Coinciding with London Fashion Week, the Little Black Gallery will showcased an exhibition of iconic fashion photographs Masterpieces. Taking place until 10th April, the showcase will feature legendary British photographers Terence Donovan, Patrick Lichfield and Norman Parkinson.

Terence Donovan was part of the ‘swinging sixties’ with David Bailey and Brian Duffy and revolutionised the world of magazine and newspaper photography. Coming from a privileged background as a cousin of the Queen, Patrick Lichfield’s work became synonymous with life of the rich and famous. Norman Parkinson was the quintessential British gentleman photographer.

During the exhibition Masterpieces all limited edition prints are available to buy.

Jimmy Choo co-founder Tamara Mellon has been named chief creative officer of the eponymous footwear company. Former Vogue accessories editor Tamara began the luxury footwear company in 1996 with the designer Jimmy Choo himself. Choo later sold his stake for £10m in 2001. Tamara was previously known as founder and president and her new role is to oversee the company’s brand image, design, pr and advertising.

Jimmy Choo chief executive officer Joshua Schulman said of the new appointment: “Today’s announcement acknowledges the important contribution that Tamara makes to our brand image and design process. This new title is a better reflection of Tamara’s responsibilities and accomplishments at Jimmy Choo. Together with our creative team, she has been at the forefront of developing product and marketing, which has fuelled growth of the company.”

Sandra Choi will continue in her role as creative director with responsibility for product design and will report to both Tamara and Joshua.

Tamara’s new role will mean she’s even busier than before and recently revealed she uses her iPhone to organise her wardrobe as it saves precious time. She said: “One trick I do is I have my closet on my iPhone.

“I always have so many events coming up so I will take some time and prepare, say, the next 10. The outfits are all photographed and uploaded onto my iPhone, so that when I’m travelling and I’m in the office running late, one of my girls can run over to the hotel and they know – from the download – what to pull out, and it’s ready to go. It’s such a timesaver.”

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Image: Tamara Mellon

Debenhams has revealed British parents spend an average week’s salary of £426 to update their child’s wardrobe each season. The research figures show that parents spend on average £357 per season on updating their child’s wardrobe for school and recreation. This figure jumps to £427 for girls, and it’s the likes of celebrity ‘mini-mes’ such as Suri Cruise that are pushing this trend, as Miss Cruise herself reportedly has a wardrobe worth over $3 million.

In the online poll of 1,500 parents, Mums and Dads confessed to buying an average of 7 new girls dresses and 5 pairs of new shoes for their daughters per season, while little boys were treated to an average of 10 new t-shirts and 5 pairs of jeans in the latest style.

Parents admitted to splashing out on trend-led mini fashion items such as jeggings and blazers for girls to keep their tots in style, whilst 74 per cent of Dads said they would buy their son their football team’s latest strip twice a year, plus the national England kit in between.

Debenhams has attributed this spend to the rise and rise of celeb kids sporting the latest catwalk fashions, or the ‘Suri Cruise Effect’.

Parents were asked to vote for the celebrity kids whose style they admired. Tots who came out on top included Sunday-Rose Urban, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, Kingston Rossdale, Violet Affleck, Harlow Richie-Madden and the Beckham boys Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz. However, the clear winner in the style stakes was Suri Cruise, who received over 50 per cent of votes.

In the survey, 63 per cent of parents said they didn’t need a reason such as a birthday party to buy their son or daughter a new outfit, and 45 per cent shopped for new clothes for their child at least once a fortnight.

Over half of parents who were shopping for their daughters said they would consider fashion as important as functionality in picking new outfits.

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In contrast to when their generation was growing up, 57 per cent of parents said they wouldn’t dress their children in hand-me-downs from older brothers or sisters if they could afford new clothes.

Kate Liszka, Director of Childrenswear Buying at Debenhams commented: “Us Brits are somewhat famed for our competitive neighbourly streak, or for ‘keeping up with the Jones’s’. Now it seems that top of the British agenda where our kids are concerned is keeping up with the Cruises.”

“The amount of money some parents are willing to spend on kitting out their kids in the latest catwalk fashions would pay for a family holiday – that’s why the designer collaborations we have in store are a great way to get that designer wardrobe for a fraction of the price.”

Debenhams offers Childrenswear ranges by catwalk designers Matthew Williamson, Jasper Conran, John Rocha and Ted Baker for mini-me fashion on the high street.

Image: Baby Dior

Royal College of Art graduate James Kelly has been named as the winner
of Fashion Scout’s autumn/winter 2015 Merit Award.

