There’s just no stopping Nike. Or Liberty. And as for the Nike X Liberty collaboration, it’s now in its 9th season and going stronger than ever. At a special presentation in the Liberty store, I was told that managing the demand is quite a feat, a fine balance between creating interest for the product and over hyping it. (I guess they need to try harder, the collection was almost sold out within three days of hitting the shop floor.) (more…)
I spent last week doing the AW14 press day rounds and my early highlights include all the art-fashion collections emerging. Each X Other is an interesting collective of artists, musicians, designers and other creatives who translate their work into something wearable, beautiful and often poetic, the idea being that art is always around you. For AW14, they have teamed up with New York artist Maripol to produce these simple pieces printed with her recognisable Polaroids and club flyers…
Question: what do sexy-shoe designers do when footwear fashions shift from £600 super-stilettos to £100 trainers? Well I guess they switch focus to bags. Is this the reason for Charlotte Olympia’s forthcoming business-friendly line? The new line of work-appropriate leather handbags launches for AW14, focusing on structured top handles, totes and clutch bags. (I love this ruby red ‘Bogart’ top handle, above.)
But shoes aren’t totally neglected. There’s an accompanying ‘Nine To Five’ line of lower-heeled pumps that nod to Dellal-style whimsy (think leopard print and peekaboo details). Served up in a briefcase-style box, complete with matching stockings, look out for them in June on Charlotteolympia.com and Net-a-Porter.com.
SEPHORA’S SHOPPABLE INSPIRATION BOARD
Done well, Sephora’s shopping platform could be a gamechanger. Launched two weeks ago, its new Beauty Board is a Pinterest-esque gallery of user-generated photos, which customers engage with, posting reviews, comments and tips. It’s what beauty forums do best, but this adds an all-important shoppable component and the ability to share widely on other platforms. With mobile’s increasing importance in syncing content with commerce, I imagine we’ll be seeing a lot more brands attempting similar feats. Read more here. (more…)
