So, I was debating whether to make a comment about the below article because it will label me as old, bitter and twisted (most of which is true) but at the same time, there was something in Colin McDowell’s piece for the B.O.F that really resonated with me – so I will share it, and then you can make the judgment on my bitterness.

The jist of his article is based in the premise that the hiking up of tuition fees (in the areas of Art and Fashion) will alienate the creative hub of England and will produce graduates from the privileged classes who are lacking in the ‘design hunger’ and who want to take the easy road to success..

Now to be fair, I don’t think that is a new situation. I don’t think the increase of fees will help the situation, and I agree with Colin about alienating the raw talent that cities like London nurture, but I think (and this is from experience) that over the last 10 years, there are already too many fashion graduates entering the industry expecting a cushy journey or exotic trips and instant fame.

Is there someone to blame? Or is it how society is now with an instant gratification generation expecting something for nothing?

The number of grads I have met who seem to think their first job should be senior designer or sourcing manager is quite scary, the knowledge they gather at college is basic and theoretical and is a great starting point, but it’s just that, a starting point.

It takes years to learn the industry and to understand the nuances of the process, It simply doesn’t happen in 6 months, yet trying to explain this to a first jobber is like telling them their dog died! It leaves them distraught and crest fallen.

Are colleges really to blame for this? Do they teach students that anything is possible and in 6 months they will get to be head of Dior? I don’t think so.

Or is it the preconceived notion from the likes of E! that the fashion industry is a ride to easy town in a pretty frock? After all Lindsay Lohan became creative had of Ungaro (albeit for 1 miserable season) – so therefore anyone can do it – and fail?

Whatever the case, the industry is changing and graduates expectations of it need to be kept in check.

Maybe the increase in college fees will prompt the colleges to really analyse what they are teaching and nudge them to make the courses more vocational and industry realistic, maybe it’s the job of the industry to re train the graduates once they start at the bottom rung, or maybe we have lost the likes of raw talent that once graced the streets of our cities and are let with a team of ‘i-want-it-now’ graduates.

However, rather than celebrating and glorifying their brand names in bigger and bolder print there has been a deliberate step back to their artisan roots to celebrate the craftsmanship and to show, by presentation, why the brand is an investment purchase.

According to the Toronto Globe and Mail, brands like Chanel, Gucci and Tods have begun presenting in key store locations around the world to demonstrate on a small-scale, exactly why their goods are luxury pieces and not mass-produced.

Chanel, for instance has around 10 female artisans in their company who add a wax seal to the Chanel no, 5 bottles of perfume. Once trained they can seal around 100 bottles an hour and to watch it being done in the slow, precise, methodical way is exactly why it’s marketed as a luxury product. In short, it’s done by hand, not a machine.

Gucci has demonstrations showing the formation of the strap of one of its newest bags and Tods, famous for its loafers, have craftsmen showing the make and construction of their moccasin shoe in London and Paris, with US and Asia to follow next year.

I like the concept. It’s old school artisan and teaches the customer to look at the smaller details, rather than the big tacky label, a concept, which has far-reaching implications not only for the bigger brands, but also smaller.

Example; take www.Etsy.com a website set up to push creativity and entrepreneurship is also about artisans and crafts. Established in the US, this company has millions of users, all creating and developing from their own home and all because they want to build a crafts or locally sustained business.

Personally, I think it’s the smaller business that challenges the bigger one on the ideas front, so the very fact that the large monsters are stepping back to an age where the label should be on the inside and discrete rather than large and vulgar should be welcomed.

1) Waiting in a queue

2) Dry sense of humour

3) Binge drinking.

All agree? – OK!

Think of another….craftsmanship? YES! I shout!

The Brits have been doing this for years, centuries even. The heritage we have huge when it comes to pottery, ceramics, leather-ware, even fabric manufacturing but what with the desire for the Swedish blue and yellow giants of this world, the local and unique arts and crafts communities have been disappearing for years. Quite simply there is no mainstream demand for it anymore and there is a real lack of appreciation when it comes to locally crafted pieces; unique pieces that are collectible.

But I’m not ruling myself out in this demographic. I’m completely guilty of buying cheap-er rather than getting bespoke because my financial situation is pitched at this level but it doesn’t stop me from buying the occasional collectible from a small artist to support their business and the country’s legacy.

So reading in the Guardian yesterday filled me with a sense of pride and hope for an industry that shouldn’t be allowed to die out.

Crafted is an organisation set up to mentor new craftsmen and women in their chosen area.

Through business workshops and mentoring (a word I love at the moment) 12 artists a year are selected (by a panel of industry craftsmen) for this development program and are given advise on business and networking to help them propel their business from a fledgling one to a fledgling few in the space of a year.

With so many heritage craft industries waiting for a helping hand and with a demand out their for the product a concept like this is not rocket science, it’s logical and it’s brilliant.