According to Womenswear Daily, art collectors may be the latest guardian angels of the fashion world. Such is the case for Lost & Found, a young Tuscany-based fashion label that has contracted Alain Dominique Perrin, executive director of Compagnie Financière Richemont and president of The Cartier Foundation, as an investor.

Based on seasonless clothing using artisanal techniques and natural fabrics and dyes, Canadian Ria Dunn runs the brand with her partner, Italian architect Alessandro Esteri. Its second collection is being presented at the No Season showroom in Paris this week.

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Marks & Spencer was accused of hypocrisy yesterday when it emerged that the retailer shared suppliers with Primark, only a day after it attacked the discount fashion industry over subsistence wages.

Sir Stuart Rose, the executive chairman of M&S, told its shareholders on Wednesday: “You cannot sell a T-shirt in the UK for £2 and pay the designer and pay for the raw materials and pay the manufacturer and pay the rents and pay the rates and pay the carriage and pay the insurance and pay the freight — and pay a fair living wage to the person who made it. I won’t sell a T-shirt for £2.”

However, Associated British Foods (ABF), the owner of Primark, cast a shadow over M&S’s ethical stance by confirming yesterday that it shared some suppliers with its upmarket rival. John Bason, the group finance director of ABF, said: “Sometimes people think Primark sources from people different to everyone else on the high street.”

For the first time, Istanbul will be presenting its enormous power in fashion during Istanbul Fashion Days from August 26 to 29, 2009. The motto of this project is ‘Strong ideas create strong realities’. This international event will bring together the elite of Turkish fashion industry and the designers’ scene from Istanbul. Organizers are iTKiB, the Turkish Exporters’ Association for Textile and Ready-to-Wear, the Fashion Designers’ Association and the in 2007 newly founded dynamic Istanbul Fashion Academy which presents the highest education level for young designers.

The event will be celebrated in the whole city and visitors from all over the world are expected. Historic buildings have been selected for giving a unique fashion ambiance. Mr. Hikmet Tanriverdi, Chairman iTKiB, says: ‘ Istanbul, a European.

Fashion Capital, will from now on be joining the international fashion shows calendar like London, Paris, Milan, New York. Istanbul as one of the most fascinating metropolises in the world will emphasize its brilliance for creativity and culture. Specially, as Istanbul will be the Capital City of Culture in 2010.’

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Swimwear fair Moda Beach is launching a new swim and beachwear zone this August. The exhibition already features some of the leading premium swimwear collections and up-and-coming talent from the industry. Swimwear label Fantasie will be making its debut at Moda Beach. Its latest collection of stylish, easy to wear swimwear is characterized by sophisticated styles and retro designs. Alongside swimwear brand Freya presenting its range of great fitting swimwear with a modern twist, Moda Beach will also present quality Dutch swimwear labels After Eden, Catamar and Nickey Nobel.

New to the UK and launching at Moda Beach is Portugese label Emar with its bold swimwear collection, French swimwear brand Iodus presenting its new range featuring unusual shapes and fabrics and Jamu of Australia designed by Lydia Leong.

The brand line-up already includes industry leaders such as Gottex, Gideon Oberson, Moontide, Moontide Eclipse, Calvin Klein Swimwear, Sunflair, Opera, Sunmarin, Miraclesuit, Magicsuit, Pour Moi, Anita Rosa Faia, Anita Maternity, Penbrooke, Kiwi Saint Tropez, Banana Moon, Bond-Eye, Panache and Seaspray.

This August’s Moda will run at the NEC in Birmingham from 9 – 11.

Image: Kiwi Saint Tropez

UK retail sales values rose 1.4% on a like-for-like basis and 3.2% on a total basis, from June 2008, when sales had been hit by cold wet weather,figures from the British Retail Consortium reveal. The hot sunny weather, together with clearance sales, boosted clothing, footwear and outdoor leisure items.

Internet, mail-order and phone sales in June were 16.8% higher than a year ago, also benefiting from the heatwave and clearance sales.

Stephen Robertson, Director General, British Retail Consortium, said: “June’s sunshine gave overall sales a much-needed boost.Many clothing clearance sales coincided nicely with the upsurge in demand for summer wear that came from the good weather.

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Helen Dickinson, Head of Retail, KPMG, added :“Although overall sales performance continues to be driven by food, many non-food retailers had a better month in June. This was certainly true in clothing as a result of some early sales and promotions which benefitted children’s clothing and footwear in particular. The gap between total sales performance and like-for-like continues to narrow, highlighting the reductions in new store openings in the current environment. Two years of negative like-for-likes at store level for many retailers is putting severe pressure on cash and profits.”

Image: Sale

Escada, the German fashion house, has filed for bankruptcy after it failed to line up financing.

The Munich based women’s ready-to-wear and accessory company suffered after a sufficient number of shareholders failed to support a debt-restructuring plan this week.

The filing will affect 2,300 employees. Shares of Escada have already lost over 70 percent of their value in the last three days. The bankruptcy filing will be examined by a judge in Munich who will then appoint an administrator for the company. Negotiations with the company’s bondholders on a restructuring deal fell through earlier this week.

