Prize-winning architects get work through competitions, and if their designs are radical, like Zaha Hadid’s, years may elapse between projects. But even the most revered fashion maverick can’t survive without the system. Azzedine Alaïa may be the only designer in the world whose infrequent shows are an event, but he still must regularly supply stores with merchandise. Young musical artists, rebuffed by recording companies, have gone straight to the Internet. But, as Klaus Stockhausen, the fashion director of German Interview, put it the other day, “That may work for funny T-shirts but not for talent.”
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