seen online: an upcoming exhibition of english fashion design, ranging from vivienne westwood to paul smith at the met in new york.

so that explains why cnn is featuring westwood in the debut of its new show revealed.

the curator for this exhibition is working under the premise that fundamental to the continuity of english fashion is an intertwining of tradition and transgression. this continuity is even made more interesting with the involvement of english designers such as john galliano and alexander mc queen in major french design houses. add to that the contribution of non-english designers to this richness such as hussein chalayan.

so think: saville row tailoring, the punk movement, paul smith, vivienne westwood, the middle east - wow. and all these housed within the met, the mother of all...ah!

in an age when the likes of marc jacobs produce three separate collections (for louis vuitton, his own marc jacobs and a lower-prices marc) each season and designers are bought and sold by fashion conglomerates, it's refreshing (and relieving) to hear these streams of fashion. the fact that they're still around. the fact that they exist at all. i like the fact that there are the profitable types like smith and stalwarts like westwood who, despite being a known brand, still maintain that fierce sense of independence when it comes to design and how a business is to be conducted.

on another note, too bad i missed that james dean impersonation in rebel without a cause tuesday night. had too much fun talking to p. at the coffeeshop and got a wee bit lazy making it on time at the talk. now: i. as martin sheen in a reenactment of apocalypse now? i'm sure she's tickled with the prospect.