2021经济学人双语阅读

2021经济学人双语阅读LondonFashionWeekWITHitswhirloffrocks,modelsandmillion-dollardealsLondonFashionWeekhasalwaysbeenratheraclosetedaffair,accessibletofew.Amateurfashionistashavehadtowaitforglossymagazinesandblogstotellthemwhattowearnext.ButatthesecondofLondon'sbiannualfairs,whichranfromSeptember13thto17th,thatwasstartingtochange.Aroundhalftheshowswerelive-streamedtotheinternetandTVchannelswithbulletinsbroadcasttocommuterswaitingatundergroundTubestops.Afreepop-upcinemascreenedfashion-themedfilms.ThispushtobringFashionWeektoawideraudienceislikelytopayoff.Thoughunaffordabletomostshoppers,highfashionisthebeatingheartofhigh-streetretail.MorewearableversionsofthetransparentoutfitsthatentertainedaudiencesinLondonthismonthwillsoonappearinshopsupanddownthecountry.IntheweekfollowinglastSeptember'sshows,onlinefashionsaleswereup45%,accordingtoVeInteractive,ane-commercefirm.CarolineRush,chiefexecutiveoftheBritishFashionCouncil(BFC),whichorganisesFashionWeek,expectsthatthedigitalbuzzsurroundingtheeventwillpushbuyers'orderswellbeyond£100m($160m).ThechangesseenattheshowsarepartofawiderefforttobringabusinesslikeapproachtoBritishfashion.Londonhaslongbeenfetedasabreedinggroundforbrilliantdesigners.Manyofthem,includingJohnGallianoandAlexanderMcQueen,trainedatCentralStMartins,acollegeknownforturningoutskilfuloriginals.Butatendencytofocusonartoverbusinesshasmeantthattoomanydesignershavefailedtomakethemostoftheircriticalacclaim.LondonFashionWeekhaslongbeenseenasthetiddlerofthe“bigfour”globalshows,overshadowedbythespectaclesinMilan,NewYorkandParis.TheBFCwantstochangethat.Since2021,whenitappointedMsRush(itsfirstfull-timechiefexecutive)thecouncilhaspushedtomakeyoungdesignersmoremarketsavvyandencouragegreaterinvestmentinfashion.InJanuaryitappointedanewchairman,NatalieMassenet,theAmericancreatorofNet-a-Porter,anonlinefashionshopthatlastyearsawsalesof368m,asitschairman.MsMassenethassaidshewantstostop\beingseenasadirtywordinfashion.Thatmaynotbeasfar-fetchedasitsounds.Britain'sfashionbusinessaddsabout£21billiontoGDP.OxfordEconomics,aconsultancy,reckonsthatagoodchunkofthisisretail.Butfromdesigningclothestosellingthem,fashionemploysmorepeoplethananyothercreativeindustryinBritain.Thedesignerendofclothesmakinghasdoneespeciallywell,growing20%ayearoverthepastdecade.AnincreasingnumberofBritishdesignershavesettheirsightsonoverseasmarkets,especiallyinAsia.PaulSmith,forexample,planstoopen20newstoresinChinainthenextfiveyears.Attractingforeigntalent,meanwhile,maysoonbemadeeasierwiththeintroductionofa“Londonvisa”fortalenteddesigners.TherenaissanceofBritishfashionhasbeengivenaboostbysomenewambassadors.The“Middletoneffect”一abumpinsalesattributedtotheDuchessofCambridge'sfashionchoices—hashadabeneficialeffectonBritishbrandsinAmerica.AnewcropofBritishmodels,amongthemCaraDelevingne,bestridestheinternationalcatwalk.NowBorisJohnson,thefloppy-hairedmayorofLondon,hasjoinedthecampaign.AtafashionshoottopromoteBritishmenswearthissummerhecouldnotrememberwhodesignedthesuithewaswearingbuthiswordswereonmessage.