Fashion

Uniqlo opened its largest format store in Southeast Asia this week, making three stores in Singapore.  The store is 1320m2 and stocks not only Uniqlo’s range of basics and the +J range from Jil Sander, but also a range of exclusive designer collaborations available only at this new store. The first limited edition collection will […]

Ebay’s first “clicks & mortar” store has opened at 3 West 57th Street on 5th Avenue.  Its a temporary pop-up retail store only open till 29th November.    The store is broken into six “personalities” – Stylista, Fashionista, Techie, Urbanite, Gamer & Youngster and shoppers have the opportunity to view 400 featured products from the thousands […]

This Christmas Ebay will come out of the digital age and go analog with a pop-up bricks & mortar store on West 57th St in NYC. Opening Nov 20th the 500m2 store will stock some of the most desirable and cutting edge fashion currently available including an exclusive selection of Norma Kamali, handbags from Michael […]

Uniqlo’s same-store sales in October were up 35.7% over last year in Japan, following falling temperatures, the launch of the +J collection and other promotional campaigns. The number of customers in these stores rose 24.6%. Total sales increased 47.7% compounded by new store openings. The +J range has proven extremely successful for the brand who […]

I’ve always been both fascinated and fond of the whole swatch story.  They entered the market around 83-84 and caught on quickly because they were fun, fashionable and affordable.  The meaning of the name “Swatch” was a derivative of “second watch”. It was never intended to be a main watch and indeed was practically a […]

Its good to see a brand take a marketing campaign so thoroughly into its store presentation. Diesel recently launch its “Extreme Weather” campaign and quite literally subjected its Carnaby St Store to the concept, almost destroying it.  Some say it looks just awful – personally, it makes you stop and look and isn’t that a […]

There really can be no doubt now that Uniqlo‘s +J range by Jull Sander is working and working remarkably well. The range gives a glimpse at what happens when a high-end designer with a penchant for tailoring & quality fabrics successfully meets with true mass production. The style of the range is true Jull Sander […]

Uniqlo opened its new 2000m2 store in Paris this week – the first of ten planned to open in the city. In typical Uniqlo style the opening was a frenzy. By lunchtime they had to organise everyone into queues to not purchase items but to even get into the store. Around 400 people queued in […]

Versace are withdrawing from the Japanese market with the closure of its last three stores in Tokyo, Osaka & Chiba and liquidation of the Japanese business by the end of the year.  This isn’t a permanent move however, its more because the Versace boutiques no longer represent the brand image and they feel its better […]

Versace opened a new 37m2 shop in Bergdorf Goodman’s this week for ready-to-wear, accessories & shoes.  The space is on the 2nd floor between Dolce & Gabanna & Gucci. The enhanced space is a step forward in the relationship between Bergdorf & Versace, who were absent from the iconic fashion store for 3 years till […]

Exports of Swiss watches have continued to fall, with July recording a 25.9% decline over the previous year. Overall since January, Swiss watch exports have fallen 26.3% or US6.8 billion. Sales of Swiss watches have been in significant decline since the end of 2008 with exports now below 2006 levels. Those surviving best are watches […]

Bloomingdales in Manhattan are doing a total makeover on their 5500m2 main floor, due to be finished in October 15.  To launch the new layout they have organised 525 different events in cosmetics alone through December. The renovations apparently are costing between $US45-55million including vendor contributions for which the vendors are hoping to see a […]

When you think about Louis Vuitton you don’t normally thing of particularly innovative store design, but two of their most recent openings have really set a new bar for the brand.  In May they opened a store in the Seibu department store in Ikebukuro Japan. It was only a limited opening store, not a permanent […]

Uniqlo has opened a new Singapore Store at Ion Orchard. The store is across two levels and is approx 1,000m2. To celebrate the opening of the new store, Uniqlo previewed their Fall/Winter 2009 range two weeks ahead of Japan. This included their new Merino Wool collection, Neo Leather, a collection of luxury synthetic leather jackets […]

Ivanka Trump is getting serious about her jewellery line, hiring her first CEO Andrea Hansen.  Hansen is no lightweight, having worked for the last 24 years at H.Stern.  She will be focussing on increasing sales at their only store – on Madison Avenue, expanding their collection, developing e-commerce strategies and getting reading for global expansion.  […]

