So often, I see industry people on TV giving the old, “I’m not interested in fashion. Fashion fades. Style is eternal” or some variation of that Yves Saint Laurent cliche. Frankly, besides selected designers, I don’t think many people in the industry are not interested in fashion.
Fashion is about trends, about disposability, about revolution, or in the words of Heidi Klum, about “what’s in and out”. Style, on the other hand, is about consistency and evolution only for the sake of achieving the ultimate goal of “looking one’s best”. Honestly, do you think voluminous leather sleeves and clunky platforms will help someone “look one’s best”? 
Honestly, ‘fashion” or “style”?
Credit: style.com
To put it in context, Prada is fashion and Armani is style.
What some people knowingly overlook is that generally, “fashion”, not “style”, is the business; it is what incites women to blow $X, XXX on the new Balenciaga boot every season. Because, let’s face it, last season’s almond toe is not nearly as forward as the stunted arrow toe of this season, right?
Even what it comes to basics (what I call, “style” items), only “fashion” can explain splurging on a new Armani suit when the ’97 Armani suit you have is still in perfectly good condition. If we all dressed for “style”, why wouldn’t we all still be dressing like we were in the 1940′s or better yet, the 18th century? I happen to think they were goddamn stylish.
If people bought simply from a “style” standpoint, designers couldn’t afford to produce the runway-only pieces they showcase on their extravagant runways, we wouldn’t require monthly fashion magazines nor seasonal beauty trend reports, and we could do without the majority of fashion journalists out there.
So, the next time an industry person says they’re not interested in “fashion”, urge them to seriously reconsider – Their job may depend on it.
Prada is fashion AND style. Some designers manage both.
For the most part, I beg to differ.
Miuccia is known for radically changing direction simply out of spite/in response to copy-cats or simply what she has done in the past. This is not style.