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Kelly who graduated from the RCA in June 2014 took part in the
London-based emerging designer platform’s graduate showcase in September
and impressed the judges including Hilary Alexander with his statement
pieces featuring alpaca mohair and ostrich feathers.

Following in the footsteps of Eudon Choi, David Koma, Hermione De
Paula, Georgia Hardinge and more recently Phoebe English and Xiao Li, Kelly
will now be sponsored by Fashion Scout for three seasons with a prize worth
20,000 pounds, with his first catwalk show taking place during London
Fashion Week in February.

Commenting on the winner Hilary Alexander said: “I was totally blown
away by James Kelly’s collection at the Royal College of Art gala earlier
this year. Marvellous marriage of function, fashion and form; beautiful
colours of midnight navy, deep forest green, pewter, with hand-dyed ostrich
feathers. The models looked like birds of paradise flying through a storm.”

James Kelly named Fashion Scout Merit Award winner

On his win, Kelly added: “I am completely blown away with the fact that
I was chosen for the Merit Award. I’m so excited to be working on my new
collection to be shown at Fashion Scout this February and am so thankful
for the opportunity!”

Fashion Scout will take place during London Fashion Week from February
20-24 at the Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden. Alongside presenting the
Merit Award Catwalk show and exhibition, the platform will host more than
30 catwalk shows and presentations.

No, J.Crew is not hiring children to sew its new collection for Crewcuts,
the American retailer’s kidswear collection. Instead, the label has
cleverly tapped the 4 year old designer famed for her ‘paper dress’
versions of Oscar gowns to create a capsule collection.

Known only by her nickname Mayhem, the young designer was asked by
Jenna Lyons, J.Crew’s creative director herself if she was interested in
creating a special capsule collection for Crewcuts.

Earlier this year the little designer traveled to New York with her parents
to meet up with Lyons and Jenny Cooper, head designer of Crewcuts and
together they create a nine piece collection for Summer 2015, which
includes apparel, shoes and accessories.

Her mother, who goes by the name Mayhem’s Mama wrote the
following blog post about their creative process earlier this week: “Here’s
how it went down … Mayhem and her new crew all sat down on the floor and
played. And made stuff. Out of paper and tape and beads and glue and
crayons.”

J.Crew teams up with 4-year-old fashion designer Mayhem
“And they laughed and hugged and had more fun than I would have imagined.
And then they sprinkled their magic J.Crew fairydust on it and turned paper
into fabric. And when it was time to go, Mayhem cried. Because
she didn’t want to leave.”

Cooper explained how the company first found the young designer via her
blog and how the collaborative creative process unfolded: “When we met with
Mayhem for the first time we were really curious to see how she would work
and were amazed to watch this barely four-year-old girl start meticulously
folding the pleats on a skirt and placing stones very specifically and
carefully on a top she had just fashioned around herself.”

“She has such an inventive and creative personality that really resonated
with us. It was great to have a truly creative child be at the heart of the
design process.” Named ‘Little Mayhem with J.Crew,’ the capsule collection
prices began at 22.50 dollars but remain under the 100 dollar thresh hold
and are slated to hit stores spring 2015.

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Black Friday was the make or break test for John Lewis as it received
unprecedented volume of customer orders online.

The company said its systems stood up to the test, seeing an overall rise
of 11 percent in the run up to Christmas.

New shopping habits changing retailers delivery options

The retailer said: “It is clear that the emerging story of this Christmas
is how the changing shopping habits of British consumers are impacting
retailers’ delivery operations, with the demand from Black Friday resulting
in an unprecedented peak in customer orders.

“At John Lewis, our systems, processes and Partners have stood up to this
test, and customers can shop with confidence across our delivery options.
Customers continue to embrace the advantages of omni-channel, with Click &
Collect orders up 32 percent, and sales assisted by Partners in shops,
either on tablets or kiosks, up 31 percent.”

Fashion sales climbed by 5.2 percent year-on-year last week boosted by
strong uplifts in sales of the retailer’s own-brand Kin label,
childrenswear and premium beauty.

Andrew Murphy, retail director at John Lewis, said: “This is the time of
year when all aspects of retailers’ operations are put to the test, and I’m
very proud of how John Lewis Partners in our shops, distribution network
and contact centres, have risen to the challenge and continued to deliver
fantastic levels of service at their busiest time of year.

“It’s been a solid week of trade, and our results through the whole
pre-Christmas period are encouraging. With fewer than 10 days to go until
Christmas, it’s still all to play for.”
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To coincide with award season, Belstaff is celebrating Hollywood’s most
iconic rebels with the launch of a curated collection of film-inspired
jackets, along with a limited-edition newspaper.