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Some of the world’s biggest private equity groups are queuing to examine £1.5bn bids for Matalan, UK’s conglomerate discount retailer, which has received interest in recent days from KKR, Blackstone, Cinven and TPG. According to the Financial Times, CVC Capital Partners, the UK-based private equity group, has a head start over its rivals after it made the initial approach to Matalan and held a preliminary meeting with the retailer’s management about a deal.

But since then, several big private equity groups have been scrambling for position in the early stages of an auction, which is being run by PwC. All parties declined to comment on Tuesday.

“All big private equity groups are asking themselves if they should look at Matalan,” said a banker who is working with one potential bidder. “CVC has a head start, but that doesn’t mean they will win in the end.” CVC has experience of the UK retail sector having been part of the consortium that bought Debenhams. KKR owns Alliance Boots, the pharmacy chain, while TPG was also part of the Debenhams deal.

Cinven has backed several UK retailers that it has since sold, including Hamleys and Peacocks, and it still owns Camaïeu in France and Maxeda in the Netherlands.

Bankers said that private equity groups were likely to be able to raise debt financing quite easily for a buy-out of Matalan.

“This is a defensive business that does well in a downturn,” said one banker. “It is the right business model in its pricing and products for banks to lend to.”

Matalan has ridden the tide of cash-strapped consumers trading down to discount retailers. It has also improved its product ranges, revamped stores and introduced new brands. A sale would net hundreds of millions of pounds for John Hargreaves, the founder and controlling shareholder, who took the business private three years ago in an £817m deal.

It is unlikely that Matalan would ever return to public ownership, given Mr Hargreaves’ clash with investors and non-executive directors when he took the business private.

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Tourists from continental Europe and China buying Burberry clothing and accessories helped the luxury goods company to navigate the downturn during the past three months. As was published in the Financial Times, Burberry said sales excluding currency movements fell 4 per cent in the three months to June 30, while they were up 8 per cent including the effect of exchange rate movements. However, retail sales were healthier, rising 12 per cent excluding currency movements.

Stacey Cartwright, finance director, said buyers from continental Europe and China, encouraged by the weak pound, were heading to Burberry’s British shops. “They are hunting out Burberry because of the brand momentum we have right now. We are hugely attractive from the point of view of the heritage and the iconic pieces we are offering,” she said.

However, US consumers were not flocking to Burberry in the same way, she said. “The issue for the US consumer is they are feeling the pinch a little bit more extensively in that market than perhaps across Europe and Asia. With the exchange rate back up at $1.65 it’s less attractive to them,” she said.

While consumers may be spending, department stores are reining in their purchases. Burberry said wholesale sales fell 28 per cent, in line with its own expectations of a 25 per cent decline. Some 15 percentage points reflected stores buying less stock, while 10 percentage points was from Burberry’s own initiatives, such as discontinuing the Thomas Burberry sportswear brand, sold mainly in Spain.

Despite the caution among wholesale buyers, Ms Cartwright believed Burberry was taking market share.

More prudent buying by stores could mean lower markdowns in the new year sales. “You will have a more normalised clearance activity at the end of the season for autumn/winter 2009,” she said.

Burberry has signed up Harry Potter actress Emma Watson for its advertising campaign, and Ms Cartwright said this was “putting all the right halo effect around the brand”.

Image: Emma Watson Burberry Campaign Source: Financial Times

Taking home various awards for its innovative designs in sustainable shoewear, Beyond Skin launched a pumps collection exclusively at Anthropologie’s London flagship store. The ballerina’s are made in India and follow a fair trade production process. Beyond skin worked with UK charity Trade Remade and sourced the vintage fabrics to transform them in to little pumps with different designs.

The Anthropologie store is all about sustainability and features recycled, vintage, eco-friendly and cruelty-free fashion. The shop is set up to appeal to the ethically aware consumer market. Beyond Skin is available now at the Anthropologie boutique, which closely follows the launch of their first UK store on Regent Street.

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Especially for those who like to mix ‘n match fashion and technology, iClothing launched fashion designs for men and women with a digital lifestyle. With the growing anticipation of the iPad, the clothing company launched the iDress and iTee.

The unisex iTee comes in white and black and has a protective front pouch to carry an iPad on the move. Made from 100% cotton jersey, the tee is made technologically compatible. Constructed out of durable cotton sateen, the iDress is a work/day dress, comfortable and iPad friendly.

“iTee and iDress feature reinforced padded pouches which are comfortable and almost unnoticeable. Perfect storage for the iPad,” says Davina Reichman, Managing Director of iClothing.

Fashion Entrepreneur Davina Reichman and Creative Director Luke Staley developed the concept of iClothing. Davina Reichman graduated in 2006 as a Master of Business Administration (MBA), specialising in Strategic Management (UTS) and holds a Bachelor of Computer Science (USyd). Davina is the Managing Director of Being Born Again Couture. Luke Staley is the founder of Alconleigh, which design philosophy is grounded in timeless elegance, luxury and wearability.

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