It's true. In Monday's "Computerphobia: Is It Undermining The Fashion Industry" penned by Suzy Menkes for the International Herald Tribune, the point is most definitely driven home. Sure, we've all heard the redundant Lagerfeld sound-bite about how he owns fifty ipods which he hasn't the slightest idea how to use (conjure the mental image, now shiver) but Menkes offers a much broader scope of the technophobia at work in the fashion industry. In summation, no one really knows how to "surf the net" and the fact that they didn't respond to this question by laughing proves the point. It will be unfair to spend the next five hundred words making such easy fun ("I have two screens on my desk - one for Google, the other for e-mail and I surf the Net for an hour a day." says chief executive of PPR's Gucci Group) and likewise time-wasting to speculate whether it is undermining the fashion industry. As usual, Menkes wrote a fine article, but this time with a news-y title that didn't fit the bill. It's not like Nicholas Ghesquiere need to post myspace bulletins about Blenciaga's new Fall 08 collection, or Raf Simons need to send off nasty emails to the Jil Sander interns. That is, the combination of being up front about their lack of interest and being of a generation in which they do not think with the internet in the first place saves them the responsibility of staying current. Does it undermine the fashion industry? Probably not. Surely, someone is checking the email (and making sure the campaign videos make it on to YouTube). And someone, that is, thinking up the clothes. Multitasking is for the young!

All together now, P-O-W-E-R-H-O-U-S-E. That's right, it's the International Herald Tribune's Suzy Menkes and Britian's seventh richest man, Sir Philip Green. Here, Green tells Menkes about Topshop's generous (we're talking the big break) support of young designers like Christopher Kane and Marios Schwab. And even though he has to take out a piece of paper to remember their names, we don't doubt that he means what he says. Otherwise, the British wouldn't have knighted him!





Video courtesy of the International Herald Tribune