Yes PP is launching tomorrow, my inbox has been flooded by the consignment shops with old Céline offerings this weeknd, smart consolation move for those who are priced out or pipped at the post/checkout I guess. I'm not anticipating buying anything either unless they offer some amazing opening discount.
Red, re: Madrid, Pez Tienda is a lovely but pricey shop, the Loewe flagship store is kind of worth visiting even if you're not interested in buying anything as it's very much their roots and heritage alongside the more contemporary vision where usually it's just the latter. What else, I had an amazing chocolate cake for breakfast in a bar near the Museo del Prado but I can't remember exactly where it was. Very memorable cake though, I shall have to find it once more... The Huertas' neighborhood/street had some really nice independent quirky boutiques. And, obviously, El Corte Ingles is always nice to nose around in but I doubt I need to tell you that.
Flo, yes, you should care a bit, as much as I was tepid about the Rebel exhibition, mostly because I felt they inserted politics into anything and everything, they did have an illuminating timeline where the politics had a place WRT the development of young talent in London and you can really see that as soon as the Conservatives (and Lib Dem, I guess, they only pointed fingers at the conservatives though) raised tuition fees and rolled back investment into the fashion industry that working class talent just sort of dissipates. A few can sort of work their way in in the early years on grants but they're becoming less and less common and that lack of diversity is noticeable in the quality of talent.
St Martins has a lot of very wealthy students now who can afford a lavish lifestyle with easy access into fashion circles, have access to premium fabrics and get seamstresses to make their vague sketches into near professional collections. It doesn't make them bad designers by default but limitation is an important ingredient of creativity and it must be so demoralising for their less cash rich classmates. It's also worrying that like publishing and other industries that used to be good catalysts of social mobility, it's another career path that's primarily becoming dominated by those who can work for free or run at a loss as they're independently wealthy.