THE BLAY REPORT FEATURE: RECESSION LESSONS

paris - this recession is hereby charged with multiple counts of fashion-house murder (to what degree is debatable and often depends). over the past year we've said good bye to iconic ones such as bill blass and more recently, ossie clark, but think these times are bad? think again. the Musée Jean Moulin's "womens' lives in paris" is a stark reminder of the ability of creativity and fashion to overcome even the most dire of times. the exhibit covers the WW II period, when fabric rationing made recycling cool before we thought it was needed and the innate style of the parisian, and indeed, all women became apparent with their ability to make due with less, substituting eccentricity for utility and making one's outfit still look impeccable with a gas mask as its only accessory. taking a cue from this are companies like london-based Above+Below which crafts footwear out of old seats and tires from the london underground and buses, as well as montreal-based on&on ecolo chic, shown above. with the 'eco' prefix clinging to higher end lines like LVMH's Edun these days, this exhibit couldn't have come at a better time. lottie ntim