Hot on the heels of Lily Allen, Agyness Deyn and Alexa Chung, Kimberley Walsh of Girls Aloud is the next celebrity to represent the New Look girl. 

‘We always feature women who our customers tell us they like and relate to', said a spokesman for New Look. 'Lily Allen was one of the girls. Agy is the approachable supermodel and the way Alexa Chung styles herself goes down really well with our customers. And Kimberley Walsh is the girl our customer most wants to be.’ 

Celebrity designing gone too far.

Okay, so we had Kate Moss for Topshop, Lily Allen for New Look, Penelope Cruz for Mango etc etc etc. And I can see why some of these "modern style icons" are chosen to "design" or at least inspire their own clothing lines, but the latest one has left me completely dumbfounded. 

16 year old Miley Cyrus is to team up with Max Azria (Chairman, Designer and CEO of BCBG Azria Group) to create a junior line of clothing for..... Wal-Mart. 

The trend driven collection of graphic t-shirts, bottoms and shoes will be introduced in stores and online in August, and all items will be priced lower than $20.

It makes sense that if Miley was to team up with any one designer, it would be Azria, since he has dressed her for many celebrity events. In fact, both these gorgeous Hervé Léger dresses worn by Miley were designed by Max Azria. But really, how much influence can the 16 year old Cyrus have over the design process?

Beating the consumer downturn.

The conference proceedings began with some opening remarks from Chair, Declan Curry (of BBC 'Working Lunch' fame) regarding the intentions of this year's conference. Then Justin King - CE of Sainsbury's (who last night won Retail Leader of the Year award at the Oracle Retail Week Awards) - took to the stage. 

Some interesting points about how Sainsbury's DNA is evident in all of their advertising, past and present. Their core ethics still represent those of the brand in it's beginnings 140 years ago.

• Their customer seeks "Value without compromise" and Justin feels it is necessary to speak to their customers in a language that they understand whilst continuing to innovate the product they offer. Particularly in times of economic crisis. 
• The sign above their 1969 Dury Lane store read "Quality Perfect. Prices Lower" and they try to continue these values today whilst remaining ethically and environmentally responsible.
• The key message was that retailers need to stick to their values and not lose sight of what their customer's expectations are.

A panel discussion followed featuring Justin King, John Lovering (Chairman of Debenhams) and Phil Wrigley (Executive Chairman of New Look). Many interesting points came out of the discussion.

• Offering value is not a short term solutions.
• It was suggested that perhaps the majority of businesses who have collapsed over the last 10 years had a view to serve yesterday's customer. 
• With it being "25%" more expensive today for British retailers buying from suppliers and with the strength of the Euro, New Look have intentions to expand globally. 
  
• Retailers aiming to survive the recession must "Kill or be killed".
• The encouragement of staff through leadership and enthusiasm is vital in order to retain a vision of the future for your company. 

Giles Deacon Menswear Collection at New Look

Giles Deacon's Gold collection for women was a huge success in New Look when it launched. Now he's paving the way for Designer capsule collections for men on the High Street with 'Giles'.

The collection includes the likes of lumberjack shirts, a canvas satchel, polo shirts and baggy jeans. I will need to pop into Glasgow's New Look next time I'm about to get a proper look and see .