Webster’s New Millennium Dictionary of English defines flash mob as “a group of people who organize on the Internet and then quickly assemble in a public place, do something bizarre, and disperse.” Not included in this definition, probably because Webster’s didn’t want to state the obvious, is the fact that a mob needs to be made up of a fair number of people.
Sadly the flash mob, which hit London’s St. Pancras International Station last week to celebrate the release of the film Coco Before Chanel, failed to meet a couple of the necessary requirements; women in Chanel not normally being considered bizarre, and a dozen or so participants not conjuring up the teaming morass of humanity required to constitute a mob.
Perhaps it’s just a case of ‘ladies who lunch’ not being willing to gather en masse and do something silly; something that hopefully won’t deter future organizers of fash flash mobs. Maybe a more anarchic designer is needed. Anyone interested in a meeting of Vivienne Westwood wearers at London Zoo…animal masks and water pistols at twenty paces?
