Ilincic, the feminine designer who produced the most covetable collection for this summer, becomes the latest pony in the Debenhams stable.
The prices here are remarkable: £199 for a faux fur coat, £82 for a drape front dress and £68 for a colour block dress. My favourite pieces include a navy blouse, £45, and a pair of purple trousers with an orange bow, £42.
New, too, at Debenhams is a collection by Jonathan Saunders. This is fantastic value for money, with his DNA sewn into every seam. A simple grey wool crombie with black sleeves is £115. A blue mosaic print hanky dress is £55; OK, it's polyester, but you can't have everything, and it's well cut.
As well as affordable prices, diffusion garments tend to feature bigger sizes than the main collections. My advice when shopping diffusion is to make sure it suits your personality, not just your budget. Don't be seduced into colour blocking because it seems cheap. You have to love a label first.
Preen has always been one of my favourites because of its simplicity: its autumn range for Debenhams is indistinguishable from its high-end range, and includes my best buy of the season after that Jonathan Saunders kilt: a black shirt dress with a lace bodice and crepe skirt is £70 (a Preen dress on Net-a-porter is anything from £800 to £1,000).
Done well, diffusion makes you wonder why you were ever crazy enough to buy mainline. I once bought a Jil Sander cashmere duster coat for £3,000. I nearly fainted when I saw her first collection for Uniqlo. I could have had a new car AND a coat. And surely that is the point.
29 Aug, 2011--
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