Yearly Archives: 2008

December 31, 2008

Chinese win big bucks for footwear fraud

Fashionista knows how worried many of her readers are about Chinese manufacturers churning out vast quantities of lookalikes and fakes that compete with their own designer products at a fraction of the price — but sometimes, to quote the classic cliche, the boot is on the other foot.  Here’s a tale of four honest Chinese [...]
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December 29, 2008

The Legend of the Golden Fleece

The Sunday Business Post (Ireland) has picked up news that the Consumers’ Association has criticised fashion retailer H&M for marking up its Irish prices by 40 per cent or more. It seems that, in H&M’s new South King Street store, Dublin, sterling prices are being multiplied by almost one and a half as a euro [...]
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December 24, 2008

Pentland takes stake in Gio-Goi

Fashionista was delighted to read that Pentland had taken a stake in streetwear label Gio-Goi, proving that there are still investors out there with money prepared to invest in exciting growing brands despite the gloomy climate. Pentland has indicated that the Gio-Goi brand will be kept complelely seperate from Pentland and goes to show that [...]
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December 23, 2008

"Wedding dress and two curries, please …"

Crain’s Manchester Business reports that local importer A&A Fashions is facing the economic downturn by lashing out half a million pounds to turn its warehouse into a wedding venue. A&A’s owner Hassan Choudry hopes to attract banqueting and exhibitions business, in particular Asian and Jewish weddings. He is also applying for planning permission for an [...]
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December 19, 2008

Why designers are better than models

Supermodel Kate Moss has reportedly just renewed her contract with Topshop for a further three years. She plans to add new collections of lingerie and accessories. Some people may wonder why it is that, in the olden days, beautiful women used to be ‘models’ but now they are ‘designers’ (see Fashionista’s earlier post on Victoria [...]
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December 17, 2008

Oily Boy

What’s in a name? The Washington Post provides “Fashion Guidance for Aging Japanese Lads”, reporting that the latest fashion magazine for “elder boys” intended to encourage expenditure on male fashion in an ailing market is called Oily Boy. Some mistake surely? But then the first choice, “Old Boy” was not available for trade mark reasons. [...]
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December 15, 2008

Gracefully she slips out of her own name …

Drapers reports today that Amanda Wakeley has stepped down from the label which will continue to trade under her own name. This story reminded Fashionista of the saga following the sale of another wedding dress designer’s label: Elizabeth Emanuel. Readers may recall that the designer famous for creating Princess Diana’s wedding gown sold her business, [...]
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December 15, 2008

Old clothes cool in Poland

A striking piece of writing in The New York Times (“In Poland, Style Comes Used and by the Pound”) describes the fashion market in Poland, where the latest fashion is second-hand clothes. It seems that the affluent young sector of the market is now so confident of its ability to buy new clothing that it [...]
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December 13, 2008

UKFE joins BCIA as dreams begin to come true

Retail Bulletin reports that, in the first phase of his plan to create a single voice for the fashion and textile industry Peter Lucas, chairman of the British Clothing Industry Association (BCIA), has announced that UK Fashion Exports (UKFE) has been brought into the BCIA and that talks are progressing well with representatives of the [...]
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December 10, 2008

Of Sleeves and Arms

Oscar-winning British actress Dame Helen Mirren may be set to get her own M&S fashion label. Having previously bemoaned the fact that designers fail to make dresses with sleeves suitable for older women, when asked if she would accept an offer from M&S to have her own label she said “Oh yes”, adding that she [...]
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