Inspiration: Anglo-mania

From what I see, a large part of fashion has been about rebelling against the rules - mismatched textures and prints, clashing colours and recently, experimenting with architectural structuring. So it's no wonder that the fashion pack is increasingly turning to the origin of rebel, the UK. The punks in the 70s were probably the first taste of pure Englishness, going against the conservatives with statement studs, leather and mohawks. But rebellion in the UK doesn't just mean punks. There were many examples where the British went against what was hip and created their own trend.

I'm drawing inspiration from the boys of the 90s Britpop scene - Noel Gallagher of Oasis with his Union Jack guitar; Graham Coxon of Blur with his large-framed glasses and Doc Martens; Jarvis Cocker of Pulp with his blazer jackets. While the world went crazy for Nirvana's brand of grunge, the Brits hit back with their own style of rock music. And then you start to suspect that perhaps the nautical colour pallette of red, navy and white could well come from the colours of the Union Jack; the increasing amount of women rocking fiery red hair could most probably be inspired by Dame Vivienne Westwood's mane; and those glasses...well, I'd like to think that Mr Coxon owned them way before today's scene kids even developed their eyes in their mothers' wombs.

But however it is, the UK continues to set the (fashion) bar themselves, instead of letting others do it for them. These days, the British are putting together trends from what the rest of the world has to offer - think bohemian prints complemented with preppy, tailored suits or clashing neon colours with textured pieces (thank you, Agyness!).

It's all just my personal opinion, though. But I think the English pride is back. And I love it.

(Images courtesy of americanapparel.net, net-a-porter.com, topshop.com, ninewest.com.au, olsen-files.com, sendmedeadflowers.com, panicmanual.com, flickr.com, contactmusic.com, celebutopia.net, tpgnews.com and elleuk.com)