Retail concepts

THE DRG STYLE INDEX: Gap, Versace, Gucci, NARS



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

1. WOULD YOU BUY A COFFEE FROM GAP?
Gap Lion coffee + Records shop in oxford street
Last week, Gap added a coffee-cum-record-shop (a collaboration with East London’s Lion Coffee + Records) to its Oxford Street store in a move to entice a younger, cooler customer. Will it work? I’m not the target market, so I can’t say, but I love a store with a nice café, so I’ll definitely check it out… (more…)



Written in the stars



Personalised Valentine's gifts from Smythson

Just when did astrology get so fashionable? Let’s not question it. If you’re a fan, you’ll be interested to know about these personalisation gift ideas from two of my favourite luxury brands for Valentine’s Day (and beyond).

Smythson Written in the stars astrology signs

A couple of weeks ago I got to meet the fabulous Shelley von Strunckel at Smythson in Bond Street, where she gave a talk about astrology to introduce Smythson’s new collection of zodiac sign motifs. (more…)



THE DRG STYLE INDEX: FRANCES VALENTINE, BOUCHRA JARRAR, BURBERRY, VETEMENTS, MADEWELL, ESTEE LAUDER



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

1. FROM KATE SPADE TO FRANCES VALENTINE
Shoes from Frances Valentine's spring 2016 collection.
Handbag sales may be on the slide but that isn’t stopping the original Kate Spade dream team from setting up a whole new accessories brand. (more…)



Buy it now: the best beauty and fashion gifts for Chinese New Year



Beauty and Fashion gifts for Chinese New Year include Giorgio Armani's monkey-themed Illuminating Powder

When is it not gift seaason somewhere in the world? Between Christmas and Valentine’s comes the Lunar New Year, AKA, an opportunity for stores to promote some full price product in festive red and gold. Unsurprisingly, it’s the luxury stores who are pulling out the stops to present enticing, Chinese-friendly gifts, especially with monkey-themed motifs or in editions of lucky number eight.

In truth, I’m not seeing a huge amount of innovation. The beauty brands get my vote for gorgeous jewel-like compacts in lovely packaging – for example this Estee Lauder compact and the Giorgio Armani Illuminating Palette – but for leathergoods brands like Jimmy Choo and Mulberry it’s a case of merchandising all the reds and golds together for a simple (but probably quite effective) pick-n-mix offer.

In China, Burberry is doing what it does best, using social platform WeChat to let users digitally unwrap gifts and create personalised digital Lunar New Year envelopes to send to friends and family. But elsewhere, it’s about slapping a monkey on anything and everything and hoping for the best. Here’s my edit.

SHOP THE POST BELOW…

WORDS: Navaz Batliwalla