Fashion & department stores

Having previously fallen on the last day of London Fashion Week, The British Fashion Council has announced that the platform for mens fashion, ‘LONDON COLLECTIONS: MEN’ will now have an entire dedicated weekend running from the 15-17th of June. The organisers describe it as a showcase that will ‘emphasise both the creative and commercial importance of Britain’s brands and emerging talent as well as the rich cultural landscape that contributes to the inspiration and success of this sector.’

I decided to wrap this year with a note on 2011’s great escapes.

It came to me at last month’s Drapers Fashion Summit, where the air was abuzz with words of in-house designer collections, collaborations and multichannel drives for sales. The battle for brand differentiation and sales generation leaves little room for experimentation and self-fulfilment in these austere times, unless we are talking about the luxury sector.

I paid a visit to the Apple store Covent Garden last week to listen in on Scottish fashion designer Christopher Kane in conversation with Grazia’s Style Director Paula Reed. The store was buzzing with a mix of fashion and Apple fans and as he and Paula took centre stage they had everyone’s full attention.