Fashion and tech: Frends jewellery headphones
It’s only just dawned on me that headphones have become a fashion thing. Recently I’ve been bombarded with press releases about ‘designer’ headphones, why I don’t know as I have zero interest in them. I guess it taps into the wearable technology trend so maybe I should pay more attention. Continue reading
The third industrial revolution: On 3D printing and its impact on the fashon industry
Five months ago, BON magazine commissioned me to write about 3D printing and its potential impact on the fashion industry. The best bit was researching it (with some great help from Jen Eleto). I got some incredibly generous insights from the likes of Dutch product designer Sjors Bergmans who made the first wearable 3D printed shoes, Chris Norman, CEO of 3D printing company Kraftwurx, and Peter Hill who runs the fashion digital studio at London College of Fashion. During my interview with Ron Arad, he disappeared to unearth some 3D printed earrings from the back office of his studio. They were made nine years ago – “the first 3D printed consumer accessories”, according to him.
I also spoke to legal expert Kenneth Mullen and commercial strategy consultant Ceci Guicciardi to get their views on how the ease of 3D printing in future will affect copyright laws, while LCF’s Peter Hill even let us use the LCF 3D printers to make some possible designer ‘fakes’ – with interesting results. (Conclusion: it’s early days for this technology but it’s developing fast.) The article has just been published and has had a good response. Some people are calling 3D printing the third industrial revolution, but if you still think 3D printing in fashion means creating 3D textures on a T-shirt, then maybe you need to go to 3D Printshow at The Brewery in Clerkenwell this weekend. (Admission is £19.95 and boooking is advisable. Info here.)
The full article can be found in BON magazine, out now…
Discoveredd: Curated fashion and style
Do we need any more curation in our lives? It seems the answer is yes, lot’s more. eBay has just launched its new look ‘curated’ interface in the States which will be rolled out internationally over the next three months:
Meanwhile, every other day I’m emailed a press release about a new ‘discovery commerce’-based start-up or an existing site gets a Pinterest-style layer added to it. Well why not? We love discovering new things, especially when there are ‘tastemakers’ involved. I did a bit of tastemaking for Discoveredd last month. The site launched by Oliver Walsh lets you create a profile to add your discoveries to and also has a section called Spotlight where it invites the likes of Caroline Issa, Amanda Harlech, Cozette McCreery (I just discovered she sat for Lucian Freud) and me to share our finds.
Mine are here. It’s actually quite hard to choose your favourite things at any one time (I have hundreds of favourites!) but mine included Bill Bernstein’s photography, J.W Anderson’s shirts, Dinh Van jewellery, RSVP Berlin, 1STDIBS.com and Agnes B tees.
In fact, the Agnes B tee was a rediscovery. They were my uniform in the 90s and I started wearing them religiously again this summer. Agnes B have carried on selling the same style for years. Here’s me with Corrine Day in my Agnes B tee and a funny hat…
These tees age really well. They shrink slightly so I buy them in a size bigger but even the really old ones are still wearable. But I digress. I think the best thing about sites like Discoveredd is when the curation is ‘meaningful’, i.e, the recommendations are true recommedations that the user wants to share, rather than just streams of ‘I want this’. I find it more useful and meaningful when people recommend beauty/fashion products that they actually use and swear by, or a cafe, book, shop etc that they genuinely love. What’s your view on discovery and curation sites?
It’s live! Harper’s Bazaar launches ShopBazaar
Magazines swore they’d never do it. “Editorial is editorial; commerce is commerce,” they chorused. But things are different now. Harper’s Bazaar has just launched Shop.Bazaar.com in preview, a shoppable edit for the Harper’s Bazaar woman. In essence it’s a bit like Net-a-Porter in reverse. It has shoppable content curated via the pages of Harper’s Bazaar by its impeccably-pedigreed editors and is powered in partnership with retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue and Hirshleifers (Harper’s doesn’t hold any inventory itself; its fashion cupboards are big, but not that big), as well as mono-brands like Salvatore Ferragamo. I’ve just signed up so I’m having a play. Will report back…
CHLOE ALPHABET: G is for Gaby Aghion
Female designers are at the creative helm of some of the most successful luxury brands right now and coincidentally or not, a rather important trio of them has risen through the ranks of fashion via Chloé. Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo, and currently Clare Waight Keller are at the forefront of intelligent, female-friendly fashion, gifting women the multi-tasking wardrobe fundamentals that answer our everyday demands. Continue reading
I’ve been Burberry-ed
It’s not often I post photos of me on this site because it’s not that kind of blog but I’m making an exception on this occasion because I know people like to see exactly who is spouting all this information and opinion every once in a while. Oh who am I kidding, I’ve been Burberry-ed! Continue reading
Guest post: Social-commerce at NYFW and LFW ensures Fashion Week is a democracy for everyone to enjoy
Guest post by occasional DRG contributor, Alison Bishop
First we had Google+ Hangouts partnering with online curation site Lyst for New York Fashion Week, then we saw snippets of Diane von Furstenberg’s show process, firsthand, through her Google Glass video. On Saturday we saw House of Holland live streamed on eBay’s Style Collective blog, boosted by celebrity and consumer commentary (plus the chance to shop an edit of House of Holland AW12 on eBay.com). Continue reading
Fashion futurism: DVF’s Google Glass video
I’m convinced that eyewear is going to be the fashion category with the most possibilities for future tech innovation. While I’m not quite sure what’s happened with Lady Gaga’s Polaroid camera glasses, we’re already starting to see an emergence in 3d printed eyewear, but let’s put that aside for now.
This week it’s all about Google Glass, thanks to Diane Von Furstenberg’s NYFW collab with Google. When she took her bow on the catwalk with Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin on Sunday, she was wearing one of the colour-coded eye-pieces. Turns out each Google Glass houses a chip in its frame which was able to record the preparations and goings-on of show day. The final video is here to see and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of Google Glass technology…
Trend report: Nina Ricci’s animated GIFs
Here’s a great execution of a luxury trend that ticks two boxes – playful luxury and what The Future Laboratory calls ‘netstalgia’. Nina Ricci has released four animated GIFs designed with Jo Ratcliffe to launch its AW12 La Rue handbags. Although I must admit the bags aren’t really my taste, I absolutely love the GIFs which are charming and playful yet absolutely retain the aspirational whiff of luxury…
Are magazines still relevant? Paradis, Apartamento, Modern Matter
More than ever I’m finding that the magazines I read (as opposed to buying, then placing untouched in a pile for two months) are those with a unique or personal point of view. Possibly an influence from the blog phenomenon, it feels like these mags have more to say and are therefore savoured, returned to and kept. Three I’m liking at the moment: Continue reading
