Fashion World Loses Photographer Newton
Helmut Newton, the master photographer also dubbed the "35mm Marquis de Sade" and the father of androgynous imagery, died Friday at age 83
Those in the fashion world who mourned Newton included Hedi Slimane of Dior Homme, who had worked with him on his debut campaign at YSL; Luca Stoppini, art director of Italian Vogue, who will include a recent Newton shoot in Monte Carlo in next month's issue; and Lagerfeld, who said of Newton's accidental death, "It was his last picture, taken by himself."
29 January 2004
Clarks To Axe 107 Factory Jobs
Clarks will cut 107 jobs when it closes its factory in Barnstaple, North Devon. Most jobs will disappear by April, and the company will also make 13 head office redundancies. The footwear group once had 30 factories in the UK but now has just three.
26 January 2004
Steilmann Group To Cut Jobs
The Steilmann Group is to cut an additional 745 jobs in Germany, after cutting 600 jobs earlier this year. Some 484 jobs will be axed at its head office in Wattenscheid, while the closure of its Cottbus and Ochtrup sites will see a further 261 jobs losses.
17 December 2003
New Womenswear Designer At Sonneti
Sonneti has appointed an additional womenswear designer, Natalie Lampon, Hooch and Bench.Lampon has previous worked at Paul Smith, Burberry, Levi's, River Island and Wrangler.
12 December 2003
Scheme Offer Advice On Raising Finance
Start-ups and small and medium-sized business in London are being offered help in finding finance through the Access to Finance programme. The programme, run by service provider RKHB fashion and consultancy Platinumlinks, is being funded by the London Development Agency through Businesslink. For further details ring 0870 747 4968 or e-mail info@rkhbfashion.com.
9 December 2003
Multiples Restrict Travel To Turkey
Fashion retailers are faced with new international travel restrictions this week to a major sourcing destination after the bomb attacks in Istanbul two weeks ago.
Among those expected to be hit by the travel restrictions are Next and George at Asda. Marks & Spencer has advised staff to only travel if it is essential.
One high street clothing supplier, who sources around 40 per cent of its product form Turkey, said if the terrorist attacks continued, he would have to look to source elsewhere. He expected the main benefactors of the terrorist threat in Turkey to be Romania and Morocco.
3 December 2003
Ben Sherman Profits Soar
Ben Sherman reported sales up 8.2 per cent to GBP90.1 million for the year ended June 30 2003. Pre-tax profits soared from GBP406,000 to GBP5.3m for the same period.
27 November 2003
Something To Think About
With a world again in disarray, the term social responsibility comes to mind.
This applies especially to fashion and retail companies, both in the UK and
Worldwide. What do we mean by Social Responsibility? Simply that commercial
success cannot and should not be divorced from social awareness. Commercial
success brings with it the huge responsibility to both the people on whom it
depends and to the environment in which it exists.
Whether it is an issue of child labour, animal rights or using hazardous products
for the environment, companies must develop healthy relationships with suppliers.
Retailers, believe it or not, can be a major force for change in the field of
social development and improved working conditions. This is contrary to the
oft-expressed view that trade merely exploits the workforce in poorer countries.
A key factor is raising awareness. And awareness is a simple act that starts
with the individual.
21 November 2003
N Brown Pre-Tax Profits Dip
Home shopping retailer N Brown, owner of JD Williams and Simply Be, saw pre-tax profits for the six months to August 30 dip to GBP25.4million against GBP27.5m, below market expectations. Sales grew 2.2 per cent to GBP 231m.
28 October 2003
House Of Fraser Considers Extra Store Closures
House of Fraser denies last week speculation it was planning to close up to eight of its underperforming stores. A spokeswoman, however, stated: |We can absolutely deny that we are closing the number of stores mentioned. But there may be one or two more closures to announce before the end of the year."
27 October 2003
Lucille Lewin Leaves Liberty
After less than a year as its creative director, Lucille Lewin has parted company with Liberty. Lewin, who founded womenswear chain Whistles in 1976, was appointed last October to bring consistency to Liberty's product and an improved understanding of the store's customers.
The role was created specifically for her and the company does not plan to
fill it in the short-term. Lewin's immediate plans are uncertain and she declined
to comment on the circumstances of her departure.
