Vocabulary to be memorized

amalgamate – соединять, объединять

approach – подход

art – искусство

appoint – назначать

assign – приписывать

accept – принимать, допускать

access – доступ

bias – уклон, наклон, по косой линии (кроить)

base – основывать

clothing – одежда

council – совет

claim – требование

consider – считать, рассматривать

course – курс

college – колледж

contextual – контекстуальный, в контексте

challenge – вызов

constitute – основывать

dressmaking – пошив женского платья

dress- платье

develop – развивать, разрабатывать

enable – позволить, дать возможность

exist – существовать

elevate – повышать, поднимать

education – образование

establish – основывать

employ – быть занятым

feature – черта

force – сила

found – основывать

graphics – графика

graduate – выпускник

generation – поколение

grant – стипендия

helm – руль, управление

high - profile – высоко-профильный

include – включать

join – вступать, присоединяться

model – модель

material – материал

major – основной

majority – большинство

manufacturer – производитель

menswear – мужская одежда

marketing – маркетинг

mock – насмехаться

protest – протестовать

promotion – продвижение, стимулирование

revoke – отменять, аннулировать

resign – отказываться, уступать

regard – внимание, забота, уважение

respect – уважать

tutorage – наставничество

technicians – технический персонал

train-готовить

vigorously – сильно, энергично

Text IV British fashion today

During the boom years of the middle 1980 the international couture industry enjoyed a revival, largely due to the strength of the American dollar and the advent of a new, oil-rich Middle Eastern clientele. For a wealthy man, social life was global and, as always, high fashion clothing announced social standing. The vogue for lavish charity galas provided a platform for unabashed conspicuous consumption. Haute couture clients numbered some 3,000 worldwide – in the late 1940s there had been around 15,000 – but none the less this was a significant upturn in fortunes for the industry.

London’s most exclusive fashion houses received a fillip from the patronage of Lady Diana Spencer, who chose David and Elizabeth Emmanuel to design the wedding dress for her marriage to Prince Charles in 1981. As the Princess of Wales, she became a high-profile international fashion icon, wearing clothes by Jasper Conran, Bruce Oldfield, Arabella Pollen, Amanda Wakeley, Bellville Sassoon and Catherine Walker. At a time when the other fashion capitals were specializing in overt glamour, Britain’s top-level designers focused upon their specialty, that is classic, understated tailoring and fairy – tale eveningwear.

In complete contrast to European and American output, a second generation of Japanese fashion designers shocked audiences with their dramatic new fashion vision. Oversize, often asymmetric, black and ink-blue garments were sometimes creased and slashed, with irregularly placed necks and sleeves. The Japanese did not propose Tokyo as a new fashion centre, instead they went to Paris, the traditional fashion capital, where they combined their flair for design with great showmanship.

Since the early 1980s London has also enjoyed a burgeoning of young fashion talents. Georgina Godley, Scott Crolla and John Galliano have played a key role in regenerating London’s reputation for innovative and challenging collections. Many young designers obtained massive, although sometimes short-lived, media coverage, and did much to put London at the very centre of the fashion map. A number of these designers were successful, but many have foundered because they were naïve in business or failed to obtain financial backing. Stevie Stewart and David Hollah, the design duo behind the Body Map label, enjoyed early acclaim for their unstructured, layered monochrome and day-colored printed jersey garments. For a time they went out of business because they could not obtain funding, in spite of full order books. It is often said that the British have great affection for highly creative “amateurism”. In the case of fashion, it rarely stretches to financing ideas and turning them into viable businesses.