Fashion in the snow

The Swiss embassy in London has been transformed into a winter wonderland as diplomats kicked off a three-year campaign to promote Swiss-British relations.

VIP guests arriving at the embassy were greeted by a fresh carpet of snow for the launch of a British-Swiss events programme called “Dialogue Across Mountains – from Dialogue to Partnership”.

Walls, doors and windows are iced over, the ambassador’s terrace garden turned into a designer snow park and flakes of freshly made snow floated on to the heads of celebrities as they arrived to watch a fashion show laid on by the Swiss Textile Association.

Catwalks and clichés

The alpine extravaganza aims to draw attention to both emerging and internationally acclaimed textile and fashion designers, and in doing so to highlight the changing role of Swiss fashion.

The embassy said the Swiss fashion industry was hoping to use the occasion to break away from traditional images of Heidi clothes and ski gear.

Swiss textile design plays a key behind-the-scenes role in the industry. Swiss print techniques and textile design are now used by prestigious international design houses such as Chanel, Christian Lacroix, Jeremy Scott, Gucci, Valentino, Scherrer and Gianni Calignano.

Exploring the Alps

The “Dialogue Across Mountains” project is inspired by the United Nations International Year of the Mountains 2002. It has been organised by Presence Switzerland, the government-backed body that promotes Switzerland abroad.

The organisation has scheduled a series of events throughout the year to foster a new relationship between the two countries and give the British a better understanding of the alpine country and its people.

These include joint educational activities such as ice sculpture-making, creation of children’s videos, exchange programmes and specially designed “exploring the Alps” teaching materials.

The Swiss artist, Roland Fässer, well known for installation art in children’s venues, has also been commissioned to create a prototype Swiss mountain playground.

by Devra Pitt