今年夏季，年轻设计师将设计思路转向一些想法……他们如何能通过与其它行业的创造性合作，提高自己的收入和促进自己的业务，从而在不影响自己工作和违逆时尚潮流的前提下，发挥他们的审美能力，打响自己的名号，同时又不会花光自己的营销预算。

不过，这几乎并不像你预期的那么充满诗意，不是吗？

但是，我们该如何解释限量版“时尚”技术的突然涌现呢。例如，从吉尔斯•迪肯(Giles Deacon)设计的英特尔(Intel)华硕(Asus)笔记本电脑，到加雷斯•皮尤(Gareth Pugh)操刀的Vaio CR笔记本电脑等（实际上，皮尤似乎可以说是一位能够无拘无束地运用设计技巧的大师，他还与酩悦香槟(Mo?t & Chandon)合作，为其一款香槟酒瓶提供设计）。

尽管目前这代被人们所推崇的设计师，例如瓦伦蒂诺(Valentino)、罗伯托•卡沃利(Roberto Cavalli)等人，利用夏季扩大他们的社交圈，加强与名人的联系（以及晒日光浴），他们会邀请各色名流与其坐游艇度假，参观他们的城堡，但他们的继承人（特别是他们的英国继承人）似乎已完全接受了一种更商业化的路线。

作为英国时尚界伟大的希望新星，迪肯富有戏剧性的轮廓和风格比他对时尚的理解更为出名。他谈到与Vaio的合作时表示：“我认为这是个很好的创意——我喜欢其中的技术因素。此外，它有助于促使该行业不断发展，你永远都不知道赞助方面的事情可能会怎样演变。”

他表示，换言之，这是一种相当容易、甚至很有趣的挣钱和出名方式，对于没有广告推销能力的某些人来说更是如此。这肯定符合当前的社会经济趋势——趋势显示，多数人的工作时间正在加长，假期也越来越少。为何时尚应该是个例外？毕竟，时尚是对生活方式趋势的观察，再以某种具体形式体现在我们身上。不过，我情不自禁地猜想，会不会当我们休假的时候，或许我们的创造性会体现最为淋漓尽致。我知道我自己就是这样的。

在自己写的东西太多太长的时候，我总能意识得到——那时候我的句子会开始表现出一种搬弄是非的千篇一律。会大量使用“无论如何”、“的确”等字眼儿。段落的韵律会有重复的节拍。

对设计师而言，也有类似的问题。时尚界目前进行的一场争论与这样一个事实有关：现在要求具有创造性的设计师生产的系列服饰太多了，使得他们没时间思考自己想做什么，也没时间精炼自己的创意。实际上，他们没有时间变得具有创造性。

过去，当瓦伦蒂诺巡游地中海时，他会非常放松，还会寻找那些里面带有粉色阴影的贝壳，这可能激发他关于一整季服装的灵感。而现在，这却变成了一种奢侈品。

迪肯表示，对他而言，像电脑一样创作“其它”东西实际上是一种精神上的休息。这锻炼的肌肉与制作舞会礼服所需要的有所不同。从某种程度上讲，我相信这是事实——当然与设计另一个服装系列不同，而设计一个服装系列是上世纪解决设计师现金流问题的最重要方法。我设想这相当于一个工作假期。问题是，由于我自己占用了其中一部分，结果发现无论在放松方面、还是在工作方面，都很少让人满意。

例如，回想起我职业生涯的黑暗时代，我曾为奢华杂志撰写过关于美容产品的文章，那时我常拽着未婚夫和我一起到异国的加勒比海泡温泉。毫无疑问，他在海滩上享受着美好时光，而我却被一个出版社经理拉着参观那里的设施。我未婚夫游泳，我在记笔记。真逗。

然而，上个月我花了两周时间呆在婆家的农场小屋里，那个农场位于加拿大的偏远地带，只有一部电话，没有电脑。我的大脑本来和大多数职业妈妈一样，像只亢奋的兔子，有着从一个场景转换到另一个场景的习惯，而（那些天）却变得非常沉寂。这很奇怪。不过棒极了。