9 October 2003
Freeport Sees 26 Per Cent Rise in Profits
Factory outlet operator Freeport recorded a 26 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to GBP12.9m for the year to June 28 2003. The company opened a retail village in Excalibur on the Czech/Austrian border this month and will open another one in Lisbon, Portugal in 2004.
24 September 2003
Hobbs Profits up 16%
Hobbs has seen a 14.5 per cent hike in like-for-like sales and a 16 per cent growth in profits due to improving systems efficiency.
Profits at the chain, which has 33 stores, four UK and three Irish concession, and a franchise in Stockhold, increased to GBP4.4m on sales of GBP39m.
Hobbs is due to open a store in Cardiff in October, and a third concession in Selfridges in the Trafford Centre in January 2004.
1 September 2003
Mulberry Driven To Raise GBP3.5 million
Mulberry is attempting to raise GBP3.5m which will be invested in the business, by way of an open offer underwritten by its largest shareholder Challice. If no other shareholders take up the offer of new ordinary shares at 28p per share, Challice's stake in @Mulberry will be increased from 41.5 per cent to 56.6 per cent.
Mulberry last week reported a GBP2.1 loss for the year to
March 31 2003, up from GBP1.7 last year, on sales of GBP28.2m. Founder Roger
Saul will step down from the position of non-executive president in November.
High Street Not Hot Property
Property agent Colliers CRE has warned a raft of development schemes could cause high street retail oversupply in the next five years. Colliers has identified 23 million sq ft of high street space that will become available in town centres by 2008, and said a slowdown in consumer spending could have a dramatic effect on the supply and demand ratio.
Colliers' Midsummer Retail Report predicted high street rents will rise by 2.0 per cent in 2003 and 2.1 per cent in 2004, but said this may fall longer term, especially for unites less than 5,000 sq ft.
Liberty Appoints Retail Director
Liberty has appointed former Ralph Lauren general manager David Brown to retail operations director.
Brown, who was responsible for Ralph Lauren's Bond Street and Fulham Road stores, replaces John Ball, Liberty's retail managing director.
Morgan to Open More Stores
Morgan plans to open a further five stores by the end of the year following the launch of a new men's and women's fragrance this autumn.
Morgan UK recently parted company with Irish nine-strong franchisee Barry and Sons, but plans to expand the company with five stores are said to go ahead.
Premier Kids to host Buying Seminars
Trade show premier Kids is launching a series of buying seminars at this season's show.
Jacqueline Cook, former head of childrenswear buying at Selfridges, will present Childrenswear Buying: An Art or a Science? Premier kids will also include the Drapers Trend Area, daily fashion shows and advice on window dressing.
Premier Kids is held at the NEC, July 13-15.
24 June 2003
Free Trade Focus at IAF Convention
The international Apparel Federation will hold its 19th annual World Apparel Convention 2003 on 24 and 25 June in Istanbul and will focus on free trade.
The open session of the convention, Before and after 2005, will ask the question of whether the industry is moving towards free and fair trade at an acceptable rate. Other topics on the agenda include innovation and technology, fashion branding, operation excellence and human resources management.
June 10, 2003
Desmond Closes Factories
Marks & Spencer supplier Desmonds has announced it will close three factories in Northern Ireland, with the loss of 500 jobs. Production from factories at Omagh in Co Tyrone, Swatragh in Co Derry and Irvinestown in Co Fermanagh will be moved overseas.
23 May 2003
Oakley targets fertile market: women
Oakley Inc. announced plans last Wednesday to expand and diversify its line of women's apparel. The plan calls for growth of the existing product line, plus a determined drive to enter new sales markets within the category. The US-based company is best known for its sunglasses, but is also designs and produces footwear, prescription eyewear, wristwatches and other products.
Oakley's women's apparel line accounted for just about twelve per cent of total global apparel sales in 2002 and is considered by the company a key area for future development. "Our women's apparel line continues to evolve. Where we were once focused primarily on technical outerwear, we have now added a comprehensive lifestyle component," said Oakley's newly appointed Domestic Sales Manager of Women's Apparel, Jenny Earnshaw.
Women's apparel presents a wonderful opportunity for growth. Although it has offered women's products for some time, Oakley is primarily viewed as a men's performance brand, having worked for decades to build a reputation on inventions that enhance performance for professional athletes. "Oakley's female customer base is more active than the average consumer and market research describes her as 'a force to be reckoned with," commented Nancy Coons, program manager of apparel.
