Stand by your laptops ladies, Gap has just announced it’s launching an online store in the UK this year.
The retailer will be joining the likes of Zara, which is launching its UK online store on 2 September and H&M, which will follow on September 16 to bring us all the delights of the store straight to our fingertips.
According the WWD, the store, which already has a transactional site stateside, will roll out its online venture to to around 65 other countries – including the UK. And it will also be launching online stores for its sister company, Banana Republic.
Oh dear, with three great stores moving online there’s no hiding from the huge possibilities. We’d better hide those credit cards.
Scarves have been hot this season, and they’ll be hanging around into next season too, which is great news considering how easy it is to accessorise plain outfits with these.
And it seems Hermes agrees with our fetish for these. The designer fashion brand, which is more known for luxury items, has teamed up with funky French store Colette to launch a website called J’aime Mon Carre, which translates as “I Love My Scarf.”
However, unlike it’s traditional brand style, the site has gone all modern on us featuring colourful pictures of hip and cool girls sporting the scarves on the street and giving us ideas on how to wear them. This includes as turbans, headbands, belts and, obviously as scarves.
At last, denim manufacturers are finally waking up to the fact that we all come in different sizes. After conducting research that found shape is more important than style or size when choosing well-fitting jeans, Levi’s has decided to launch a range of curve friendly jeans.
Curve ID, which launches later this month, will consist of three customised fits and a range of different styles including Slight, Demi, and Bold as well as with different rises and back pocket placements. There’s also high waisted styles to coincide with the a/w 2010 trends.
Company president Robert Hanson said: “One of the most frustrating things for women is that they are not finding the right jeans for their body.
“This is particularly a women’s issue because of the diversity in body type. Men tend to wear jeans that are a little less shape-enhancing, and most men don’t want to have a discussion with you about shape and they really don’t care.”
We’ve been moaning about this issue for a good few months now and we’re really pleased that someone’s woken up to the fact that we’re not all the same size. Come on retailers, follow Levi’s lead.
Despite many of you voting for Megan Fox over Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, the fashion world thinks otherwise.
The Victoria’s Secret model and Transformers 3 starlet has just been signed up by Christopher Kane’s new model for Burberry, replacing its famous face of Emma Watson, who (we imagine) rebelled against the brand by getting a super sleek short haircut.
Of course Rosie is no stranger to designer brands. She’s a favourite with Giles Deacon and Louis Vuitton having strutted her stuff on their AW 2010 catwalks. She’s also no stranger to Burberry having modelled for the brand back in 2008.
She’ll now be the face of the new A/W collection, alongside Nina Porter, Sam Rollinson and Charlotte Wiggins.
She’s one of the most stylish women in the world and already has a successful line of dresses (worn by celebs), jeans and sunglasses, but Victoria Beckham has now bagged herself another collection.
The singer, come designer, has announced she will now be creating a line of handbags (it was always bound to happen considering her personal collection of bags total to a huge £1.5million) with the help of top designer Katie Hillier, who has worked her designing magic on some of the world’s most recognisable handbags including Marc Jacobs, Luella and Stella McCartney.
Posh’s spokesperson told Mail Online: “There is a bag line in development.”
“Katie has consulted on the technical aspects of bag construction in line with her experience in the industry.
“This collection is not a collaboration – as with all her ranges, Victoria has sought the best consultants to ensure the highest level of quality at manufacture for her designs.”
She may no longer be starring in Transformers but Megan Fox hasn’t lost her popularity. She’s pushed out favourite Lara Stone (who pushed out Sasha Pivovarova) and become the new face of Armani Cosmetics.
The actress is no stranger to modelling, or to Armani for that matter. She already fronts Armani’s lingerie and jeans campaigns and has been spotted in the designer’s Prive collection on more than one occasion and opted for this label for her wedding dress in June.
In a statement Megan said: “Mr. Armani is an iconic visionary for all things fashion.
“I’m honoured to be associated with him”.
According to a spokeswoman for the designer, Armani chose the actress for the beauty campaign because “she embodies the spirit of the women of today: free, confident and seductive. Her beautiful features reveal femininity, sensuality and strength.”
So what makes Megan so special? We put together a gallery to show you exactly what Armani was talking about.
She bagged Taylor Momsen as her model and a spot in Macy’s so it was hardly surprising that people were queueing around the block yesterday to get their hands on Madonna’s new clothing range.
The pop icon who has also set the fashion world alight with her stage outfits over the years has ventured into the designing world with her daughter Lourdes and launched the Material Girl collection aimed at 15-25 year olds.
Yesterday’s launch saw girls eager to get their hands on the collection, presented with cupcakes by models and greeted by Madonna look-a-likes. They were also treated to a mini concert by Taylor Momsen, although Madge and her teenage inspiration didn’t show.
