February 22nd, 2012

LFW celebrates young British talent

Fashionista is a big supporter of new British talent through her work with the Centre for Fashion Enterprise, a pioneering business incubator that nurtures young talent within the fashion industry.  And she was justifiably proud as she watched some of her favourite young designers triumph at London Fashion Week. 

On Saturday she saw J JS Lee‘s dreamy collection which was inspired by the view outside an aeroplane window.  The designer achieved the perfect balance between simple shapes and detailed tailoring, fluidity and structure and muted tones and flashes of yellow. Vogue said the collection was “a lesson in pared-down minimalism and chic tailoring“, summarising, “She’s definitely one to watch“. 

Holly Fulton‘s show was a complete contrast.  The show channelled Lady Chatterley, Stepford Wife and saucy French beatnik-brunette. It was a visually electric, featuring Holly’s signature graphic prints in hot fushia pink and aquamarine.  Her high-glamour designs will definitely brighten up next winter.  Vogue said of the collection, “with its smoldering prints and flirtatious cuts, [it] will have Fulton’s acolytes adequately dressed for a seductive season“.

Fashionista is always impressed with the quality of the collections delivered by these  young designers, knowing at first hand the limited resources available to them, which is why organisations such as the CFE and NEWGEN, (who also sponsor both J JS Lee and Holly Fulton) are so important. 

NEWGEN has been sponsored by Topshop since 2001.  In honour of Topshop’s 10th anniversary of sponsoring NEWGEN at London Fashion Week, it has produced a range of t-shirts designed by prestigious NEWGEN alumni, including Peter Pilotto, Richard Nichol, Jonathan Saunders, Marios Schwab, Gareth Pugh, Ashish, Louise Gray, Nasir Mazhar, Meadham Kirchhoff, Roksanda Ilincic, j.w. Anderson, Emma Cook, Peter Jensen, Holly Fulton, Craig Lawrence, House of Jazz, Michael van der Ham, Erdem, Mary Katrantzou and Christopher Kane, many of them CFE sponsored designers.  The t-shirts can be purchased at London Fashion Week or online.  Buy one to celebrate the Capital’s thriving young talent, and support Centrepoint, the charity supporting young homeless people, at the same time. How can you say no to that?!

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February 13th, 2012

Fashionista In the Dock…

Fashionista’s recent judicial jaunt to the Employment Appeal Tribunal north of the Border has uncovered a gem of a case that should prove useful to all you fashion houses and retailers that choose to sponsor budding or promising designers through university courses [G E Caledonian Ltd v McCandliss EAT/0069/10]. Even though such university sponsorship may [...]

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Providing a forum for customer feedback on websites and blogs is increasingly common including in the fashion retail sphere. Afterall everyone, including Fashionista, likes a recommendation before making a purchase. However, if you do provide this type of service or functionality you need to be careful that you don’t make any statements which imply (directly [...]

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Competition for key central London stores reached a new level following the decision by Bernard Arnault, the chief executive of French luxury goods group LVMH (pictured) to purchase three stores on Bond Street for £300 million as reported in Reuters and Yahoo.   Fashionista understands that the shops include LVMH’s Louis Vuitton flagship store at 17-20 New Bond Street and two other stores let to [...]

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We reported a while back on leaked drafts of the new European data protection Regulation. Yesterday, the official version was published and Fashionista’s colleagues at Olswang spent a busy day analysing the practical implications of the proposal. Their more detailed analysis for in house counsel can be found here. The highlights Fashionista says you must know [...]

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Many UK fashion businesses have  recently been looking to increase margins by switching to paying their Chinese suppliers in Yuan. According to ChinaDaily.com, by making the switch Chinese suppliers have less of a need to build in a buffer in costs to guard against currency fluctuations – particularly in longer term contracts. This means suppliers are more [...]

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After the optimism of strong footfall figures on Boxing Day, high street retailers were reminded of the current challenging trading conditions following a fall in the number of shoppers during the January sales period as reported in the Telegraph on Monday. During December 2011, clothing retailer D2 Jeans and Barratts Priceless entered into administration and it is expected that they [...]

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Data has become an increasingly important commodity for those working in the fashion industry. Knowing who your customers are, their spending habits, likes and dislikes is invaluable. But alongside enjoying such an asset comes responsibility. Most will know that such responsibility is legally based on our data protection regime and legislation which has been in [...]

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Fashion houses have long provided internships to young hopefuls looking to break into the industry. But this practice is under increasing scrutiny from the UK taxman – Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – amid concern that interns are in fact carrying out the work of employees, and should be rewarded for doing so. As reported [...]

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December 5th, 2011

Career Story: Catherine Palmer

Fashionista attended a wonderful event last Thursday organised by the networking group Women in Law. The evening was hosted by the inspiring Catherine Palmer, General Counsel of luxury fashion brand Joseph at Joe’s Cafe established by the label’s founder Joseph Ettedgui because he needed somewhere to go for lunch which was close to his shop! From his favourite table in the [...]

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