英語聽力頻道為大家整理的英語聽力下載：倫敦該不該辦兒童時裝周，供大家參考:)
Vanessa Friedman: Is London’s Kids Fashion Week a problem?
So you thought the fashion weeks were over for now, and that you didn’t have to hear about catwalk shows for at least another three months or so (until June, anyway, when menswear begins again). Sucker!
諸位若覺得這一波時裝周終于消停了，至少三個月內(nèi)不會再聽到時裝秀的相關(guān)消息（總之可以一直靜等至六月，屆時男裝秀又將重新開鑼），那就太幼稚了！
In fact there’s a fashion week going on somewhere in the world almost every week of the year. Sometimes more than one. Istanbul fashion week, for example, ends on Saturday. Lakmé fashion week in India runs from March 22 to 26. And Moscow’s starts on March 29. Indeed, I’ve often thought John Cheever’s short story “The Swimmer” would work equally well in fashion: instead of crossing suburbia by stroking your way from one pool to another, you could spend a year crossing the globe from one fashion week to the other.
事實上，在全球各地，每年幾乎每一周都有時裝秀粉墨登場，有時一周甚至不止一場。比方說，伊斯坦布爾(Istanbul)時裝周上周六剛結(jié)束，印度將于3月22日—26日舉辦拉克美時裝周(Lakmé fashion week)，莫斯科時裝周則將于3月29日揭幕。事實上，我一直覺得約翰•契弗(John Cheever)的短篇小說《游泳者》(“The Swimmer”)用來比喻時裝周十分貼切：只不過不是從郊區(qū)一個泳池接著另一個泳池地接力，而是全年從一個時裝周轉(zhuǎn)戰(zhàn)另一個時裝周。
But I digress. The point is, if there’s a gap, a fashion week will be created to fill it. Hence this Tuesday, squished in between Istanbul and India, London will welcome its first Kids Fashion Week. Yup, they already have womenswear; last year they introduced menswear; and now they’ve got children’s wear too. However, unlike men’s fashion week, which was widely applauded, this is bound to upset a lot of people.
但我這么說明顯跑題了，問題是果真有空檔，也定會平添一個時裝周以填補其空白。不久前，倫敦在伊斯坦布爾與印度時裝周之間，見縫插針地舉辦了首屆兒童時裝周(Kids Fashion Week)。沒錯，倫敦已經(jīng)舉辦了女裝周；去年又舉辦了男裝周；如今又推出童裝周。但與男裝周（贊譽不斷）不同的是，這注定會讓很多人覺得很不爽。
The sanctity of childhood! Can we not leave some part of our world unbranded? Protect our youth from the evils of rampant consumerism! And so on. That’s the easy attack, anyway. And while I, too, have an issue with this particular development, both as a parent and as a fashion person (and not necessarily in that order) it’s not for the above reasons, which are, in truth, a lot of hooey.
時裝秀竟然也染指圣潔無瑕的兒童！難道就不能給這個世界留一塊未受品牌侵襲的凈土？保護孩子不受甚囂塵上消費主義思潮之毒害！諸如此類的事不勝枚舉。再說了，把魔爪伸向兒童實在是易如反掌！盡管本人無論是作為家長還是時尚界人士（并非一定按照以上順序），我對此出格做法很有意見，但并非出于以上原因，因為這些原因從本質(zhì)上說都是胡言亂語。
Kids are already heavily exposed to brands, from Disney to McDonald’s, and they have been for years. They are just as aware of what it means to be part of the club as anyone. My seven-year-old can lecture me quite cogently about why Apple is cooler than Nokia.
從迪斯尼(Disney)到麥當勞(McDonald’s)，孩子們一直深受品牌之影響，況且這種境況已經(jīng)由來已久。與成人一樣，他們也對品牌發(fā)燒友意味著什么心知肚明，我七歲的孩子能把蘋果比諾基亞酷的原因說得頭頭是道。
The only thing new about this is the brands themselves; when I was a kid, back in the olden days, it was all Danskin and Laura Ashley instead of Dolce and Rachel Riley. Besides, there’s a lot of upside to a fashion week – any fashion week.
蒙在鼓里的倒是品牌本身；想當初自己孩提時代，耳熟能詳?shù)钠放浦挥蠨anskin與羅蘭愛思(Laura Ashley)，而非杜嘉班納(Dolce & Gabbana)與Rachel Riley。此外，舉辦兒童時裝周（任何時裝周）有諸多好處。
Consider it from a municipal perspective, and all the business it generates for related industries such as hotels, restaurants and taxis. No wonder London would be interested. (This is also why, despite industry disquiet, I think it will be so hard to change the ready-to-wear season – the cities don’t want to let their fashion weeks go or even truncate them; they want to keep all those visitors spending money in their town as long as possible.)
