American Apparel let you in their L.A. Factory

Well, they let you get an insight of what they do there. But it's a clever marketing technique. Click on the windows of our factory to see what goes on in that department: You too can be a part of our world.

Top 5 wishlist for August

Some achievable, some not-so achievable:

Topshop 'Psychic' black studded ankle boots £110

Chanel 'Boy' bag in white (and/or red) £1525

Tina Lilienthal silver skull and arrow necklace £66Barbour flyweight tartan beadnell jacket £179.95

Topshop honey glossy faux fur cossack hat £22

As Seen On Screen

Since it's beginnings in 2000, ASOS.com has established itself as the UK's largest independent fashion and beauty retailers. 

Twelve in-house womenswear designers constantly create new lines, which are turned around within a maximum of 2 months. Up to 90,000 orders are shipped out of their Hertfordshire warehouse every week with Sunday evenings apparently being the most popular buying time (no doubt from customers needing something to cheer them up before going back to work the following day). 

Apparently clothes sell better when on certain models. ASOS employs 25 in-house models with every single item of clothing being photographed and filmed on the catwalk before becoming available on the site. But typically items sell best on long haired, good skinned and curvy models. An item doesn't sell quite as well as expected? It is re-shot on a different model and re-uploaded. 

Mark Fast for Browns.

Browns have teamed up with knitwear designer Mark Fast again for AW09 to offer a limited collection online. With body con being back, "Fast is bringing a touch of rebellion to his fall collection that is seriously sexy with a hint of punk." 
My favourite item is this double layered black knitted dress with a fringed bolero. The detailing is gorgeous with a racer back and ladder stitches across the bust. (And all for a mere £2,080.00!)

We still want luxury.

According to the Fashion Industry’s Key Executives… consumers are spending on “escapist items” instead of ‘boring basics."

“Right now we are championing escapist discreet clothes - ie cashmere loungewear.  Our customers still have film premieres, first dates, cocktail parties and holidays to attend. And because we are a fashion company above all, we celebrate new fashion trends, educate our consumer on why they are exciting, and then offer them to her on a silver tray.” 

Natalie Massenet CEO Net-a-Porter

In fact, the online retailer Net-A-Porter has seen profits increase by 234% from £3million to £10.1million in the past year. The company attributed the dramatic increase to “a well-edited product offering and a strategic approach to buying” as well as the continuation of special projects with designers including Alexander McQueen. Customer growth also significantly increased with an average of 6,500 new customers visiting each month of 2008

According to a recent report by Bain & Company, consumers still want luxury.  They still want to feel they have a special item and escapism is playing a significant role - people don't want to think about the economic climate 24/7.  

“There is a general sense that people will buy fewer items of better quality for the foreseeable future. Customers will demand uniqueness and good value, which is not to say inexpensive” 

Alex Bolen CEO Oscar de la Renta.

Rising Stars of Retail

Featuring 3 award winning up and coming retailers, the next panel discussion was intended to explain to other retailers, how they are "leading the way forward". The panel was made up of Ian Jones (Managing Director of Azendi), Ben Phillips (Managing Director of Steamer Trading Cookshop) and Oliver Tress (Managing Director of Oliver Bonas).

The values of these companies are similarly alligned towards great customer service.

Azendi is a contemporary yet timeless jewellers where the displays are kept simple and classy; the jewellery range offers something for everyones taste (and to an extent, price range) and the staff are extremely helpful. A reassuring aspect of the company, is there ethics towards diamond dealing. "At Azendi, we insist that all our suppliers guarantee that all diamonds are from legitimate sources not involved in finding conflict and in compliance with UN resolutions".

If you live in London, you will probably be familiar with the Oliver Bonas brand - the lifestyle store/website specialising in stylish gifts. Whilst Tress was at university, he used to bring handbags and watches back on request from Hong Kong where his parents lived. The entrepreneur in him spotted a retailing opportunity which has grown to include 15 stores across London since 1993.  

 

Oliver Bonas cater for men, women and kids at all price ranges and apart from the products they offer, the brand is very proud of their exceptional customer service.

The Steamer Trading Cookshop is a family-run kitchenware specialist "passionate about what we sell and the customer service we offer". Ben joined the business in 2001 that his parents had set up in 1985 and has transformed the company from 1 store to 18. Their stores all have a very different look and the company tend to seek out unusual buildings to set up shop: all of which they feel helps to add to the customer experience.

NastyGal.com

There's a website/online vintage store I subscribed to a while back and haven't visited in a while but today I had a look again to be re-inspired and subscribed to their blog. Based in San Francisco, the company offers a wide range of vintage clothing as well as unique, new designer pieces.

"Each item is unique, and comes with an individual history... giving it personality beyond what modern clothing could dream of recreating." 

This idea is really interesting to me and I spent an entire year of university investigating the relationship people have to their belongings and in particular, their clothes.

Although having never purchased anything, Nasty Gal is a great source for inspiration, something I would attend regularly for inspiration if I was a designer. The vintage pieces are always uniquely styled to look contemporary.

This video documents their latest fashion shoot for their upcoming Look Book - I really love what the stylists did with these looks.

I also just discovered that they held a Facebook competition for a uniquely stylized vintage outfit and will be holding another one this Spring. So get on it ladies.  

Louboutin 'Alti Pumps'

I was on net-a-porter and saw these beautiful Christian Louboutin crystal embellished satin sandals. They were in sale (!!) from £944 to £660.80. 

OK so a bit out of price range and they are last seasons but these shoes would be such a good investment! Think how many outfits you could wear these with. Never going to happen :(

(By the way the Christian Louboutin website is under construction right now but if it's anywhere as good as the previous one then it's worth checking out once it's done).

All Saints Spitalfields

The cult British fashion brand All Saints has some amazing clothes but the thing that I really love about them is their branding and shopfits. It completely compliments and reinforces the values of the product.

In some of their stores, (such as one of my local Glasgow stores above) hanging cruciforms are lit up acting as a rock'n'roll centerpiece reflecting the edgie, grunge fashion on their scaffolding fixtures. During the Summer I visited the flagship store in Spitalfields - round the corner from Spitalfields market in the now trendy part of East London. I instantly recognised the open-plan converted loft type space; exposed brickwork and aged wood flooring. But the displays were a lot more exciting and inventive than I had seen in Glasgow, with butcher meat hooks and industrial sized hanging items and mannequins from the ceiling as well as distressed 'vintage' style pieces spread out throughout the shop.

Although quite expensive (All Saints say their clothes are High Fashion at an affordable price), traditional artisan techniques are still used to make their unique clothes. At the moment I just admire but when I have a bit more money I shall be a regular shopper.

Another downside is that although their flash website is gorgeously designed to reflect the brand and its customers, it's not the best to navigate through. In doing this, I couldn't find any information about their ethics and history or any pictures of their stores on the site. They possibly need to work on getting this up to the same standard as their fashion and shop interiors.

Interactive shopping.

Recently I have come across some nice interactions whilst online shopping. 

The 'Oasis Fitting Room' allows you to trial outfits before you buy and get your friends advice before you purchase.

As well as this, Topshop have just added a new function to some of their clothing previews. When viewing some of their shoes, you now have the option of moving the mouse to see the desired shoe from all angles. This is a step forward from just zooming into the object or selecting a back view perspective. 

I can see these programming applications such as flash becoming a more common occurrence in our online shopping experiences.