Major Players

I briefly mentioned The Times Fashion Rich List in a post last week and I decided to do some more research into some of the big big earners that have graced the list this year.

Heading up the list at number 1 is Galen and George West and family who own Selfridges and Primark. Before reading, I was only aware of them owning Primark and thought cor-blimey I'm surprised Primark is top, but the fact they own Selfridges as well kind of explains it seeing as Selfridges graces 3 cities in the UK alone and other stores worldwide include Russia, The United Arab Emirates and Japan.

 

Not far behind this is Sir Philip Green, who of course owns the Arcadia Group which includes Topshop/Topman, Dorothy Perkins, BHS, Miss Selfridge, Evans, Burton, Outfit & Wallis. Thats a lot of shops. Philip recently added Etam UK to the Arcadia family and paid £850 million for it. He repaid the £805 million he borrowed to finance the deal in a mere 2 years of buying it, so he's certainly still making a hell of a lot of money and clearly deserves his place in the top 3.

Number 3 surprised me slightly. Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay who own Littlewoods have that position. They originally bought the company off of the Moores family for £750 million and then sold off what was left of the Liverpudlian stores to make it a remotely online service. Along side this they also own Yodel, the couriers, which is notorious for its poor server which consequently cost them £130 million in 2011. Poor them, I'm sure they'll live with the other 2.25 billion that they're worth.

Mike Ashley of Sportsworld and Sportsdirect is next which again I question because it seems to me lately a lot of sports stores have been going under. This might be because Sportsworld is thriving so much it's putting everyone else out of business! Every sports shop I've walked past in the past year seems to either be having 75% off sales or closing down sales but I guess they're not lying to me.

One thing I have noticed by researching more into these people is a lot of them seem to be tax dodgers. If you're a high earner (and thats putting it lightly), you need to pay your tax naughty people!!

The Jacket Edit

1. // H&M £29.99 2. // Zara £105 3. // Topshop £65 4. // Missguided £37.99  5. // River Island £30

I never ever used to like wearing jackets or coats but recently all I've been thinking about is the jacket. I don't know if its my age and the fact my style is evolving and finding itself, but I just can't get them off my mind! I tend to wear a lot of black all year round, well during definitely AW12, but I feel that a fancy jacket can bright up any black and white outfit and take the attention away from it. Above are a few of my high street favs. I love the H&M pink jacket, which I actually own and have worn to death since I bought it. It's a faux suede material which isn't the most practical of material, but as long as you don't wear it to the pub, you should be fine. Another love of mine is the fact it has silver hardware. Nothing annoys me more then when you find something you love and it has gold metal on it

1. // ACNE £1000 2. // Helmet Lang £565 3. // Burberry Brit £395 4. // J Brand £1069 5. // IRO £475

Although they may be slightly out of my price range, a girl can always dream. These are some of my more high end picks of the jackets out on the market right now. My personal favourite is the Acne Mape Petite Biker Jacket purely because of the colour; you won't be missed in that number. 

Nothing has appeared on WGSN lately about jackets, and jackets being a stand out piece in the coming seasons, but they must have made quite an appearance on the catwalks in Fashion Week to be all over the high street like they are. I am now a converted jacket lover.

There has always been a big debate with high street and high street clothing over quality. The high street has a stigma that because it's not as expensive, that the quality is automatically poorer. But is this necessarily true? Apparently not. The factories that high street clothes are made in are exactly the same. For example, Abercrombie & Fitch and Primark. Okay, A&F isn't exactly luxury fashion but they use exactly the same cotton that Primark do. There is no sign of Egyptian cotton which is said to be better, so therefore you can't technically say that just because you're paying a premium for it, that you're getting a better product. I've owned A&F clothing in the past which has got so many holes in from god knows what and many a Primark jersey which has never failed me, with no holes or pules in sight. So although I've got some of my favourite designer jackets compared to high street, doesn't mean that any of them would better than the high street versions.

