Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large
A survey this week claimed that 99.3%* of people felt "significantly cheered up" if they read the fashion news on a grey Friday and/or weekend. With those kind of stats, you'd be mad not to read on.
*This figure and survey is entirely made-up but we suspect this might be the case.
In the tug of war between high fashion and high street, this has been a major week as Mark and Spencer and Versus vied for the attention of fashion keenos.
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| VERSUS X JW ANDERSON (via style.com) |
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Aren't the Versus transfers utterly brilliant? JW ANDERSON X VERSUS
(via style.com) |
Firstly, in New York Donatella Versace and JW Anderson came together for the
major re-launch of Versace's sister label Versus, for which JW Anderson has designed a capsule collection. In an innovative move, Donatella has repositioned Versus as an exciting brand for fashion-mad millenials. The JW Anderson collection
will be available exclusively online in a few days and collections will be launched away from the traditional settings and timings of fashion weeks. Angel Haze and Grimes performed at the event Lexington Avenue Armory, making it a quite the fashion and music bonanza. I loved watching/ listening to the video below, J-Dubz and Donatella in conversation.
Meanwhile back in London, Marks and Spencer's share price rose 3% and this happened...
Why? Because Belinda Earl unveiled her new plan for the ailing fashion side of M&S. The business has pinned its hopes on Earl, formerly of Debenhams and Jaeger, to rescue it from an eighth consecutive quarter of falling profits. Britain's most-respected fashion editors seem to have varying views on how exactly Earl has executed the turnaround...
Jess Cartner- Morley and Sarah Butler in
The Guardian"The bold fashion message on which Belinda Earl is pinning her hopes of turning around the fortunes of Britain's biggest clothing retailer is about quality, not trend."
Laura Craik in
The Times
"That M&S has done one too says everything you need to know about its new strategy. M&S is paying heed to the catwalk again. M&S is doing just what H&M, Zara and Topshop do. M&S is back in the game."
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| The very Celine/ Carven coat, M&S AW13 |
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| The very Prada coat M&S AW13 |
There are certainly plenty of pieces which rival Zara when it comes to "inspired" by the catwalk. A fur trimmed coat, for example, is a dead ringer for Prada's and a pinstripe one with turned-up collar looks like it might have been designed as a result of Stella McCartney's AW13 show. I showed my Mum the new look book. She, I would imagine, is exactly the kind of customer who could be lured back to M&S- she loved it for years but has more recently migrated to Whistles, Cos and whatever's in John Lewis. She said that she liked "some pieces but I'm not sure who they're targeting". The very Dolce and Gabbana lace red party dress is is "lovely" she said, "but my friends and I could never wear that now, it's so short". Luckily, the sound of better quality and well-edited ranges was music to her ears. Personally, I would certainly consider making a coat purchase.
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| My Mum's favourite dress, she wants this. |
David Beckham announced this week that he's retiring from football. From the reactions of some, you'd think that we're never going to see him again. However, it does seem an appropriate moment to pause and remember the various incarnations of "hairstyle" which Becks has paraded on the pitch. I like
AskMen's edit.
It's been the best of times...
