Calling all shoppers!

You may have noticed a rather long gap since my last blog post - unfortunately due to a very stressful period called DISSERTATION (and another called being lazy and enjoying the summer).  Since getting over the dreaded word and after a long period of procrastination, I have finally decided to kick myself into full gear and aim for that almighty first.

I am looking at the ways fashion businesses are changing their approaches to retail in order to remain successful on the high street – currently focusing on the relationship between online and physical shops.  

This is where I’d really appreciate it if all you lovely readers would get involved and contribute to my research.  If you could help with a few sentences on the following questions, I would be really grateful!

- What percentage of your fashion shopping do you do online? What do you find good/bad about this? 

- What percentage of your fashion shopping do you do in physical stores?  What do you find good/bad about it?

- Do you prefer to shop online or in physical stores and why? 

- How do you think you will be fashion shopping five years from now? 

I know blogger can be a pain to use so if you are having trouble leaving your comments below, please email me at lilliemcfillie@gmail.com  

Thank you in anticipation for all your help and for contributing to my dissertation (still hate that word).

Much appreciated x 

The Rise of Luxury

We are all continually made aware of the difficult economic state in Britain and how our high streets continue to suffer.  In the past twenty years or so our obsession with bargain hunting has grown, feeding the market for cheap, disposable fashion and high street knock-offs from catwalk shows. 

But as many of us have had to cut back on spending in the last few years, it seems that there has been a rebirth of higher-end spending on fashion items.  More of us are now saving to buy quality investment pieces rather than spending less but buying more.  Perhaps buying more, cheap, poor quality clothes is finally being recognized as an unsatisfactory quick-fix that isn’t the best way to spend the fewer pennies in many of our purses?

For many of us, buying into a luxury or heritage brand feels both safer and an investment.  Collaborations between high street brands and luxury designers/celebrities - such as H&M’s collections with Lanvin and now Beyonce,  have struck a balance between style/quality and price, convincing buyers of their worth.  Although these clothes are around 20%-40% pricier than other collections in store, you get the designer or celebrity influence at a manageable cost - how clever!  That these high street brands are showing at fashion events alongside big designer names retains our confidence, encouraging us to visit the pricier areas of their shops and reach deeper into our pockets. 

The creation of luxury collections within high street brands is also proving successful.  We can see this with the sell-out of Topshop Unique’s clothing lines and with the main buzz at this year’s AW13 fashion week: River Island’s collaboration with Rihanna.  

Will we one day say goodbye to fast fashion shops?  I for one will be happy to wave goodbye to Primark and welcome a wardrobe of well thought out and beautifully made clothing. 

Is Paris on the move?

Paris Couture doesn’t just conjure up images of beautiful clothing, but also of an imagined Parisian lifestyle created from visits, romantic films and beautiful photography.  Buying into Parisian couture houses is not just about the clothes (lucky you) or the perfume, lipstick or nail polish, it’s also about buying into a little bit of Paris and its lifestyle, whether realistic or idealistic!  However in reality not all Paris couturier houses are based in Paris or even France.

Let’s take Céline for example: This French couture house, founded in 1945, is now run under the creative direction of Phoebe Philo and is based in London today.  The revived brand emphasizes a polished, elegant look which fits the chic Paris style – but is it becoming more British?  Does the fact that it is not being produced in Paris mean it is no longer the real thing?

Moving on to Yves Saint Laurent, now known as Saint Laurent Paris, and we see another example of Paris Couture stepping outside French borders.  Since 2012 the brand has been run under Hedi Slimane who rebranded the company as Saint Laurent Paris- yet has her design studios in Los Angeles!  YSL took inspiration from Paris subcultures, with Yves often breaking the rules in fashion - but how can the brand claim the same origins if it is no longer located among the Paris subcultures? 

Call me a purist, but I like the idea that if you are buying from a French fashion house, the designs will come from that country and as much of the brand as possible will be embedded within the culture of that country.  I know various elements will be drawn from all over the world to bring the final product into being, but for goodness sake... the French have always sought to protect their language and their produce, to maintain their proud heritage and maintain quality standards.  Legislation means only bubbles fermented in Champagne can be called Champagne; the famous brandy Cognac is another example of strict control guaranteeing a particular level of quality.  So please, s’il vous plait, let’s keep those images of Paris and the fabulous history of its fashion houses central to the future of Paris Couture and bring these fashion houses home.  Merci bien.  

//Photography by Norman Parkinson 'Cardin Hat over Paris' 1960

Bolongaro Trevor

Bolongaro Trevor, clothing shop

For something a little different... try Bolongaro Trevor:

-   The designers and founders of this shop were the founders of All Saints, but left when it started to get very big and more commercial.

-   The Trevor’s are a husband and wife team who design the men’s and women’s wear.

-   They produce 52 – 100 of each piece, with a lot made in England and all of very good quality.

-   The printed designs are hand painted then screen printed onto fabrics.

-   Their inspirations come from vintage style references and military themes. Some garments have original buttons and other details they have managed to salvage/find.

-   The interiors are also inspired by vintage designs with old adverts collaged on the walls, scissor hooks for rails and taxidermy. The portraits running down the stairs and throughout the stores are found at antique markets such as Spitalfields.

-   The brand has four London stores and two more up North - one in Birmingham and one in Leeds. All together there are roughly 100 people who work for the company – so not massive! 

-   The assistant I spoke to picked their statement ‘flag jackets’ made from actual flags as their favourite garment! These are unique designs which would certainly stand out in the street.  To me they were reminiscent of Vivienne Westwood’s style.

-   They have a very broad range of customers from 25 up to 60, but rather than targeting an age they aim for those that just want something a little bit different to wear.

//Photography by Lillie Cooper