Photos & Text by Mr Hartnett. 2007

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SLAVE TO STYLE?

Style, n, a mode of expression, execution, action or

bearing

Style, n, the manner in which something is expressed

or performed as separate from its intrinsic content or

meaning.

...

ADDICTED?

Almost indefinable, invariably intangible, style is a

magic formula that thrills and delights us. Style

separates the glamorous and the glorious from the

ordinary and the humdrum. Style is exceptional,

perhaps even extreme, but it's an aspiration that has

little to do with wealth or status. Style is life's

ultimate X-factor.

Fashion is a constant revolution which undergoes a

regimented aesthetic upheaval every six months. The

mission is always a search for the new, or - at least

- a twist on what has gone before.

Some designers stalk the boardroom, some are hungry

for a taste of media power, some are playful in the

extreme with ideas of cultural exploration and riotous

extravagance. Some just want to make skirts and shirts

that make the tills go ker-ching. Each year the number

of students entering fashion schools around the world

ranges from eight to ten thousand. A glittering

departure from NYC's Fashion Institute of Technology

or London's Central Saint Martin's will not guarantee

a job at the end of so much slog. Out in the real

world no amount of marketing, advertising or

hysterical hype will guarantee a designer's repeat

success...

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©Mr Hartnett. 2007