February 7, 2003
click here on the title to read more : Government
Unveils Its Textiles Recovery Plan - A New Slant On Pinstripes
-
Williamson "Wonderland" Graces London Fashion Week -
Courtaulds Picks Up The Pieces For M&S -
Top Designers
At London Fashion Week - British
Retail Sales Rebound 0.7 Per Cent In January
British Retail Sales Rebound 0.7 Per Cent In January
Retail sales in Britain rose a healthy 0.7 per cent in January as shoppers took advantage of traditional New Year sales, official data showed on Thursday. It was the best monthly rise since last September but National Statistics said sales rose only 3.3 per cent in January compared with a year earlier, the slowest annual rate since July 1999
NS also said the underlying trend of sales growth had weakened marginally from that seen during the second half of last year, something that will comfort the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, which is in charge of setting interest rates.
"The BoE has made plain its desire to see slower domestic demand growth so this falls nicely into the hands of the hawks," Jeremy Hawkins at Bank of America said.
The latest retail sales data were bang in line with market expectations and are unlikely to alter the market view that Britain's interest rates will probably be cut again in the coming months due to benign inflation.
But NS revised up its estimate of sales in December to a monthly rate of 0.5 per cent and an annual rate of 4.5 per cent.
It said that on a three-monthly basis, which irons out monthly distortions, retail sales were up 1.3 per cent in the November to January period from the previous three months to stand 4.1 per cent higher than a year earlier.
"So inflation may be lying dormant, but the real economy is clearly not," said Ciaran Barr, an economist at Deutsche Bank.
High street deflation moderating
There were also indications that a long period of falling prices on the High
Street may be coming to an end.
The so-called "deflator" - a measure of what is happening to prices - rose to -0.3 per cent from -0.6 per cent the month before. This level was also seen last November but prior to that had not been higher since July 1999. "How far deflation unwinds could well determine where rates go. We still believe the repo rate will be cut again but this data is not conducive to a March move," Barr said.
Clothing and footwear sales had a robust January, rising 5.6 per cent on the month while non-store retailing, which includes mail order, repairs and Internet-only selling, surged 7.4 per cent.
(C) Reuters Limited 2001 - By Ashley Seager and Claire Soares
Top Designers At London Fashion Week
London Fashion Week, which kicked off yesterday, is a frenzied week of fraught nerves and foul tempers, outlandish outfits and celebrity spotting.
Just registering as a spectator for some of over 50 shows crammed into six days offers a glimpse of the less glamorous side of the business. Faxes go unanswered, frantic PR flacks suggest even the Milan show may be less full, or ask: "Is standing room OK?"
The headline-grabbing shows are always places to be seen as much as places to see.
Just as he was at the last fashion week in September, the one to watch during the Autumn/Winter 2001 presentations will be Alexander McQueen, the biggest name in British design today who is always sure to shock.
Like John Galliano and Stella McCartney, he has touted his talents elsewhere, and has been poached by Florentine fashion house Gucci from French rivals LVMH.
"Because of the difficulties of getting money for business here these people needed to get investment from overseas, and that's sad," said John Wilson, chief executive of the British Fashion Council.
McQueen is also up for the country's top design accolade, British Designer of the Year, which will be awarded on Tuesday. He goes up against respected husband-and-wife team Clements Ribeiro and "Welsh wizard" Julien Macdonald.
Win and lose But spare a thought for Hussein Chalayan, the current British Designer of the Year, whose recent decision to go into voluntary liquidation with debts of £250,000 ($363,500) is a stark reminder of how fickle the world of fashion can be.
"It is well known that one of the problems young British designers have is that they can be brilliant creators but have very fragile businesses," Wilson said, adding that he believed Chalayan would be back in action before long.
Putting on a show usually costs £30,000, although the big names will spend four times that amount. Little wonder Chalayan is steering clear of costly catwalks for now.
Luella Bartley is another notable absentee, opting to show her latest collection in Milan this season instead of London.
It is a snub to London, which has to play fourth fiddle to the couture centres Paris and Milan, and now New York.
While the high end of the fashion business in Britain is worth an estimated £700m annually, not far short of the markets in France and Italy, it is in the branding of products like perfume and makeup that the Continentals have excelled.
"We in Britain are not as quick as we should be," Wilson said. He added that, although many creations to grace the catwalks in recent years have been eccentric, if not downright unwearable, the collections are not irrelevant.