Designs including the Georgina parka, inspired by the Belstaff parka
that Angelina Jolie wore in ‘The Tourist’, the four pocket style Panther
leather jacket that Brad Pitt wore on his bike in ‘The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button’ and the Phoenix blouson, similar to the biker jacket
design that Kristen Stewart wore in ‘Twilight: Breaking Dawn’ are available
for customers to buy.

Prices for the collection start at 425 pounds for the H Racer jacket,
the same rubberised jersey design that Jeremy Renner sported in ‘The Bourne
Legacy’, and go up to 1,525 pounds for the moto-inspired Phoenix blouson as
worn by Shia LaBeouf as Indiana Jones’ son in ‘The Kingdom of the Crystal
Skull’.

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Belstaff will also be displaying some of the original archive jackets
that the label created for films in its six global stores; these will
include the leather jacket that Robert Downey Jr. wore in ‘Iron Man’, and
the aviator blouson that Leonardo DiCaprio wore in ‘The Aviator’.

The limited-edition newspaper has a production run of 1,000 copies,
which will be available at Belstaff stores, as well as sent out with all
Belstaff online orders throughout February. The paper’s content features
contributions from Kevin Maher, a film critic at The Times in London, and
will also be available to view on the retailer’s website.

Images: Aviator archive piece and Phoenix blouson

London-based emerging designer platform Fashion Scout has opened its
applications for its spring/summer 2016 London and Paris showcases.

Marking the platform’s 19th season, the London Fashion Week initiative
that has nurtured the likes of Eudon Choi, Phoebe English, Georgia
Hardinge, and David Koma is looking for the next generation of designers to
make their mark on the international fashion scene.

Designers can apply for multiple showcase options including
presentations and installations, catwalk and salon shows, the London
exhibition and the Paris showroom, plus collaborative showcase Ones To
Watch and the Merit Award.

The coveted Merit Award is worth 25,000 pounds over three seasons, in
which the designer will showcase their collections on the catwalk at
Freemasons’ Hall during LFW, as well as receive mentoring and support. Last
year’s winner was Royal College of Art graduate James Kelly, he was
selected by a panel of industry experts including fashion editor Hilary
Alexander.

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Fashion Scout will take place from September 18-22 during London
Fashion Week and in Paris from October 1-7. Applications close May 7.

Louis Vuitton has been denied the right to monopolize the checkerboard
pattern, following the ruling from the European Union General Court. The
decision comes after the luxury label first registered a trademark for its
brown Damier check pattern in 1998 and the subsequential trademark for the
black version ten years later.

However, the First Board of Appeal of the Office Harmonization in the
Internal Market previously took away Louis Vuitton’s trademark for the
checkerboard pattern in 2011 and Louis Vuitton’s attempts to have decision
reversed have been denied.

The General Court, based in Luxembourg, stated that in its decision “the
checkerboard pattern, as represented in the contested trademark, was a
basic and banal feature composed of very simple elements.” Since the
pattern was lacking distinguishing features, such as a logo, the pattern
cannot be seen as the sole property of Louis Vuitton, said the court.

The luxury fashion house, part of giant conglomerate LVMH, has yet to
reveal if it aims to appeal the European Union’s General Court ruling.

Louis Vuitton has decided to pay homage the late great British designer and
artist Christopher Nemeth. What better way to pay homage to an artist and
designer than with a pop-up shop. Starting on June 22nd during men’s
fashion week in Paris, Louis Vuitton will have a 325-square-foot
installation on their second floor with a trunk like shelving unit as its
centerpiece.

The collection will include ready-to-wear, leather goods, and a line of
accessories which will include scarves and timepieces. The pop-up shop is
expected to remain in place until July 18th, spanning almost a month. The
collection will also be available in select Louis Vuitton stores across the
globe. A pop-up store is expected to launch in Tokyo at Isetan from August
26th to September 16th.

Louis Vuitton and Christopher Nemeth a match made in art heaven

Louis Vuitton has reported that apparel will be located in 99 locations,
leather goods in 157 locations, and shoes in 178 units. Louis Vuitton is
famous for not doing wholesale, and therefore they do not showcase product
outside of their own network of stores. However, Colette, the destination
concept store on the Rue de Fabourg Saint-Honore, will carry a wide range
of the runway collection, which features Nemeth’s fetish hand-drawn motifs
on outerwear, tailoring, scarves, DJ cases upholstered in shearling, and
monogram tote bags.

Kim Jones, the artistic director of Louis Vuitton men’s wear is a known
collection of Nemeth’s Harajuku inspired silhouettes, which he updated for
the collection. It’s something very original from Louis Vuitton, and
different from many art inspired collaborations done before. The eternally
iconic luxury brand continues to keep us on our toes.
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