When fashion lets you down

It's a high profile launch. A fashion legend was launching a clothing line for what's now a fashion establishment. And although the clothes were actually good for once and I can totally see the collection both being commerical and having fashion nous, the designer in question was out of it. I don't know if it was drugs. (First thought, naturally). A, somewhat pretentious, affectation. Or just a nonchalance picked up from years in the business. Sunglasses stayed on throughout. There were one word answers, mistakes identifying the pieces in the collection, and painful gaps between questions which I filled by somewhat shamefully fingering sleeves of the blouses and cooing over the buttons. Come to think of it, maybe the 'designer' just didn't have a clue about what to say because the collection was theirs in name alone. That's probably the sad truth. Sad both because I actually wouldn't mind knowing what such an institution of that ilk would bring to fashion today if fully engaged. And sad, because what sort of place do you need to have got to that you'll sign up to something that's nothing but caching in on a brand you spent years cultivating?