shopping

Buy it now: The Paul Smith sale



Paul Smith sale aw19

A quick heads-up to say there’s now 50% off a lot of the Paul Smith sale* stuff, so if you fancy some signature tailoring, fine gauge knitwear or jazzy socks, then this is the place to go. For an extra 10% off the sale price, use the code EXTRA10 (until 10th Feb). (more…)



Elevated oral care: the Quip overnight toothbrush



Annemarieke van Drimmelen

Jonathan Margolis at How To Spend It is my tech critic of choice, and it turns out he’s also become its unofficial toothbrush critic. If he says this Quip toothbrush is good, then it must be. I usually use an Oral-B or ION-Sei electric toothbrush but don’t want to carry all that bulk if I’m travelling or doing an overnight stay. So then I usually take a bog standard toothbrush but feel it’s doing a substandard job. Quip solves this problem. It’s slender and fuss-free and works with a simple AAA battery to get the required power-brushing I like, without the chargers and plugs. Buy it here*. (more…)



My favourite classic, heritage-style shoes for winter in the city



Chapter 2 Jackdaw boots

Two great footwear brands to know if you’re into the heritage workwear look. (Plus a reminder of one you probably know already.)

I love the classic Paraboot Michael shoe, but at £315 it’s an investment purchase. More affordable is another French brand, Klemen, whose unisex workwear shoes were originally made for firefighters and the military. That should give you an idea of their utilitarian credentials.

The Padror Derby is the one to go for, unchanged in style since the eighties. (more…)



Retail round-up: Lunar New Year airport pop-ups are a data-capture gift to beauty retailers



Lancome Renovated Absolue Cushion

DFNI associate editor, ALISON FARRINGTON reports on the travel retail beauty opportunity for Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is upon us and travel retailers across Asia have been creating special promotions designed to attract passengers for the biggest Chinese shopping opportunity of the year. Travel retail or duty free shoppers are big business. Often referred to as the ‘Sixth Continent’, in 2018 the global market was worth $79bn.

Beauty remains the biggest and fastest-growing product sector in travel retail, while Asia Pacific is the category’s main growth driver. In 2018 the region saw beauty sales grow 23.5% to a total of $31.5bn. Beauty and fashion accessories are the biggest pull for Chinese travellers eager to snap up seasonal limited editions at the airport. This year’s theme is Year of the Rat (sometimes interpreted as a mouse) and we’ve seen brands adopting characterful themes such as Rocket Rat and even Mickey Mouse. (more…)