News - 21/07/11

Mintel:

Sephora launches same-day delivery in Manhattan

Sephora launched its new “store to door” service. Customers in Manhattan who order products online or over the phone can have them delivered that same day. The cost is $15 per delivery, and a $50 minimum order is required.

Amazon.com’s BeautyBar to open retail store

Amazon.com’s BeautyBar.com will soon open a physical location in Manhasset, New York. The unit will be BeautyBar’s first permanent store. It will offer about 75 high-end brands and two treatment rooms with makeup artists on staff. The company said it plans to open the store by the end of the summer. The luxury beauty product website is run by Quidsi Inc, which was acquired by Amazon in 2010 for $500 million.

Fortnum & Mason plans expansion into China and Middle East

Source: Sunday Telegraph 06-02-2011

London luxury department store Fortnum & Mason is looking at locations in the Middle East and China as it considers launching stand-alone shops outside the UK. Such a move would mark the first time the 300-year-old brand invested outside of the UK in over 80 years, the last being its Madison Avenue store in New York, which closed shortly after the Wall Street crash of 1929.

Fortnum & Mason already has 14 'stores within stoes' in Japan, and operates a wholesale business in 17 countries, supplying the likes of Le Bon Marche in Paris and Williams-Sonoma in the US. It claims, too, to sell more scones in Paris than in London - testifying to the cachet of the quintessentially British.

According to CEO Beverley Aspinall, 'We're definitely looking at China. It's a bit like Japan was 20 years ago. Most luxury brands trade well in the Far East and China is such an obvious thing to do [...] You just have to wait until the time is right for your brand and I think the time is right for us now. There's a huge interest amongst Chinese customers in English brands'

However, she also added that Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Kuwait were also 'distinct possibilities', and cited India as 'almost certainly on the agenda but probably a little bit further down the road.' All the proposed stores will be franchised, with Fortnum designing and providing the products and local partners funding the development

Fortnum & Mason was founded in 1707.

Vogue:

High Street Karl

Karl Lagerfeld's creations will soon be available  for as little as £30. His capsule collection for American high street store Macy's will be out on August 31, with prices starting at $50.

"Macy's is the perfect department store in the US, where everybody can find what they're looking for without ruining their budget."

The line will comprise 45 limited edition styles, featuring plenty of tweed, statement jackets and printed T-shirts. Dresses will come in various shapes, from the soft and feminine to the more sculpted and tuxedo-based.

Consumer Trends - Mintel

Mintel has predicted eight key consumer behaviour trends for 2011, examining how consumer behaviour is changing in the wake of the recession.

In this report Mintel uses exclusive online consumer research to quantify these trends, identifying the groups of consumers who will be taking them forward, as well as the likely impact on brands.

The march of technology, and its possible downsides in terms of loss of the human touch, is another of the 2011 Inspire trends (see Affection trend). Among Mintel’s respondents, it was the fun aspect of new technology that prompted the most positive responses. More than six in ten agreed that ‘I find it fun playing around with new gadgets’.

High-street retailers are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the online experience in terms of price and convenience, but Mintel’s research found that, despite widespread recognition of the advantages of internet shopping, seven in ten still prefer to see and touch the goods before they buy.

Smartphone apps, particularly those using location-based technology, are revolutionising retailing. Mintel’s research suggests that shoppers using Marks & Spencer and Waitrose (which have both been active in the field during 2010) are particularly enthusiastic about their smartphones, and keen on using apps to make their lives easier and more interesting.

Among the social and demographic developments predicted by Mintel is an acceleration of the long-standing trend towards non-traditional gender roles in households, for example men doing more housework, and women taking more control of finances.

Getting closer to nature is one way of coping with recessionary gloom. A dominant feature of Mintel’s research into Inspire trend Modern Urban Nomads is the high level of interest in city-based nature pursuits among respondents aged under 35.

Boudoir Beautiful - Vogue.com July 2011

VINTAGE-INSPIRED lingerie label Alöe is set on changing the face of women's underwear. Launched in 2003 by Central Saint Martins graduate Claire Judge, the line's luxurious, understated, subtly sexy pieces have been worn by an impressive following - including Sarah Jessica Parker, Kirsten Dunst, Kate Moss and Yasmin Le Bon.

"I set up my label as I love lingerie and I saw a real gap in the market for a fashion-orientated lingerie/loungewear line," Judge told us. "The market seemed to be saturated with typically costume- styled boudoir lingerie, which for me is completely out of synch with the style of fashion I wear. I see lingerie as part of my wardrobe and an extension to my fashion expression. My silk camisoles and blouses can as easily be worn as lingerie as they can as ready-to-wear pieces."

Highlights from Judge's latest autumn/winter 2011-12 collection (available from August), include beautiful silk camisoles with lace panelling, Twenties-style one pieces with drawstring waists and cut-away backs and soft, sheer nighties with delicate embroidery. Each piece has a vintage feel, but with a contemporary, clean effect. Judge places emphasis on detail and quality, with each piece made using soft washed silk

"Beautiful lingerie makes women feel beautiful and gives women a feeling of sensuality and softness. Lingerie forms the foundation of a woman's wardrobe so it should be luxurious and beautiful," said the designer. "Each French seam, delicate pin-hem and embroidery design ensure a beautiful and high-end finish. Luxurious lingerie is the ultimate fashion indulgence; it is a daily treat."