"Some of the designs may be off-the-wall, but this is a serious business. Buyers from major chain stores will be there to spot the colours, fabrics, cuts and other trends."
(C) Reuters Limited 2001. By Mike Collett-White
Courtaulds Picks Up The Pieces For M&S
Courtaulds ladieswear factory in Peterlee, Co. Durham, which made around 70 per cent of its workforce redundant following M&S’s decision to source clothes offshore, has found a new line of business – mending apparel from the foreign companies that now supply M&S
The 60 workers who have kept their jobs at the Courtaulds plant say they are now repairing shoddy workmanship shipped in from the foreign companies.
Sue Sowerby-Scott, shop steward for the GMB union said: "The quality of the overseas work is dreadful and we have been restitching and reshaping the women's clothing that comes in from abroad.
"There is very low morale at the moment among the staff and it makes them sick they are repairing the bad workmanship of others who have taken away their jobs. It is about time that M&S listened to what customers want and didn't cut corners.
"The bottom is falling out of the textiles industry, and soon there won't be anyone left who has the necessary skills.
" Tony Bobroff, spokesman for Courtaulds said: "It is true we have to do remedial work, which can sometimes include re-stitching garments so they are ready, but it only accounts for five per cent of our work."
M&S admits it has to tidy up many of the garments once they reach Britain. "Often the garments have been in crates for a long time - sometimes months - and are very creased. The garments are pressed and steamed so they are saleable,” a spokesperson said
Williamson "Wonderland" Graces London Fashion Week
A chocolate-box wonderland of red, gold and cream was Matthew Williamson's theme on Monday for what has become one of the most eagerly awaited shows on the London Fashion Week circuit.
Against a stark white setting at the Saatchi Gallery in the trendy St John's Wood area, a smattering of familiar faces graced the front row to give the serious business of trend spotting and touting the glimmer of glamour.
Texan model Jerry Hall, former wife of Rolling Stone Mick Jagger who has been appearing in the London stage version of "The Graduate", rubbed shoulders with TV presenter Amanda de Cadenet and off-duty supermodel Helena Christensen.
On the catwalk was colleague Jodie Kidd, who modelled an Autumn/Winter 2001 collection featuring a generous smattering of silver, gold and red sequins, beret hats, short skirts and cream fur trim.
Williamson, a favourite of pop diva Madonna and British actress Liz Hurley, showed neat craftsmanship with see-through skirts and dresses adorned with pink and red cloth roses, and nodded to St Valentine with romantic hearts worn on the sleeve.
But it was not all fairytale romance. Product placement has hit the fashion world too, and one grey t-shirt was emblazoned in bold colours with the logo "I Love Ariel", a reference to the washing powder that sponsored the show.
There were also hints of Paris and a teasing array of short white aprons, hooped stockings, short shorts and high heels.
Show stoppers
It is never hard to see behind the veneer of the notoriously fickle fashion
world.
Williamson's show was delayed by nearly an hour when a bus carrying many of the world's fashion cognoscenti from collection to collection was caught in traffic.
One woman decided to take a call on her mobile telephone mid-show, wandering across the sacred runway to the bemusement of the phalanx of photographers and front-row occupants.
And it all proved too much for one cameraman, who collapsed and caused a major commotion for those sitting around him as the display reached its climax.
Also showing on Monday was Paul Smith, best known for his hugely successful classical menswear line but turning increasingly to women's clothes.
Julien Macdonald, the young Welsh designer famed for dressing celebrities in risqué numbers, was also on display. His was the first show a designer tried to broadcast live over the Internet.
The biannual fashion fest has prompted the usual soul-searching about Britain's place in haute couture.
Ranking behind the likes of Paris and Milan, London has traditionally bred alternative labels and a few household names, like Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney, who have gone on to work with some of the great Continential fashion houses.
Local pundits believe that London still has an important place in the designer circuit, which also takes in New York.
The Times newspaper took issue with an assertion by its New York namesake, which it quoted as saying that, apart from McQueen and Hussein Chalayan, British designers "are about as inconsequential as a baby's burp."
"But 2,000 international buyers and 750 journalists see things slightly differently," the Times replied.
(C) Reuters Limited 2001 - By Mike Collett-White
It is difficult to imagine a more conservative item of male clothing than the pinstripe City suit.
Yet at the recent London-based Level 2 trade fair, which services the classic clothes end of the menswear market, several manufacturers did achieve a literal new slant on pinstripes with the way they cut the cloth.