Miu Miu are certainly expanding. This month they opened their first boutiques in China & Turkey to add to their growing range of directly operated stores. Currently the Miu Miu brand has around 20% of the turnover of Prada but it is growing considerably faster and is now far from a little sister experimental brand. […]

The Creative Director of Coach, Reed Krackoff, hasn’t really drawn attention to himself the way other Creative Directors have in the fashion industry. This however might be changing. Coach have apparently registered new Trademarks for “Reed”, “Reed Krakoff” and “RK” for ready-wear, leathergoods & personal care products as well as “hotel & restaurant services”. Coach […]

Carspaze have created a new advertising platform for car park walls. It uses relatively new (dev 3 years ago) technology which allows high quality images to be printed onto specially developed fire retardant materials. Using these “posters” areas of the carpark can be strongly branded. The posters can run around 20 car spaces wide and […]

With the new Barcelona Airport T1 due to open in matter of days, I thought it worthwhile taking a look at what it will contain. Firstly to put some context on this, the terminal is designed to cater to 25 million passengers. To begin with, Star Alliance flights will move to the terminal, One World […]

Everybody knows how much I love vending machines, particularly for airports and hotels. They take up very little space, have little or no staff costs, can delivery huge entertainment value and very importantly can deal with the peaks & troughs in airport or hotel traffic. So here are some new vending machine ideas I’ve seen […]

As if we needed any more proof that JetBlue is not your typical airline and Terminal 5 is not your typical aiport terminal, they launching a concert series at the airport. JetBlue have paired up with Superfly Productions & Bowery Presents (who also run the Manhattan Music venue called Terminal 5) to bring live music […]

Only in China would Barbie become a mixture of high end luxury fashion & a lifestyle concept. For most of us, Barbie is something we believe we leave behind in childhood however the reality is that those Barbie Doll fantasies continue with us. Anyone who has been around a bride, particularly those from less affluent […]

The Modrian South Beach hotel in Miami now features an automated gift machine aimed at replacing hotel boutiques. Designed by Mari Balestrazzi, this semi-automatic machine carries luxury items such as 24k gold handcuffs from Kiki de Montparnasse (now that’s an interesting gift!), Fred Flare heart sunglasses and a 14k gold necklace by Kiel Mead – […]

Versace CEO Giancarlo Di Risio was emphatic when he stated that Versace would not drop its prices due to the economic climate. However, the fashion house seems to have come up with another way of dealing with the less well heeled who aspire to the Versace label. they are relaunching the Versus line as a […]

Godiva’s flagship concept store in Harajuku Tokyo is another wonder of design from Wonderwall and the team who work on Uniqlo. Godiva’s idea was “treat thyself”  which was communicated for the Japanese market by mixing the more traditional image Godiva are known for with a playful edge including a melting chocolate ceiling – and by […]

In a dog fashion parade recently held at Harrods, millions of dollars worth of jewellery was paraded for ….. you guessed it ….. dogs!.  A dog by the name of Ritchie modeled a diamond-studded collar worth US 1.03 million designed by jeweler Stephen Webster, who also created Madonna’s wedding ring.  The collar was set with […]

Giorgio Armani S.p.A. is awarding a long term license to EMAAR Hotel & Resorts for the operation of a collection of luxury hotels and resorts. The agreement foresees the opening of at least seven luxury hotels and three vacation resorts within the next ten years. Following the signing of a Letter of Intent in 2004, […]

With MP3 players becoming a “must have” for anyone and everyone, and thumb drives becoming more common than the old floppy disk, its perhaps not surprising that Swarovski have joined forces with Philips to create the new “active crystal” range of USB drives and headphones with encrusted in crystals. They may not be my personal […]

Shaping Tomorrow – Insight Newsletter Key Trend Alert: Blurring boundaries Sheila Moorcroft, Research Director, Shaping Tomorrow Blurring Boundaries What have a walk for charity, an exhibition about science and a new car in common? Answer: they all blur boundaries between the real world and the digital world, albeit in different ways. A new ‘virtual walk’ […]