And the range of clothing which includes fishnet tights, low cut mini dresses, mini skirts, lace dresses, 80s ra-ra skirts and sequined hot pants, has already been criticised by children’s groups who have said the collection is “less than wholesome” considering the teen age target.
Considering the range is targeted up to 25 years old we’re not so sure there’s a need to be concerned, afterall the styles are similar to what’s out there at the moment. However, we thought we’d give you the chance to have your say. View the collection and then vote below to let us know whether you think the range is too much for teens.
Poor old Snoop must be feeling a bit down about his clothing line, The Rich And The Infamous, where business has slowed to a grinding halt.
The singer, real name Calvin Broadus (I can see why you changed it, Snoopy), appears to have packed up and called it a day with his business venture, having shut down production. The line received some initial success when it was debuted in 2008, but took a hard hit from the economy’s decline in 2009. At first attempts were made to salvage the business, with Snoop making attempts to “do what we’re doing and try to keep the prices a little lower”. That seems to have been abandoned, now – bye, bye, Snoop’s fashion career.
He shouldn’t be sad though, there’s so many other things he could do with his huge piles of money. Lunchboxes? A tupperware range? Chin up, Snoop.
For anyone reading out there who has whiled away hours daydreaming about being the next Rachel Zoe, or looking at badly-dressed people and mentally planning what you’d make them wear, good news – there’s a new college set to hit the Parsons Green area that could be a massive leg-up for anyone wanting to break into the notoriously difficult career that is professional styling.
LCS is aiming to do for fashion-lovers what the Brit School does for drama-lovers – nurturing the talents of the student, finding them work, and discovering fashion’s potential new shining stars. The founders of the college are none other than Wendy Elsmore, who has appeared several times in the role of fashion expert for This Morning and regular reporter for events such as London fashion week, and Kate Smith, international model. Also joining LCS will be the likes of Xanthia White, celebrity make up artist, and senior lecturer in fashion/textiles at the Chelsea College of Art & Design, Gary Page. Basically, they’ve all got fashion credentials up to their eyeballs.
The intensive foundation course promises to give each student a clear understanding of skills and knowledge to build upon, giving them as strong a foundation as possible to build upon. Students will learn dressmaking and garment construction, styling for brands, television, film, magazines and stage, whilst working towards creating a portfolio piece to show off their talents to potential employers.
It sounds like a dream come true to me. If you’re sitting at home dressing up your cat as you read this, wishing you could style real people, click through here for more details on how to apply to the foundation course.
If you just read my article on Autumn/Winter fashions for 2010, but are wondering how you’ll find affordable high-street versions of the catwalks’ latest trends, worry no more, because Topshop is about to launch its’ new collections for the next fashion season. There will be three key collections for you to lust over this autumn: High Performance, which continues on from the summer trend of Alexander Wang-inspired sportswear, comprised of tough layering and graphic prints, Out In The Wild, inspired by the great outdoors and comprised of cool tweeds, furs and patchworks that will keep you snuggly when the weather turns sour, and the Dark Nouveau collection that takes inspiration from the luxe styles of the Art Nouveau period – it’s going to be the place to go for a party dress come Christmas.
The Out in the Wild and Dark Nouveau aren’t up yet, but Topshop’s kindly given us girls a taster of what’s to come in a behind the scenes video of the Autumn/Winter shoot so that you can already start to plan what you’ll be buying when the collections hit stores. Looks like it’s time to start planning our wardrobes for autumn!
Those who love to have fun with their clothes will be happy to hear that the Danish fashion label RÜTME has arrived in the UK.
There’s a clear 1990s street-style inspiration behind the collection shown in the geometric prints, slouchy cuts and eye-popping colour. A bit like the outfits that Will Smith wore in The Fresh Prince (his clothes were the coolest) except updated, a bit like the “nu rave” craze we all went through in 2006 (remember the Klaxons?) except not lame. By using such bold print and colour, RÜTME could have so easily come off as trying a bit too hard, a bit too “Look at me! Look at me!”, but the casual practicality of its’ sportswear shapes make the collection effortless, not remotely contrived or try-hard at all. There’s a versatility to the clothes; you could wear them to the shop to buy milk, or wear them to a party – the founders of RÜTME, Rikke Charlotte Larsen and Nicole Rindsig, describe their line as a brand for “whole generation on the go”, and we see what they mean.
Best of all is that the brand will be retailed at high-street prices so us girls won’t have to save too much to get in on the action. There’s no online stockist for the line as of yet, but it is being sold in Selfridges already – get down there before everyone else cottons on. To find out more about RÜTME, visit their lookbook here.