On the Gurteen stand for instance, where the return of the three piece suit was also a major styling story, pinstripe fabrics were used vertically - conventionally - on the suit trousers but either horizontally or diagonally on the matching coat and waistcoat.
Vartex also favoured pinstripe suitings, but its favourite variation on this theme took the form of broadly spaced striping. Indeed so wide-spaced were some of their fabric selections that they could have been designed for the stage wardrobe of veteran jazz singer George Melly who is celebated for performance attire which echoes in exaggerated form the Soho "wide boy" suit styles of the late l940s.
Berwin & Berwin too forecasts renewed interest in the three piece. But instead its collection looked back to the heyday of the teddy boy as the king of teenage dandies, as the inspiration for 21st century suits with velvet collared long line jackets and stove pipe trousers. The teddy boy of course was himself aiming to recreate in modern form the attire of the typical man-about-town during the first decade of the 20th century.
Elsewhere in the show the more conventional fashions of the l950s were revived by Vigan with sandy and dun coloured corduroy velvets. Here again, however, the cloth's direction was reversed - with the cording running horizontally rather than vertically - which made these garments more interesting than if they were merely a pastiche of the fashions of half a century ago.
Other ready to wear suit manufacturers such as Daniel Drescott opted for self patterned dark tone fabrics and for a slim silhouette with a high buttoning single-breasted jacket. While particularly among the Continental exhibitors it was the return of the full length, face cloth overcoat in a funereal black which made news.
Overseas exhibitors at the February Level 2 included a particularly strong contingent of manufacturers from Cyprus with sights set on expanding sales into the medium price bracket, middle of the road styling sector of the UK with particular emphasis on knitwear, formal and casual shirts and on the trousering trade.
By Sonia Roberts - Just_style
Government Unveils Its Textiles Recovery Plan
Textiles Minister Patricia Hewitt today published a progress report on the actions Government has taken to help the UK textile and clothing industry.
In the report, entitled "Government Support for the Textile and Clothing Industry", she said: "Over £75m has been invested into the Textile and Clothing Industry since 1997. Money has been channelled into areas as diverse as capital investment, export support, technical development, research, skills development, and training. This has had a real impact on industry and Government is committed to investing in further creative initiatives for the future.”
She added: "The Department of Trade and Industry launched a ‘12 point action plan’ in June 2000 to help the industry. Today we are reporting progress in support for the industry and implementation of the plan. The emphasis is on design and marketing, higher skills level, and smarter products.”
She said that action taken to help the industry so far has included:
- £60,000 to fund 25 young designers who are showing or exhibiting at London
Fashion Week. This forms part of a package of support for London Fashion Week,
which is 35 per cent higher than last year.
- £1m invested in technical textiles companies to develop a range of new products
and materials. A further £1m is in the pipeline.
- £2m to target retraining for the industry.
- A 25 per cent increase in the number of textile and clothing companies attending
overseas trade fairs with assistance from Trade Partners UK.
- £1.5m investment in a major new textile and clothing supply chain initiative,
bringing together everyone from yarn spinners right through to retailers.
- £30,000 funding by UK online for business to help textile and clothing companies
develop their websites. Money has been ring-fenced for up to 40 companies. We
will be looking to extend the scheme in the next financial year.
Ms Hewitt said: "The global market for textiles and clothing is changing rapidly. Government and industry must work together to help industry improve its competitive position and respond to these changes.
"We have achieved a significant amount in a short space of time, but we want to do more, and we are still working on further textile and clothing strategy recommendations.
The next stage will include the following:
- Holding a series of regional events at which textiles and clothing companies
can come and talk to advisers who will assess business and financial needs.
The first event will be in the East Midlands on March 14.
- Development of new projects to help workers made redundant from the textile
and clothing industry retrain for work in fast-growing industries.
- Funding the production of new curriculum material for post-16 students designed
to provide up-to-date learning materials for people interested in pursuing a
career in the industry.
- Identifying ways of providing support to the designer fashion industry and
the wool and worsted industry.
She said: "Industry must also play its part, embracing change and equipping itself for the challenges of the global knowledge driven economy.
"London Fashion Week highlights the fact that designers will benefit in the long term when working in partnership with textile and clothing manufacturers. The sector as a whole must be more integrated and competitive to achieve success in such a high-profile industry."