8 April, 2021

Ask Alison: How Browns Brook Street has recast itself as the new luxury omni-flagship

Browns Brook Street The Focus

There’s a new luxury retail destination in town and it’s a storied Mayfair townhouse that features a heady mix of culture, community and the latest personalised tech-led shopping services. DRG retail editor, ALISON FARRINGTON reports…

Apart from the appealing fact that visiting an actual store is somewhat of a novelty as we emerge post-pandemic, we are about to enter a new era of phygital retail. Phygital 2.0 plays to the strengths of being inside a physical boutique environment – all the trappings of tangible and joyous purchases plus social interaction – while having frictionless digital retail services at your fingertips.

Launching on 12 April, at a reinvented flagship location, Browns Brook Street is the manifestation of owner, Farfetch’s visionary ‘Store of the Future’ omnichannel strategy that we first heard about in 2017. (more…)

Disneyrollergirl 0 Comments Art, Brands, Business of fashion, Design, Events, News, Online shopping, Retail concepts, Shopping, Technology, Trends Alison Farrington, Ask Alison, augmented reality, augmented retail, Browns, Business of Fashion, Farfetch, London life, long read, retail concepts, technology

29 March, 2021

Niki de Saint Phalle: Joy Revolution

Niki de Saint Phalle

I may be 3,000 miles away in a different time zone but I can still enjoy Salon 94’s Niki de Saint Phalle Joy Revolution exhibition.

Part of the just-opened Upper East Side Salon 94 gallery space, the show celebrates the ‘radical joy’ of Saint Phalle’s colourful multi-media work. Saint Phalle was known for her utopian feminist vision and interactive outdoor public sculptures. The website does the exhibition justice with some wonderfully uplifting drawings, paintings and sculptures. Joy revolution indeed. (more…)

Disneyrollergirl 0 Comments Art, Events, News Architectural Digest, art, Derrick Adams, Duro Olowu, events, exhibitions, Niki de Saint Phalle, retail concepts, Takuro Kuwata, Tom Sachs

5 October, 2020

Shop the post: A new Raf-ccia uniform at Prada SS21

Prada ss21

“A uniform is something that makes you feel able to think. You have to feel well, so that you are able to think.” Miuccia Prada

I wrote my fashion college dissertation on uniforms so the ‘New Prada’ SS21 collection from Miuccia and Raf was right up my strada. Specifically it took its cue from Miuccia Prada’s own uniform of skirt-sweater-kitten-heels, spliced with Raf Simons’ street sensibility. So, circle skirts with slouchy sweaters, hoodies and hole-gouged tops, 90s two-pieces of shell tops and long-legged pants, and couture coats fashioned from Re-nylon (aka fabric du jour, upcycled nylon). (more…)

Disneyrollergirl 0 Comments Art, Beauty, Bloggers, Brands, Business of fashion, Events, Fashion shows, Magazines, News, Shopping, Styling, Technology, Trends Alison Farrington, Business of Fashion, influencers, Miuccia prada, Prada, Raf Simons, SS21, trends

4 October, 2020

TRP Travel Retail Style Index: October 2020

Cartier Maillon de Cartier watch 2020

Welcome to a new travel retail column for DRG by Alison Farrington aka The Retail Planner (TRP)

As global travel picks up again, we look at the business and shopping trends of the travel retail world. In particular, the beauty, fashion, accessories, and watches & jewellery categories, dipping into the product exclusives and digital strategies that often launch in Asia and give the rest of the world an idea of innovations coming soon.

WHAT’S THE FUTURE FOR DUTY FREE SHOPPING? A major story this month, the entire travel retail industry is reeling from the latest government news that duty free is set to be abolished in the UK for everything bar alcohol and cigarettes from 1 Jan 2020. (more…)