24 August, 2014

Slippers for hipsters: Mahabis

I stumbled on these Mahabis slippers via a Facebook ad of all things. But I think they’re really cool.

After being subjected to three ‘aging raver’ DJ types having a serious discussion about slippers a while ago, I said ‘someone needs to hurry up and exploit this market’. I was thinking along the lines of Stussy, Junya or Nike even, the brands that people of my generation grew up with and respect, because we want comfy slippers, but we also still love our credible brands and aren’t ready for Bhs.

While we wait for Stussy et al, in stepped Mahabis. Just launched this summer, these indoor-outdoor slippers look like a hybrid of old school Keds, felt Birkenstocks and those neoprene sock shoes you wear on the beach. (more…)

Disneyrollergirl 3 Comments Brands, Design, News, Shopping, Trends design, Hypebeast, Mahabis, Nike, shoes, shopping, trends

23 August, 2014

THE DRG STYLE INDEX: BURBERRY, RAF SIMONS, MCM, CHANEL, LYST

Here’s the latest weekly DRG STYLE INDEX ranking, a round-up of the brands currently buzzing on my radar…

1. BURBERRY WINS THE #ALSICEBUCKETCHALLENGE

As with all pop culture phenomena, there’s a bit of a debate raging around the #alsicebucketchallenge. Sure, it’s a great vehicle for self promotion, but if it raises awareness and cashola then who cares? One of my favourites was Saks Fifth Avenue’s Marigay McKee (AKA the goddess of grooming) who then nominated retail rivals Bergdorf’s, Barneys and Bloomingdale’s. Naturally, Burberry utilised its iconic trench (clever Burberry), and here’s the Topshop team taking on the challenge having been nominated by ASOS. (more…)

Disneyrollergirl 0 Comments Brands, Business of fashion, Design, Menswear, News, Online shopping, Retail concepts, Shopping accessories, AW14, Barrie, best fashion blog, Burberry, Burlington Arcade, Chanel, Lyst, menswear, Raf Simons, retail concepts, retail news, shopping, social commerce

22 August, 2014

On Gap, M&S, and the fashion paradox of Dressing Normal

Well, isn’t Gap’s new ‘Dress Normal’ campaign interesting?

As we all know, this year’s buzzword ‘normcore’ is steeped in anony Gap-style dressing, so Gap has nodded to that in its Dress Normal strapline. But don’t expect 90s-tinged bland-chic. Gap’s imagery is far more elevated and beautiful, so we’re shown not normal people (thank God, I’m a bit over normal people), but Hollywood elite types in ‘normal’ situations to represent modern-day Gap.

My favourite is Angelica Huston (top) having a coffee in a gorgeously lit diner situation (as opposed to a normcore Starbucks). (more…)

Disneyrollergirl 2 Comments Ad campaigns, Brands, Business of fashion, News, Photography, Trends ad campaigns, AW14, best fashion blog, brands, celebrities, Gap, influencers, Marks & Spencer, Normcore

21 August, 2014

Fashion meets art: my collection is bigger than yours

LVMH-Frank-Gehry- Fondation-Louis-Vuitton

Nope, still not bored with this year’s fashion-art love affair. Which is just as well as it’s only set to intensify. Late October sees the big reveal of the Frank Gehry-designed Fondation Louis Vuitton art museum in Paris (above), showcasing the LVMH corporate collection of art. The 126,000 square foot ‘glass cloud’ is rumoured to be the venue for the next Vuitton womenswear show, so expect your Instagram feed to be flooded with art-fashion-architecture amazingess of the highest order… (more…)