Who would have thought so much could have happened in two weeks……scary…..I don’t think I’ll go away again! It was with immense regret that I returned to see the closure of the Kingly Court boutique. With all credit to the Shaftesbury Management Team that runs Kingly Court they have been tremendously supportive of LFF. What started off as a three month let resulted in the LFF having a large boutique for over 20 months and we are most grateful for all their commitment to supporting British Designer talent. For further information regarding the closure please click here
https://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/index.php?option=content&task=view&Itemid=27&id=4961/27/
However some fabulous news. We are delighted to announce the confirmation that Gerry DeVeaux, Contributing Editor to Tatler, MTV style guru and Global Ambassador for Roberto Cavalli will be on the Profile 6 judging panel to be held on 24th and 25th August. The panel will also include buying and head office design representatives from all the retail sponsors, House of Fraser, Hobbs, Debenhams and Whistles and partners the Welsh Clothing and Textiles Association.
Gerry DeVeaux
Profile has really caught the imagination of the industry:
Helen Jennings, Fashion writer Metro
“Greet event, fabulous final catwalk show and invaluable exposure for new labels. It was the accessories that really caught my eye, in particular Joanne Hynes’ woodland inspired range, Ann Ann and Lady Luck’s plastic fantastics”
Simon Chilvers, Fashion Writer, The Guradian
“I enjoyed the event. There were some great people there, and I always think that shows that support home grown, independant talent should be encouraged and supported. There were several designers that I will be following”
Emma Cheevers, Trade Show Edior WGSN
“Good Concept. With the right growth it could become the next big trade event in London“
We certainly have got the right growth judging by the high level of designers applying this season and confirmed attendance already.
Clotheshow live at Birmingham NEC on 2nd – 7th December is an absolute hit with the designers.The final participants have now been selected and we are pleased to announce some of the successful designers/labels; Koru, Blue Skin, 4 Real Design, Actar Actar, Mertle and George, Michael Hall, Emure and Ellie Rivers. These are just 8 of the 24 labels selected. Each designer will be receiving a contract direct from Clotheshow. Well done everyone!
Ellie Rivers
We had a highly successful meeting with Catherine Norman today the Miss Selfridge’s knitwear buyer. We networked knitwear CMT and manufacturing units direct with Catherine and the presentations were excellently received. Special congratulations to Tom Glover from Peregrine Clothing, Ian Hannah from Imperial Knitwear, Mark Haylock from GL Houghton Ltd and David Finlayson. Further meetings and trials are now underway. MARVELLOUS!
Well I am sure it is of no surprise to anyone that according to the British Retail Consortium the UK High Streets suffered their worst July for over 20 years. Perhaps this explains why we have had a massive surge on the e-commerce FashionCapital boutique site. We now have over 75 designers on the site and big congratulations to Maciej Wisniewski with the launch of his new lingerie label Trend Station – fabulous concept and we can see why your sales are booming so quickly! Maciej will also be showcasing at the Profile 6 event too.
TNS (click here for further information re TNS) https://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/index.php?option=content&task=view&Itemid=27&id=2444/
have highlighted some interesting facts regarding the current climate. Did you know that there has been more spent on clothes in the summer sales this year than in any of the previous four years combined!! The average sale price per person is £56.31. Also today’s consumer is buying more of the higher priced, branded clothing in the sales, over a third of all branded clothing bought in April to June was on sale…… this is so early for designers to be in sale! This just encourages the consumer to wait for sales. Many thanks to Rachel Argyle from TNS Global for these snippets of information.
OK, that’s it – back to the masses of emails – why go away I ask myself?
Until next time.
Jenny Holloway
Industry Advisor
