Manish Arora for Swatch



It’s been a long while coming but at last Swatch has woken up to the fact that we want the designer collabs back. Swatch has just unveiled 6 Manish Arora watches, all in his signature upbeat, colourful style but all entirely different from each other.

[Creaky old-person voice alert:] I remember stampedes for the Westwood versions and still cherish my velvet-strapped orb POP Swatch (actually….where is it?) from back in the nineties. Maybe the recession has brought Swatch to their senses. After all, as we all know, you may not be able to afford a designer dress/bag/jacket but you can splash out on a Swatch. Prices start at £65 and go up to £235 and they launch on May 1st.

See more here:

[Pictured: Giant Shimmer watch, £235]


Free designer bags at Selfridges!



I wasn’t sold on Selfridges’ Pantone-shade-109 yellow collab with various designers to commemorate their centenary. A yellow Mulberry Bayswater? Um, no thanks. But this I like…

Selfridges has enlisted Vivienne Westwood, Giles Deacon, Paul Smith and Stella McCartney to each design a limited edition carrier bag to help with their celebrations. The bags will launch in Selfridges’ stores nationwide on May 1st, available to customers in fashion and accessories and are set to become overnight Ebay sellouts collector’s items. My favourites are the Giles and Vivienne Westwood bags. Only problem is I’m on a spending diet at the mo – does a copy of Grazia count as a fashion accessory?



CREATE TENNIS ART



I’m on a bit of a tennis tip at the mo. Something to do with wanting to do a table-tennis shoot (no clue where that one came from) and being invited to the Fred Perry 100th anniversary piss-up celebrations at Wimbledon next month. So this email from the peeps at Ellesse came at just the right time:

Ellesse is marking its 50th anniversary with the design competition CREATE TENNIS ART and with uber cool illustrator and typographer Si Scott as part of the jury. The deadline to enter the competition is May 10th. All you have to do is create a piece of art or design to commemorate the Ellesse 50th anniversary inspired by the brand’s Italian heritage and sporting roots in tennis. You could win €4,500 and be sent to the Ellesse 50th anniversary event this summer in Rome where your work will be on display. The categories for the competition range from fashion and textiles, right through to fine art, sculpture, street art, graphics and digital. More info here.

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