“Londonistothesuit”,hesaid,“asParmaistotheParmesancheese”.翻译：伦敦时装周按照以往的惯例，伦敦时装周是裙裾飞扬的大牌成衣、魅惑性感的T台模特和投资上百万美元共同打造出的一场仅为极少数土豪奉上的时尚盛宴，而至于那些不入流的时尚人士则只能从铜版纸装订的时尚杂志和时尚达人的博客中得知下一季的流行趋势。但是从9月13日至17日的这场时装周作为伦敦今年举行的两场中的第二场，则开始有了些许的变化。约有半数的秀场通过网络和电台进行直播，那些想和土豪做朋友的小伙伴们甚至可以在地铁站候车点的公告牌前、影院观影前荧幕弹出的时尚主题短片中观看走秀。该做法的确为时装周吸引了大批消费受众群体，尽管对多数消费者来说要买的起这些时装至少要卖个肾，但这些高端时尚却是那些他们可以消费得起的高街品牌（如ZARA、BERSHKA或MANGO）的设计源动力。至于在本月秀场上的一系列令台下观众喜大普奔的透视时装将陆续出现在英国小伙伴们生活当中。据电子商务公司龙头企业一一VeInteractive的数据显示，九月时装周后一周的时间内，在线时装交易额同比上涨了45%。负责时装周运行的英国时装理事会（8=五1$卜FashionCouncil）首席执行官卡洛琳拉什（CarolineRush）推测数字化的环境将推动超过一亿英镑（折合一亿六千万美元）的订单交易生成。时装秀观看模式的改变是英国时尚产业商业化的一场巨大变革。伦敦向来被誉为是盛产高富帅设计师之地，知名设计师包括JohnGalliano和AlexanderMcQueen等，他们均毕业于培养高技术水平设计师的英国圣马丁艺术学院(CentralStMartins)，但这种艺术形式商业化使得多数设计师都无法正确处理好外界的褒奖，无法从中真正获益。事实上，伦敦时装周一直以来都处于全球四大时装周之末流，与米兰、纽约、巴黎三大巨头的时装盛宴相比，实在太过逊色。英国时装理事会(BFC)为了改变这一处境，自2021年起任命拉什女士为首位全职首席执行官后，便极力让设计师新秀们敏锐捕捉市场需求并且鼓励他们多多投资时尚事业。而理事会今年一月上任的新任主席一娜塔莉・马斯奈(NatalieMassenet)是全球化奢侈品网上专卖店Net-a-Porter的创办者，该网站去年创下了368,000,000英镑的交易额。马斯奈女士表示受任为该理事会的主席是想改变“商业运作”在时尚圈的恶名。事实也没有像马斯奈女士所说的那样严重，实际上，英国时尚产业为其国民生产总值增收210亿英镑。作为提供经济顾问机构的牛津经济研究院(。乂£^^Economics)日前表示该项收入很大程度来源于蓬勃发展的服装零售业。从服装的设计到销售，整个过程相比于其他创造型产业为英国民众提供了更多就业岗位，最为出众的是服装设计师行业，其以每十年20%的增幅不断上涨，越来越多的设计师小伙伴们将目光对准了海外市场，尤其是盛产“大妈”的亚洲。据知名时尚品牌PaulSmith计划，中国在未来五年将陆续迎接其20家专门店的开幕。与此同时，英国或为引进海外人才而对杰出设计师放宽申请“伦敦签证”的政策。(伦敦签证一一有才的你，值得拥有~)英国时尚再卷狂潮，新来的几位大使功不可没。一剑桥公爵夫人(DuchessofCambridge)的时尚穿衣品味带动了美国发展的英国本土品牌，这就是所谓的“米德尔顿效应”(亦可称“公爵夫人效应”)；英国模特后起之秀中的佼佼者，卡拉・迪瓦伊(CaraDelevingne)也在世界T台上掀起浪潮；而现如今伦敦市长鲍里斯・约翰逊(BorisJohnson)顶着他那头标志性的蓬乱金发也加入到该行列中。在今年夏季召开的一场提升英国男士服装知名度的时装发布会上，这位不知道自己定制西装的设计者姓甚名谁的市长大人却讲出了“伦敦之于西装，恰如帕尔马至于帕马森干酪”。UrbanplanningCitiesusedtothinkmodernartcouldsavethem.Nowit'srailwaystationsINJANUARYcommutersvotedBirminghamNewStreetoneofBritain'sworstrailwaystations.Eachdaynearly150,000peoplemovethroughastructurebuiltforhalfasmany.Butbynextyearitwillbetransformed,with400tonnesofundulatingsteelcladdingandavaguelyeyeballappearance.Thestationwillhave“thewowfactor”,boastsSirAlbertBore,theleaderofBirminghamcitycouncil.Itwillalsoshowhowmuchattitudestorailwaystationshavechanged.RailwaystationsarethechiefexceptiontotherulethatBritaininveststoolittleininfrastructure.Ofthe17bigterminimanagedbyNetworkRail,theownerofBritain'stracks,11arebeingredevelopedorhaverecentlybeencompleted.Fiveotherstations,includingReadingandNorthampton,arebeingsprucedupbylocalcouncilsandNetworkRail.Somesimplyneedtobeexpanded:thenumberoftrainjourneyshasrisenby35%since2021.ButthedesignofNewStreetsuggestsaspirationswellbeyondmoreeasefultravel.ThebuildingwouldnotlookoutofplaceinDubaiandisstriking,ifslightlyincongruous,inthegreyWestMidlands.Cityplannerswantedsomethingmonumental,likeGrandCentralstationinNewYork,saysSirBernardZissman,chairmanoftheindependentdesignpanel.