The Clothes Show returns, will the Pet Shop Boys soundtrack it?
IMPORTANT: you must listen to the below as you read this article
That theme tune has been used as a catwalk soundtrack by Gareth Pugh and more recently by a Central Saint Martins graduate who couldn't possibly have even remembered the show it accompanied. But when has that ever got in the way of creativity? Anyway, the point is: its force is felt throughout the industry even now. The Clothes Show is back on our screen on 19 June.
A BBC Sunday teatime institution, The Clothes Show was originally hosted by Caryn Franklin, fresh from her tenure as fashion editor at i-D and pushing boundaries with her shock of hair (my nana was baffled by her appearance almost weekly), and designer Jeff Banks before he got all supermarket and Brownie Guides on us.
It was a lovely treat to watch, following catwalk shows, designers and street trends.
The revival comes as little surprise after the shouty conversation I had in a pub last week, in which I asserted that The Great British Sewing Bee had awakened tastes for fashion on the telly, and specifically ever-so-slightly square BBC-flavoured fashion on telly at that. Some light entertainment execs must have been at the next table.
The latest version will feature an array of bloggers and fashion personalities, which – let's be honest – is a little worrying. I'll throw my hat in the ring and admit that I was hoping Giles Deacon would host.
'At its height The Clothes Show had around 9 million viewers every Sunday night and was a British institution,' exec Gavin Brown says by way of explaining the decision to bring it back. Be honest, Gavin: you were eavesdropping on me in the pub, weren't you?