High Heels Out, Kitten Heels In

Yes, I'm just as shocked you are. I don't know who thought that kitten heels were EVER okay but apparently the era of the 'slag' heel is over. Who states this? None other than Catherine Deneuve. In her latest book she has revealed that 'one cannot walk properly in very high heels.' Okay, that is nice for you but why do you have to ruin it for the rest of us Deneuve!!

Catherine is probably best known for her role in Belle de Jour, where she plays the housewife of bourgeois, who turns to afternoon prostitution to relieve her bordem. She wears seemingly high heels in the film, but it's only coming out now about her true footwear preference.

Kurt Geiger has revealed they've had a significant rise in sales of smaller heeled shoes compared to the extreme heights of some of the shoes they sell. To me, the shoes heels (below) don't scream 'sexy' at all. Actually they don't scream anything but frumpy. Even Louboutin has dabbled in a slightly, I say slightly, smaller heel compared to usual sky high heel, and even that is estranged to me.

1. // Topshop £42 2. // Stella McCartney £590 3. // Louboutin £395  

4. // Zara £69.99  5. // Kurt Geiger £85

For me, kitten heels will never be an option. I feel because I'm shorter I can get away with extremely ridiculous shoes that give me a few more inches or 6. If I were an above average girl I think I'd feel different. However, celebrities are bringing it back in which ultimately is what influences women. Flats or even smaller heels don't have to be frumpy it just depends on how you style them. What does everyone else think?

Paris - La Maison Loin de La Maison

The question on everyones lips these days is that does Paris fashion have to originate in Paris? Many design houses nowadays have studio locations here in London yet are Parisian. For example Céline and Saint Laurent have done this, but why?
In Céline's case, it seemed Phoebe Philo wanted to be close to her family here in London, yet still commutes regularly to the Paris headquarters. But as part of her role as creative director of the company, she has given it a complete overhaul since her take over in 2008, introducing fresh clean lines and neutral palettes - and if she has achieved this all with the design studio - the creative hub of it all - being in London, it really does question the origins of Paris fashion staying strictly Parisian.

Maybe Saint Laurent's studio location has something to do with its name change. As you fashion bunnies may be aware off, YSL has decided to ditch the Y and become simply SL - Saint Laurent. Which I quite like, I think it sounds modern and too the point. It will always be remembered as Yves but everyone it due a makeover at some point right? This revamp has come with a new series of ad campaigns with a seemingly grungy feel. Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson head up the campaigns, and I really love the edgy vibe. Could this be coming from the London studios? Perhaps.

The Rise in Luxury

The want for luxury goods is on the rise, surprisingly to me seeing as we're still stuck in a recession, so I decided to do some cheeky research into the topic. (In saying this, in the current Sunday Times Fashion rich List, guess who tops it? None other than the Weston family that own.. PRIMARK! Yes, I was surprised too.)

A lot of the luxury brands come under conglomerates such a PPR (newly named Kering) and LVMH. LVMH, owned by Bernard Arnault, is worth 18 billion (2013) compared to its 16 billion in 2012 and ranks 15th on the top 50 richest in the world. But why has there been such an increase in luxury goods? It seems the biggest consumers in the luxury goods market is China, as many brands are now opening up flagship stores there. One of the latest is Vera Wangs bridal boutique. She even wanted to charge a fee of 3,000 Yuan (£320) just to browse and try on dresses in the new Shanghai store which is absolutely crazy! But this shows that she's taking advantage of the spending over there, but even the Chinese didn't want to pay that. This however has now been scrapped because of the lack of store traffic as Chinese brides-to-be refuse to fork out, understandably. 

However, according to The Wall Street Journal (Feb 2013), The US has got a taste for luxury goods again as their unemployment figures have decreased and the stock market is seeing record highs, so more people are spending, and spending big by the looks of things. Hermes and LVMH, the parent brands of Louis Vuitton, Moet et Chandon champagne and the Sephora cosmetics chain, said the US was its strongest region in 2012 as sales rose by 12%, outstripping the 10% in Asia.

I think what puts Europe on the map in terms of luxury consumerism, is when Asian tourist come to visit things such as Bicester Village where they literally arrive, get a coach down there, shop, and fly home all in the same day! That's how desperate they are for their designer fix. For me, I've never been to Bicester but have heard great things.

