Fashion, fashion, fashion. It's all I've ever wanted to do!" cries Ali Redcliffe, a young designer and protagonist played by Leonora Crichlow in the BBC's new drama Material Girl, which airs tonight. "Does that make me a bad person?"
Yes, Ali, it does. It irrevocably and overwhelmingly means you will never, ever be one of the nice ones – on TV, at least.
Both the movie and television industries can't get enough of fashion at present. Dramas such as Ugly Betty and The Devil Wears Prada went behind-the-scenes at glossy magazines to follow hapless interns and abused assistants trying to worm their way into this most ruthless and competitive of industries, facing adversity in the form of bullies and vampiric bosses. Then there were the reality shows, like Project Runway, where wannabe designers competed for a job at a prestigious label, and America's Next Top Model, a literal face-off to win a contract with a top cosmetics firm. Needless to say, the judges were either beastly or crazed, and the participants ruthless or wretched.
