Retail concepts

Positive fashion: M&S to offer a major Deliveroo-style repair service



M&S repair service

Really good to see all these high street and fashion brands embracing the repair economy. M&S is the latest to team up with Sojo on offering a Deliveroo-style clothing repair service to customers – M&S Fixed by Sojo*. From August, Marks & Spencer customers can book a repair service through a dedicated online hub, allowing access to a range of repair services including zip replacements and invisible knitwear mending (from £5, with repaired items returned to customers within 7-10 days). (more…)



Quote of the day: Naomi Rea, Artnet News



Art Basel Shop tote

“Access to this world is aspirational and offering a piece of it at a more affordable price point expands the customer base significantly. Now, the casual visitors over the weekend…can say they bought something at Art Basel and can signal their membership in the art tribe.”
Naomi Rea, Artnet News acting editor-in-chief, Vogue Business (more…)



Secret London: Clifford Street



Perfumer H Clifford Street

Clifford Street, a London gem so discreet I can never quite locate it, just got more inviting.

If you ever need some respite from the madness of New Bond Street and Regent Street, just look for the wee street opposite the Dior flagship on Bond. Here you’ll find Morris’s café for a cuppa (and occasional sighting of Bill Nighy), Connolly’s leathergoods and fabulous oversize knits, Adret’s relaxed-yet-always-refined contemporary menswear, and all manner of gentlemanly ready-to-wear finds at Anderson & Sheppard Haberdashery (in a past life this was the rather more flamboyant Mr Fish). (more…)



Merch watch: are you consuming culture as a performative act?



The Gentlewoman x Arket tee

Rachel Cusk and Zadie Smith have become, in effect, literary brands — once their names are removed from the context of a book’s cover and placed on a hat or a tote bag.” Terry Nguyen, New York Times.

The merch machine refuses to die. In fact, I would argue it’s only just getting started. The New York Times recently published this article on literary merch, explaining the relatively new popularity of #litcore caps (and totes and tees) that show allegiance to revered writers while telegraphing the wearer’s (perceived) intellectual superiority. The Guardian calls this “consuming culture as a performative act”, while comedian Dan Rosen simply calls it “liberal cringe” (ouch #guilty).

It’s also rampant in media, with mainstream and niche publications going all out on taste signallers. (more…)