I'm not entirely sure how this directly affects me, but in studying fashion it intrigues me to know who the main consumers are in the industry I'm venturing into, as before starting my degree, I had no clue.

Easy VS Joni

Just about everyone and their mother knows or has heard about the American Apparel Easy jean, but how could you not, they are stunning. However, what is not so stunning is the price tag. At a whopping £64 (and I thought toppers jeans were pricey for what they are, but clearly not) they are at the higher end price range for jeans. Yes they do look amazing on, they're figure hugging in all the right places and similar to their disco pant they seem to suck you in which is always a plus.  The only thing which I don't love is the length. They don't vary in leg lengths which mean you have to spend more money having them taken up if you don't like that scrunched up effect by your ankles which I personally don't. The assortment of colours they come in however is great. They have anything from your standard light and dark denim to light wash pink and turquoise.

And then along comes Topshops 'dupe' version called the Joni jean. I couldn't say I wasn't curious so had to check them out. I'm personally not a denim lover so for me this was a real test. They come in both the standard range, tall and petite which I really like because I'm only 5'2 and find the petite length 28 is perfect for me so I snapped up the black pair. They arrived 2 days ago and all I can say is I've been converted. These jeans are amazing. They mould to your body shape, just like the AA easy jeans say they supposedly do, they are high waisted and look EXACTLY the same. These also come in a range of colours which is nice for SS13.

So for me, purely because of the price, I'd go for the Topshop ones because you're getting exactly the same jean, potentially a better leg length for us taller and shorter gals for half the price. So if you've loved the easy jean but couldn't afford the price tag, pick up the Joni's asap, it's definitely worth it.

Satchel Attack

The Cambridge Satchel has been such a popular choice of bag recently, what I had my eye on specifically is the WHOLE of the Fluoro Classics. As you can tell from last weeks picks, I'm going crazy for those brights and I feel any of the bags would add such a nice touch to any outfit for Spring/Summer.

The Google Chrome advert telling the story of how Julia Deane started the business in just her home and is now a world wide success has been aired recently which made me research a bit into the company. Julia herself lives in Leicester which is where the bags are produced. You can get them in an assortment of sizes as well from 11" 13" 14" and 15" which I think is a nice variety.

One of my personal favs also was a limited edition graphite glittery one that was exclusive to Urban Outfitters which went into the sale for HALF PRICE!? yet I missed my op and didn't snap it up - crazy I know, thats where impulse purchasing really needs to come into play. Being a very big Silver lover as well I found a metallic silver one while searching for a picture of the graphite one, to DIE for I know.

They're currently have a £15 off code on their website for the Fluoro Classics, so bag one (excuse the pun) before they go!

J'adore Dior

Last week I went to the Dior exhibition at Harrods and it was so beautifully done. I didn't expect anything less though as Harrods wouldn't put on anything half heartedly. It was quite small but still packs loads of heritage into it. The quant little Dior windows you see on the way win had me mesmerised from the first second.

Some of my personal favs of the exhibition were the giant Lady Dior bag they had with projection images on it an the massive phone box. The simplicity of it all yet the intense details made it so magical to look at.

It finished last Sunday (April 14th) so if you haven't been you've missed your chance but sure there is plenty of coverage on it on the world wide web. Here are a few cheeky pics I took with my Iphone on the day as I didn't have my SLR

Picks of the Week

Taking To The Streets

As part of my trip to Brighton I also had to take some street style photos. Although I've had a blog before I've never ventured into street style snapping as I'm normally too shy to go up to people and ask for their photo but as there was a large group of us it made it slightly easier.

The street style in Brighton was quite eclectic, but you could say that about anywhere really. I wasn't looking out for anything in particular but I ended up taking photos of people who I thought looked cool and owned what they were wearing. Fur trim jackets and denim made a wide appearance, and denim is a key trend for the SS13 season, especially those 90's dungarees. Dr Martens appeared a lot as well as creepers, so there was a lot of underground influences clearly being drawn on.

I'm not sure if I'll make these street style posts a regular occurrence but let me know if you enjoy reading posts like this and I'll take note!