R&B veteran Usher has taken everyone by surprise by announcing his plans for a new business venture: designing women’s underwear.
It’s no secret that Usher loves his ladies (most of his songs are written about them), or that sexy underwear gets his heart racing, but he’s decided to take his love for lingerie a step further by designing his own. His plan is to rope in his friend Tamara Mellon, of Jimmy Choo fame, and collaborate on the project.
Women’s lingerie is dangerous waters for men: with an untrained eye, they can often go down the route when choosing underwear for women of what they percieve to be sexy: red silk, black silk, red lace, black lace, little bras and bum-dissecting thongs, all of it cheap and not very well-made. (“Corrr luv, I was in Primark today and I bought you some posh knickers. Put them on. Phwoaaarrr.”). It seems a good thing that there will be a woman’s influence on board; perhaps Tamara Mellon can give Usher a slap on the wrist and tell him to snap out of it if he’s caught rifling through the bargain bins of TKMaxx for inspiration.
I for one am really interested to see what he comes up with in his new venture. Beautiful lingerie is all about unleashing our inner sexiness and self-confidence; a woman can still feel hot in an old burlap sack if she’s wearing Agent Provocateur underneath. Here’s hoping that Usher not only designs something that men will love, but something that women will love too.
If you’ve seen Avatar then you’ll remember its sexy female leading actress, Zoe Saldana, being all blue and leaping about on screen. Well, now she’s set to become the face of Calvin Klein’s new underwear campaign. I personally think she looks way better without the body paint and dodgy dreadlocks.
Said Zoe Saldana, on her revealing photoshoot for CK: “Calvin Klein has always put forth such beautifully executed campaigns and it’s very exciting for me to be associated with such an iconic, globally recognised brand.” She’ll be joining the legion of other beautiful famous faces that have modelled over the years; Calvin Klein’s ad campaigns not only kick-started the career of actor Mark Wahlberg in the 1990s, but were also responsible for supermodel Kate Moss’ climb to international fame. Calvin Klein ads have most recently featured such famous faces as the star of Twilight, Kellan Lutz, Eva Mendes and tennis star Fernando Verdasco. Congratulations, Zoe!
Its a busy week for couture as fashionistas flock from all over the globe to Paris, fashion mecca, to gawp at what fantastic creations our most beloved designers have made for the upcoming Autumn/Winter Season. All of the most stylish celebrities were out in full force to eye up the haute couture, including Anna Wintour (naturally), Leighton Meester, French wild child Lou Doillon, Blake Lively and Jessica Alba.
The event is nearly over (it ends on the 11th) but it hasn’t disappointed in terms of spectacular design and craftmanship. Jean Paul Gaultier put on a sensational show that oozed old-school Hollywood glamour, sending models down the catwalk with cigarette holders and huge, Carmen Miranda-esque headpieces. The enticing blend of leathers, silks and furs really lent to the decadent vibe of his collection.
Valentino opted for romantic structuring in his collection; he showed us that the nude trend is still live and kicking as models walked the runway in creamy, peachy structures that were almost bird-cage like. A beautiful, dreamy collection of clothing, but probably the one of the least wearable things I’ve seen considering that you can’t sit down in it. It’ll be interesting to see how the high street tries to take influence from Valentino.
However, the favourite collection has to be (always has been, always will be) Chanel’s A/W collection, where the order of the day seemed to be an explosion of metallics, embellishments, golds and silks. I died a little bit looking at this collection – it’s disgustingly, incredibly gorgeous. I wish I was rich, or married to Karl Lagerfeld, or both. Words can’t describe how sickenly beautiful his collection was, so check the gallery below. (Here’s hoping Primark will start selling replicas of these dresses for a fiver).
Lady Gaga’s clothes have caused her a few health problems in the past, but we think this latest incident has by far got to be the worst.
While walking through Heathrow airport the singer lost her balance on her super high platforms and fell over. They were part of an S&M-style get-up which included hot pants, a netted vest and a cape.
However, it was a sudden loss of balance. According to sources Ms G had been having problems walking in the boots that have described as “stilts.” She was wobbling all over place and trying to keep her balance by waving her hands around.
Lady Gaga’s had issues in the past with her fashion choices. Earlier this year the singer was ordered to change into an other outfit and take off her shoes during a flight after airline staff feared the singer could develop a clot because her PVC dress was too tight. She’s also admitted that she can’t sleep at night because she’s always thinking up her next outfit.
Miss G, we’ve said it once and we’ll say it again, fashion is important but not as important as your health.
From:Pictures: 2012 British Soap Awards - Best dressed, Michelle Keegan, Jennifer Metcalf and more