因此虽然事实是与英特尔的合作使迪肯的名字在时尚普遍退居后台的时期出现在报纸上，事实是设计界和科技界前所未有地靠近（路易威登(Louis Vuitton)已制作了一款iPhone手机袋，你要知道其它大型品牌也不会落后多远），事实是在某些加拿大农场以外，由于黑莓、手机和笔记本电脑的存在，科技界已在很大程度上弥漫了假期，但我确信这意味着假期应该用来设计科技。有时甚至是诗人丁尼生(Tennyson)也会放下手中的笔。

In　the summer, a young designer's fancy turns to thoughts of ... how they can supplement their income and prop up their businesses by creative collaborations with other industries, thus exploiting their aesthetic abilities without cannibalising their own work and optimising the only down-time fashion has to promote their name without using up their own marketing budget.

Well, that's not nearly as lyrical as you were expecting, is it?

But how else to interpret the sudden glut of limited-edition “fashion” technology, from Intel's Asus notebooks courtesy of Giles of the designing-out-of-the-box technique, also collaborating with Mo?t & Chandon on a champagne bottle).

Whereas the generation of designers now referred to as “venerable”, such as Valentino, Roberto Cavalli and co, used the summer months to reinforce their social and celebrity connections (and tans) by inviting various notables to holiday with them on their yachts and visit their chateaux, their heirs, and especially their English heirs, seem to have adopted an altogether more commercial approach.

Deacon, the Great New Hope of British fashion, who is more generally known for his dramatic silhouettes and patterns than his understanding of circuitry, says of the Vaio link-up: “I thought it was a jolly idea – I like the technical aspect of it. Plus it helped keep the business ticking over and you never know where things might lead, in terms of sponsorship.”

In other words, he implied, this was a fairly easy and even fun way to make a buck and get publicity, especially for someone with no advertising power to speak of. It is certainly in line with socio-economic trends, which show most people working longer hours and taking fewer holidays. Why should fashion be exempt? It is, after all, charged with observing life-style trends and reflecting them back at us in some concrete form. I can't help wondering, though, if perhaps even the most prolifically creative among us are better off when they take a vacation. I know I am.

I can always tell when I have been writing too much for too long – my sentences start to display a tell-tale sameness. There is an over-use of words such as “anyway” and “indeed.” The rhythm of paragraphs strike repetitive beats.

This is a familiar problem for designers. One of the ongoing debates in the fashion world has to do with the fact that creative directors are now required to produce so many collections that they don't have time to think about what they want to make, or refine their ideas. They don't have time, in effect, to be creative.

In the old days, when Valentino cruised around the Med he was relaxing and finding sea shells whose inner pink shade might inspire an entire season. These days, that's a luxury.

For his part, Deacon says creating something as “other” as a computer is actually a mental rest for him – it exercises a different muscle from, say, the one needed to make a ballgown. And to a certain extent I am sure this is true – certainly more true than, say, designing another clothing collection, the last century's big solution to a designer's cash flow problems. It's the equivalent, I suppose, of a working vacation. The thing is, having taken a few of those myself, I find they are rarely satisfactory in either relaxation or professional terms.

Back in the dark ages of my career, for example, when I used to write about beauty products for glossy magazines, I often carted my husband-to-be with me to spas in exotic Caribbean locales. Inevitably, he had a nice time lazing on the beach while I was shown around the facility by a press manager. He swam, I took notes. Fun.

Last month, however, I spent two weeks in my in-laws' cabin on a farm in the backwoods of Canada with one phone and no computer. My brain, which like that of most working mothers has a habit of leaping from one compartment to another like a hyperactive rabbit, became practically sedentary. It was ... weird. And then great.

So while it is true that the Intel collaboration kept Deacon's name in the papers during a period when fashion generally fades into the background, and it is true that the worlds of design and technology are getting ever closer (Louis Vuitton has already made an iPhone carrier, and you know the other mega brands won't be far behind), and it is true that outside of certain Canadian farms the world of technology has mostly penetrated the world of the holiday thanks to the BlackBerry, mobile phone and laptop, I'm still not convinced this means holidays should be used to design technology. Sometimes even Tennyson put down his pen.