無論從倫敦市政府的角度，還是它對所有相關(guān)產(chǎn)業(yè)（如酒店、餐飲以及出租車行業(yè)等）的拉動效應(yīng)，舉辦時裝周均是利大于弊。勿庸置疑，倫敦市政府對此當然樂見其成。（這也就是盡管整個行業(yè)前景堪憂，而自己覺得舉辦時裝周的做法很難改變之原因所在——各大城市都不希望時裝周取消甚至縮短時間；它們希望參觀者盡可能延長留駐時間，能在自己城市大把消費。）
From a brand perspective, it also makes sense: creating childrenswear feeds into the fashion labels’ desire to pitch themselves as “l(fā)ifestyle” (life including families). It seduces adults who are brand-addled by allowing them to buy into the idea for slightly less money (children’s clothes being cheaper than adult’s), and hooks the kids young so that when they grow up, they become brand consumers too. After all, also jumping on the kids’ bandwagon recently (though not showing at Kids Fashion Week) are Gucci, Burberry, Dior and Stella McCartney.
從品牌自身的角度看，舉辦時裝周也大有裨益：創(chuàng)辦兒童時裝周，可以實現(xiàn)時尚品牌自我定位“生活方式”的心愿，生活嘛，當然得包括全家各個年齡段的人。通過兜售兒童服裝少花錢的噱頭，來忽悠對品牌一頭霧水的成年人；而且它們從小就“勾引”兒童，待他們長大成人后，就會變成品牌的忠實擁躉。畢竟，最近向兒童大獻殷勤者也包括了古馳(Gucci)、巴寶莉(Burberry)、迪奧(Dior)以及斯特拉•麥卡特尼(Stella McCartney)等知名品牌（盡管它們這次未能出現(xiàn)在倫敦兒童時裝周上）。
The “week” will last two days (Tuesday and Wednesday, with Wednesday being open to the public) and include catwalk shows from Paul Smith Junior, Chloé, Little Marc Jacobs, Diesel and more. Announcing the event, Alex Theophanous, founder of kids fashion ecommerce brand Alex and Alexa, said: “Children’s wear designers believe it deserves its own dedicated platform. With this event, we aim to put children’s fashion on the map worldwide.”
整個兒童時裝秀持續(xù)兩天（周三與周四，周三向公眾開放），屆時T型臺秀場將展出Paul Smith Junior、克洛伊(Chloé)、Little Marc Jacobs、迪賽(Diesel)等時尚品牌推出的童裝系列。宣布舉辦倫敦童裝周的消息時，網(wǎng)絡(luò)童裝品牌Alex and Alexa創(chuàng)始人亞歷克斯•西奧佛內(nèi)思(Alex Theophanous)說：“童裝設(shè)計師認為應(yīng)該有專門的展示平臺。通過舉辦這樣的活動，我們希望能把兒童時裝拓展至全世界?！?
Vanessa Friedman: Is London’s Kids Fashion Week a problem?
So you thought the fashion weeks were over for now, and that you didn’t have to hear about catwalk shows for at least another three months or so (until June, anyway, when menswear begins again). Sucker!
諸位若覺得這一波時裝周終于消停了，至少三個月內(nèi)不會再聽到時裝秀的相關(guān)消息（總之可以一直靜等至六月，屆時男裝秀又將重新開鑼），那就太幼稚了！
In fact there’s a fashion week going on somewhere in the world almost every week of the year. Sometimes more than one. Istanbul fashion week, for example, ends on Saturday. Lakmé fashion week in India runs from March 22 to 26. And Moscow’s starts on March 29. Indeed, I’ve often thought John Cheever’s short story “The Swimmer” would work equally well in fashion: instead of crossing suburbia by stroking your way from one pool to another, you could spend a year crossing the globe from one fashion week to the other.
事實上，在全球各地，每年幾乎每一周都有時裝秀粉墨登場，有時一周甚至不止一場。比方說，伊斯坦布爾(Istanbul)時裝周上周六剛結(jié)束，印度將于3月22日—26日舉辦拉克美時裝周(Lakmé fashion week)，莫斯科時裝周則將于3月29日揭幕。事實上，我一直覺得約翰•契弗(John Cheever)的短篇小說《游泳者》(“The Swimmer”)用來比喻時裝周十分貼切：只不過不是從郊區(qū)一個泳池接著另一個泳池地接力，而是全年從一個時裝周轉(zhuǎn)戰(zhàn)另一個時裝周。
But I digress. The point is, if there’s a gap, a fashion week will be created to fill it. Hence this Tuesday, squished in between Istanbul and India, London will welcome its first Kids Fashion Week. Yup, they already have womenswear; last year they introduced menswear; and now they’ve got children’s wear too. However, unlike men’s fashion week, which was widely applauded, this is bound to upset a lot of people.
但我這么說明顯跑題了，問題是果真有空檔，也定會平添一個時裝周以填補其空白。不久前，倫敦在伊斯坦布爾與印度時裝周之間，見縫插針地舉辦了首屆兒童時裝周(Kids Fashion Week)。沒錯，倫敦已經(jīng)舉辦了女裝周；去年又舉辦了男裝周；如今又推出童裝周。但與男裝周（贊譽不斷）不同的是，這注定會讓很多人覺得很不爽。
The sanctity of childhood! Can we not leave some part of our world unbranded? Protect our youth from the evils of rampant consumerism! And so on. That’s the easy attack, anyway. And while I, too, have an issue with this particular development, both as a parent and as a fashion person (and not necessarily in that order) it’s not for the above reasons, which are, in truth, a lot of hooey.
