Perfectly suited




Two loosely complementary trends emerged at September’s LFW which used African style as a jumping off point. Paul Smith (above) was inspired by the Congolese ‘sapeurs’, (well turned out gents of the Society for the Advancement of People of Elegance) who have recently been documented in a rather lovely photography book for which Sir Paul himself has written the preface. As luck would have it, an invitation has come my way to the exhibition preview next week. Gentlemen of Bacongo is on for two days only from 27-29 November (12-8pm) at Londonewcastle Project Space, 28 Redchurch Street, E2 or you can buy the book here.



Also on the African fashion tip, Aquascutum’s Michael Herz told me he was channelling Malick Sibidé’s legendary portrait photographs of Malian youth when dreaming up the SS10 collection, deliberately clashing it with the utilitarian Britishness of Aquascutum’s heritage. As a lover of a certain type of energy in photography, whether that’s from searing colour as in the Bacongo book or a general upbeat mood as in Sidibé’s monochromes, these images are always an absolute pleasure to behold.





7 Comments ,



If anything converts me to online shopping, this may be it



A few weeks ago I did some work with an online retailer. In the course of my work, the subject of online shopping came up and my colleague was aghast when I told her I don’t shop online. It’s true, I don’t. Apart from the odd book from Amazon – which by the time you’ve factored in delivery charges isn’t that much cheaper than the high street – I do all my shopping in bricks-and-mortar stores. I prefer the in-store experience and when it comes to clothes shopping I want to know I can return them with no hassle. It’s also why I feel happier buying from department stores rather than ‘no refunds’ boutiques. But news reaches me today of a new initiative from ASOS called ASOS Premier. For £24.95 a year you get free next day or ‘nominated day’ delivery and free returns which are collected from your house! Now, forgive me if this is common practice with online retailers but I’ve never heard of it and I think it’s bloody genius. I was so gobsmacked, I had to get someone to check that I’d read the blurb properly and got the right end of the stick. This is something that would seriously make me rethink my ‘no online shopping’ stance. It means you can order the item you want in a couple of different sizes, try them on at home playing dress-up with all your other things, then return the non-fitting item without hauling your ass down to the post office and paying for the privilege. Duh, they should have done this years ago!

At this week’s Fashion Summit, one of the main messages coming across was the importance of customer service. When business is tough, a good product, a good price and good customer service will see you through. If anyone knows how to succeed in online retail it’s ASOS and we all know that they are doing very well with product and price. It’s great to see customer service being addressed like this, let’s see if others follow suit.

9 Comments , ,



Micro-trend: Get ready for the Gap scarf-shoe




So you liked the Prada Resort scarf-shoe but thought it was a one-off? Nay, nay and thrice nay – the blighters are all over the ss10 press days! Brian Atwood’s are a froth-fest of chiffon and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them coddling Carrie Bradshaw’s ankles in the next SATC movie.

Rupert Sanderson’s are a tad more casual and give a nod to the actually-quite-scary clog trend.

Gap’s interpretation is a muted bandana print on a nude cork wedge. The next few days see press days from Asos, River Island, Warehouse, Urban Outfitters and M & S, wonder how many more scarf-shoes will show up?

11 Comments



< 1 2 3 4 5 >»