This year Judge expanded the label, by launching a ready-to-wear line - reflecting Alöe's "pared down elegance and understated glamour.

http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2011/07/14/aloe-underwear-label-designer-profile

A Winning Combination: Black White Denim - Vogue.com July 2011

BLACK WHITE DENIM, the Cheshire-based store that stocks pieces in black, white and denim, has launched online - offering wearable, versatile pieces from established and emerging names, from Preen to Vauxhall Fashion Scout winner Eudon Choi.

"I was at a friend's baby shower and, as part of the fun, was asked to describe the mum-to-be's wardrobe. I replied 'black, white and denim'," says Jo Davies, founder of Black White Denim. "When all the other women there agreed that their wardrobe could also be summed up in those three words, a light-bulb came on in my head. This was my chance to fulfil a lifelong dream not just to open a boutique but one based on a concept that the vast majority of women would buy into."

The store stocks exclusive looks from Richard Nicoll, Mark Fast and Preen, as well as jewellery from Lara Bohinc and Husam el Odeh - with an emphasis on carrying, as its founder says, "elegant and timeless pieces that will never go out of fashion". Aiming to compete with MY-THERERSA and MY-WARDROBE, the company more recently selling stocking vintage Christian Dior, as well as new labels such as Jan Ahldren. Items range from £50 - £2,000.

"The icing on the cake is that, over time, whatever you buy from Black White Denim pretty much goes with whatever you've bought from us previously and it's that sort of versatility the savvy shopper is searching for today," says Davies. "It doesn't matter how old you are, what size you are, whether you work or not. It doesn't matter what style you have - Black, white and denim crosses all of those things seamlessly."
http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2011/07/14/black-white-denim-online-store

Micro-Nutrient Couture : Emily Crane - Vimeo July 2011

Material culture in clothing and fashion has always been linked to technology - from looms to sewing machines to the processes of harvesting raw materials and transforming them into 'cloth'. However, the concept and materiality of textile is being contested with new technical practices which subvert conventional expectations of what cloth should be.

Increasingly, material research in clothing and fashion is leading us down the path of synthetic and organic explorations to enhance garments by means of novel manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing, rapid prototyping and bio-couture, by reconsidering harvesting philosophies such as local production, and by implementing scientific novelties such as carbon nanotubes and shape memory alloys.

What is more, many of these innovations at the textile substrate have transformed the relationship between our bodies and clothing - presenting us with a varied field of material expression and somatic experience. This event seeks to ask questions about new materialities for clothing, investigates the crossover between fashion and applied uses, and probes towards a future of clothing without “cloth”.

In this edition of Test_Lab you will witness Emily Crane prepare molecular cuisine 'garments' in front of your very eyes; probe the speculative designs of Central Saint Martins’ Textile Futures ateliers with MA course director Carole Collet; join Christien Meindertsma to question what happens when you harvest wool from your own flock of sheep to then computationally knit your sweater; test out high-tech laboratory-developed garments from Grado Zero Espace and experience what it feels like to walk in Pauline van Dongen’s 'printed' shoes made in collaboration with Freedom of Creation.

http://www.vimeo.com/25983619

The Transformation Age for Spring Trend Briefing 2011 : Director's Cut - The Future Laboratory

The Transformation Age is a video produced by Andy Baker that was shown at our Spring 2011 Trend Briefing at the Roundhouse in Camden.

This short film gives an idea of the social, environmental, political and economical changes we explore and analyse to identify emerging trends.

http://www.vimeo.com/25865595

Westwood's Savile Row - Vogue.com July 2011

Ben Westwood, Dame Vivienne's elder son, is teaming up with Savile Row tailor Cad & the Dandy to produce a ready-to-wear collection. The tailor - which specialises in bespoke suits, including those to be worn by the groom and ushers at Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall's forthcoming nuptials - insists the collection will remain true to its luxury aesthetic, whilst possessing Westwood's signature "edge".

"We specialise in bespoke tailored suits, shirts and overcoats - but that does not mean we are too staid to indulge in a touch of trendsetting," Ian Meiers, co-founder of Cad & the Dandy, said. "We just love the exuberance of Ben's work - it's the perfect foil for the more formal pieces we deal with in our bespoke tailoring service."

Westwood debuted his menswear collection at London Fashion Week last year and his eponymous line is now stocked exclusively at A Child of the Jago, the Shoreditch boutique owned by his half-brother Joe Corre.

Beauty Futures : Salon of the Senses - The Future Laboratory July 2011

http://www.vimeo.com/26569813

Chanel's Make Up Robots - Vogue.com June 2011

CHANEL robots will be invading Selfridges Oxford Street, London, from today.

Don't be alarmed - the five quirky robots (created entirely from Chanel make-up products), are the brainchild of Peter Philips, creative director of the brand's make-up division, and even starred in their own unique animation entitled Here Comes the Beauty Pack as part of the Chanel's new Make-up Confidential campaign.

"A few years ago I made these little robots that were part of a headpiece I created for a tribal make-up shoot, that's where the idea first came from," explained Philips. "I then had the chance to play with these characters and do an animation, that's how my little robots came to life."

Two of Selfridges' windows - famed for their head-turning displays -  will be dedicated to the figures while, in-store, customers can purchase lip and eye products handpicked by Philips to create the robots, as well as watch the fun robot animation.