Opalesce
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26/09/2025
London Fashion Week Proves That British Culture Matters.
Scientifically speaking, the lifecycle of a star is straightforward. Culturally speaking, it is less so. Nepotism is not quite the nebula, the definitive birthplace of stars, nor could a cultural star in their prime parallel the steadfastness of the main-sequence star. As for fading stars, the cosmic kind go through a sort of celestial menopause, becoming red giants, which then retire along one of two paths: that of the white dwarf, or the explosive supernova (and eventual black hole). Again, the cultural kind resist and meander, rarely ever embarking upon a straightforward path to retirement. From old actors reeled back into tired, once stratospherically successful franchises, to musicians stuck on the ‘Greatest Hits’ circuit; from those re-releasing merchandise for their one-time, quasi-breakout character in a teen drama, to those, struggling in the PC world, that are born again as befuddled political reactionaries, the cultural midlife-crisis-insane-career-pivot of fading stars is anything but straightforward.