“Twentyorthirtyyearsagobusinesspeopleweremorelikelytoarriveinacitybycar,”explainsJonNealeofJonesLangLaSalle,apropertyspecialist.Townplannersdulycarvedoutmotorwaysandroundaboutstoenticethem.In1962alocalpoliticianclaimedthatanewdesignforBirmingham,involvinganinnerringroad,wouldmakeit“oneofthefinestcitycentresinEurope”.Citiesnowmeasuretheirappealbytheirstations.Businessesclusteraroundthem:atKing'sCross,aonce-grimypartofnorthLondon,apostcodehasbeencreatedforallthenewbuildingsaroundthestation,whichwasredevelopedin2021.JohnLewis,anupmarketdepartmentstore,willopeninthemallaboveNewStreet(whichisindeedcalled“GrandCentral”)alongwith60othershops.Thecouncilhopesitwillpullinvisitorstothecity.Suchambitionrecallsthestationsofthe19thcentury.Thosestructures“spoketothecorporatesensibilityofacity,”saysTristramHunt,anMPandhistorian,bycombiningcommercewiththesheenofcivicpride.ThefirstNewStreetstation,builtin1851,hadthelargestsingle-spanroofinthecountryatthetime.Itwastorndownbyenthusiastic1960stownplanners.Nowsomeofitsoriginallustremayreturn.翻译：今年1月，英国上班族的投票结果显示伯明翰新街火车站是全英最差的火车站。每天都有15万人都要去挤这个容量只有人流量一半的车站上下班。但明年，情况将有所改善一车站将使用400顿的包钢材料，带给人们一种模糊的视觉体验。伯明翰市长AlbertBore夸耀说，这个车站将会使走过路过的人情不自禁的叫出声来，使乘客对火车站的态度实现360度大转弯。英国向来对基础设施的投资就少，但火车站则是一个例外。英国铁道所有者铁路网管理的17个火车站中，有11个使乘客对火车站的态度实现360度大转弯，还有5个（包括雷丁火车站和北安普顿火车站）由当地政府和铁路局负责翻新修理。有一些则只需要扩建：自2021年起，搭乘火车旅行的人次上升了35%。但是新街火车站的设计表明，改良的初衷不仅仅是为了实现提供“更舒适的旅行”这一基本目的。这种独特亮眼的建筑出现在迪拜很合适，但是在灰蒙蒙的西米德兰兹郡，就有那么点不合时宜了。城市规划者、独立设计小组主席BernardZissman解释说想建一些地标性的建筑物，就像纽约的中央车站一样。仲量联行的房地产专家JonNeale说，二三十年以前，商人们大多数情况下都会坐车，因为城市规划者不失时宜地开发了很多高速公路和环状交叉路口诱惑他们。1962年，一位当地政客称会在伯明翰开始新的城市规划，包括建设一条内环路，使其成为“欧洲最好的市中心之一”。当今很多城市都用他们的火车站衡量城市魅力。车站附近也建起了商业圈：英国王十字车站曾是北伦敦一个污秽不堪的地方，2021年重建后，所有车站周围的新建筑都被赋予了一个新的邮编。高档百货公司JohnLewis将会在新街车站上面开一家商城（命名为“中央车站”）以及60家商店。市政当局希望这会吸引更多游客。这样宏大的构想让人想起了19世纪的车站。历史学家兼国会议员TristramHunt说，那些建筑结合了商业贸易和公民自豪感，向企业家们诉说着城市的点滴与沉淀。1851年修建的第一个新街火车站有那个时代最大的单拱桥屋顶。20世纪60年代，狂热的城市规划者将它拆掉。而现在，那些原先的光辉可能重返。TheartmarketTherapidgrowthofartfairsischangingthewaygalleriesoperateSHORTLYafterTheEconomistwenttopress,about25,000peoplewereexpectedtoturnupattheLondonArtFair.Yourcorrespondentvisitedjustbefore,as128whiteboothswerebeingfilledwithmodernpaintingsandsculptures.Dealersclutchedmobilephonestotheirearsorgatheredinsmallgroups.Theyseemednervous-aswelltheymightbe.“Icanearnayear'slivinginonefair,”saidoneharrieddealerwhilestringingup