Fashion Lingo: Channeling

25/10/10

Channeling

(to) channel - a verb used to describe an item of clothing or an accessory with reference to the influence of the style of an icon, era or designer oversized or outsized - Fashionese for 'big'

There are several reasons that fashion folk use the word channelling so much. One is because it is, to all intents and purposes, another way of saying “copying” that sounds far more admirable and far less like primary school. Another is because it makes getting dressed sound like a form of superhuman act, like channelling the force of some radioactive crystals through our fingertips in order to create a rip in the space-time continuum. It makes it sound important, and fashion folk like feeling important.

source: shinystyle

Fashion quote

"Shakespeare managed to accurately describe the entire human condition using simple English, so we're certain the fashion industry can do the same to describe a pair of trousers"

"It's now easier to understand Sanskrit than some of the words commonly used by commentators within the fashion industry to describe garments."

(Debenhams spokeswoman Lizzie Singleton)

The lingua franca of the fashion world is „fashionese“ or „fashion speak“. Originally it was the language of the fashion pack - the designers, stylists, journalists and models,- made to keep the little people out.