時裝秀竟然也染指圣潔無瑕的兒童！難道就不能給這個世界留一塊未受品牌侵襲的凈土？保護孩子不受甚囂塵上消費主義思潮之毒害！諸如此類的事不勝枚舉。再說了，把魔爪伸向兒童實在是易如反掌！盡管本人無論是作為家長還是時尚界人士（并非一定按照以上順序），我對此出格做法很有意見，但并非出于以上原因，因為這些原因從本質(zhì)上說都是胡言亂語。
Kids are already heavily exposed to brands, from Disney to McDonald’s, and they have been for years. They are just as aware of what it means to be part of the club as anyone. My seven-year-old can lecture me quite cogently about why Apple is cooler than Nokia.
從迪斯尼(Disney)到麥當勞(McDonald’s)，孩子們一直深受品牌之影響，況且這種境況已經(jīng)由來已久。與成人一樣，他們也對品牌發(fā)燒友意味著什么心知肚明，我七歲的孩子能把蘋果比諾基亞酷的原因說得頭頭是道。
The only thing new about this is the brands themselves; when I was a kid, back in the olden days, it was all Danskin and Laura Ashley instead of Dolce and Rachel Riley. Besides, there’s a lot of upside to a fashion week – any fashion week.
蒙在鼓里的倒是品牌本身；想當初自己孩提時代，耳熟能詳?shù)钠放浦挥蠨anskin與羅蘭愛思(Laura Ashley)，而非杜嘉班納(Dolce & Gabbana)與Rachel Riley。此外，舉辦兒童時裝周（任何時裝周）有諸多好處。
Consider it from a municipal perspective, and all the business it generates for related industries such as hotels, restaurants and taxis. No wonder London would be interested. (This is also why, despite industry disquiet, I think it will be so hard to change the ready-to-wear season – the cities don’t want to let their fashion weeks go or even truncate them; they want to keep all those visitors spending money in their town as long as possible.)
無論從倫敦市政府的角度，還是它對所有相關(guān)產(chǎn)業(yè)（如酒店、餐飲以及出租車行業(yè)等）的拉動效應(yīng)，舉辦時裝周均是利大于弊。勿庸置疑，倫敦市政府對此當然樂見其成。（這也就是盡管整個行業(yè)前景堪憂，而自己覺得舉辦時裝周的做法很難改變之原因所在——各大城市都不希望時裝周取消甚至縮短時間；它們希望參觀者盡可能延長留駐時間，能在自己城市大把消費。）
From a brand perspective, it also makes sense: creating childrenswear feeds into the fashion labels’ desire to pitch themselves as “l(fā)ifestyle” (life including families). It seduces adults who are brand-addled by allowing them to buy into the idea for slightly less money (children’s clothes being cheaper than adult’s), and hooks the kids young so that when they grow up, they become brand consumers too. After all, also jumping on the kids’ bandwagon recently (though not showing at Kids Fashion Week) are Gucci, Burberry, Dior and Stella McCartney.
從品牌自身的角度看，舉辦時裝周也大有裨益：創(chuàng)辦兒童時裝周，可以實現(xiàn)時尚品牌自我定位“生活方式”的心愿，生活嘛，當然得包括全家各個年齡段的人。通過兜售兒童服裝少花錢的噱頭，來忽悠對品牌一頭霧水的成年人；而且它們從小就“勾引”兒童，待他們長大成人后，就會變成品牌的忠實擁躉。畢竟，最近向兒童大獻殷勤者也包括了古馳(Gucci)、巴寶莉(Burberry)、迪奧(Dior)以及斯特拉•麥卡特尼(Stella McCartney)等知名品牌（盡管它們這次未能出現(xiàn)在倫敦兒童時裝周上）。
The “week” will last two days (Tuesday and Wednesday, with Wednesday being open to the public) and include catwalk shows from Paul Smith Junior, Chloé, Little Marc Jacobs, Diesel and more. Announcing the event, Alex Theophanous, founder of kids fashion ecommerce brand Alex and Alexa, said: “Children’s wear designers believe it deserves its own dedicated platform. With this event, we aim to put children’s fashion on the map worldwide.”
整個兒童時裝秀持續(xù)兩天（周三與周四，周三向公眾開放），屆時T型臺秀場將展出Paul Smith Junior、克洛伊(Chloé)、Little Marc Jacobs、迪賽(Diesel)等時尚品牌推出的童裝系列。宣布舉辦倫敦童裝周的消息時，網(wǎng)絡(luò)童裝品牌Alex and Alexa創(chuàng)始人亞歷克斯•西奧佛內(nèi)思(Alex Theophanous)說：“童裝設(shè)計師認為應(yīng)該有專門的展示平臺。通過舉辦這樣的活動，我們希望能把兒童時裝拓展至全世界?！?