House of Holland launches pre-tail
Roland Mouret in 2007, Burberry in 2010, Moda Operandi in 2011. Is 2012 the year that pre-tail goes mainstream? Henry Holland has just launched pre-tail for the first time with selected AW12 looks available for pre-order directly from his House of Holland website. Customers pay 50% up front with the balance payable just before delivery a few months later. The thinking goes that by asking customers to pay in advance, designers get a heads-up on which pieces will sell best thus avoiding wasteful over-production (not to mention easing cashflow). While Moda Operandi doesn’t give refunds if you receive your item and decide it’s a nonstarter (you can only get ‘store’ credit on the site – a bit jammy, non?), Holland operates the same 28 day refund policy as for his other online sales.
What the appointment of Harper’s Bazaar’s Lucy Yeomans as Net-a-Porter editor-in-chief means for the industry
Today has been a day of breathless retail-meets-media news. Net-a-Porter announced Harper’s Bazaar’s Lucy Yeomans as editor-in-chief of the etail site starting in April, with Jenny Dickinson (currently deputy editor of Elle) taking over her role as acting editor of Harper’s Bazaar. A few hours later came the news that fashion director Amanda Brooks is to leave Barneys New York due to a move to the UK with her husband and family. Continue reading
Vogue Festival: the schedule and ticket info updated
The look behind the fashion curtain continues to enthrall. With Franca Sozzani’s daily Vogue Italia blog, UK Elle’s live tweeting from its cover shoot with Kristen Stewart this arvo (4pm GMT at ElleUK should you care) and Elle editor Lorraine Candy’s new What I Wore blog, it seems the appetite for insider access continues to grow. Continue reading
LONDON FASHION WEEK AW12: DAY 3
I tried to keep this brief but it didn’t happen so here goes. First up: Margaret Howell. You don’t get many surprises here but that’s OK. With some designers I like to know what I’m getting and for AW12 we’re getting the perfect white shirt, trad fairisles, fitted twinsets, schoolgirl box-pleated skirts, indestructable tweed trench coats (an update on my navy wool one that kept the biting chill out all weekend) and boyish blazers. To finish off – low side ponytails, penny loafers and darling little olive green Tam-o-shanter hats. Continue reading
London Fashion Week AW12: Day 1
Day one of London Fashion week is traditionally a bit of a soft launch but in reality yesterday was as busy as I have ever seen it. Clearly the days of the privileged few having exclusive access to the shows are over and you know what? It’s all for the good of the industry. Continue reading
High spec high street ad campaigns: River Island
Topshop, H&M, Mango, they’re all at it with their boldface photographers and supermodel ad campaigns. Latest to join Josh Olins, Terry Richardson et al in the high street ad campaigns camp is Ellen Von Unwerth for River Island. Continue reading
Q&A: Farfetch.com’s Jose Neves on his business beginnings, etail in emerging markets and multi-channel thinking
News just in: Farfetch.com, the curated marketplace for independent boutiques has raised $18 million of further funding to help growth in Brazil, Asia and America. Launched in 2008 by Jose Neves (originally a shoe designer and also the brains behind B Store and Swear), Farfetch works like an upscale high street where boutiques can spread their reach to customers in 100 countries. Jose agreed to answer some of my questions on his business beginnings, the challenges of etail in emerging markets and his multi-channel strategy… Continue reading
Menswear AW12 shows get in on the Twitpic action
Some disagree but I found it quite exciting viewing Burberry’s ‘Tweetwalk’ live Twitpic show and Dolce & Gabbana’s's Twitpics on my BlackBerry while out shopping yesterday. While the last few seasons have seen fashion editors tweeting first 140-character reports, then blurry Twitpics and the ocasional Twitvid, now the brands themselves are tweeting the action in tandem with (or just after) the shows. Continue reading
Quote of the day
“Even before I started the brand, I knocked on Versace’s door. I called him up and was like, ‘I’m in Italy, can I show up for a meeting?’ And they were like, ‘Um who are you? No we don’t work like that,’ and I said, Well I just went to Prada and I’m here,’ and eventually they were like, ‘Okay come’ and actually Brian Atwood was the accessories designer for Versace at the time, so I sat down with Brian Atwood. He was actually very nice and I showed my stuff to him and he was really impressed and they were all really supportive of what I did. You make ballsy moves all the time, but in the beginning, when there’s nothing, you really have to put your foot in the door.”
Rem D Koolhass, creative director of United Nude, Fashionista.com
The Financial Times on blogger influence and the commercial clout of online tastemakers
Much food for thought in yesterday’s FT article on the power of online tastemakers to shift product. Do also read the second piece on digital marketing agency Joyn* and French company Linkfluence which digs deeper into data analysis ( fyi ‘data’ is going to be one of the big watchwords for 2012).
[*Full disclosure: Disneyrollergirl is listed in the Joyn report and featured on their site]
