THE DRG STYLE INDEX: SELFRIDGES, VOGUE, THOMAS TAIT, COCA COLA
My weekly DRG STYLE INDEX ranks the brand stories that have most resonated with me, in order of interest. This week includes Thomas Tait’s big break and how Vogue monetises its Insta feed…
1 SELFRIDGES BETS ITS MONEY ON IT BAGS
Selfridges loves a sweeping gesture and here’s one that’s hard to beat. It’s launching a destination accessories department which will see its luxury handbag offer double in size. (Does the world need more Celine bags? Clearly it does.) The £300 million redevelopment project starts this month and will be completed in five years time. Best start saving now then…
2. VOGUE’S INSTAGRAM ECOMMERCE DRIVE
The lines between church and state just got even more blurred. Last weekend I reported on the imminent arrival of Graziashop.com and now we learn that Vogue has taken another jump into e-com and social shopping with LiketoKnow:It. A website that lets influential bloggers and Instagrammers monetise their feeds, LiketoKnow:It syncs with Instagram and RewardStyle so that when the #liketkit hashtag is featured in an Instagram pic, the products become available to buy on the LiketoKnow:It site. For Vogue to join LiketoKnow:It is a pretty major statement of intent and suggests that other Conde Nast titles (especially the shoppy ones – paging Lucky magazine…) might follow suit. Although really, how long til Instagram just hooks up with etailers and makes it easy to add live shopping links?
3. THOMAS TAIT TAKES OFF
Whyyyy did I not place a bet on Thomas Tait winning the inaugural LVMH Young Fashion Designers Prize? He was announced as the €300,000 prize winner last week, which also gets him expert mentoring help from pretty much the best brains in the biz. (P.S. gotta love Suzy Menkes blogging up a storm on Insta at the prize-giving.) Here’s an interesting interview with Tait on Business Of Fashion in which he talks about the disparity between the speed of PR hype versus commercial success and how one can actually damage the other…
4. COCA COLA’S FASHION FOCUS
I love this feature in V magazine on the fashionisation of Coca-Cola. Coke’s head of global licensing, Kate Dwyer has very carefully selected the best top-down fashion labels and designers to collaborate with to make Coca-Cola the coolest logo on the block right now. Coming this month, OPI nail polishes inspired by Coca-Cola…
