Prints, Colours and Patterns at Decorex 2018

Above, top to bottom, Waves - Linwood fabrics and wallpaper; Deya Meadow by Matthew Williamson at Osbourne & Little; Studio Damask by Timorous Beasties.  All printed in the UK by John Marsh using Hewlett-Packard Latex Ink Technology.

Design by Annie Sloan's print and colour Specialist.

Photos © Lucia Carpio 2018

Tom Dixon unveiled new headquarters at The Coal Office, King's Cross, London

The Coal Office -  British designer Tom Dixon’s new headquarters - was unveiled during London Design Festival, with a breakfast reception at its new Restaurant on premises.

The Coal Office’s Gallery, Reception, Shop, Factory and Restaurant have been transformed into ELECTROANALOGUE exhibition spaces, showcasing a variation of digital interpretations.  Tom Dixon's latest interior products are showed off to great effect in the historical architecture of the Coal Drops Yard.


All Photos © Lucia Carpio 2018

Data Experts suggest UK Brands re-think strategy to celebrate the best of UK fashion

While London Fashion Week has put world focus on the best of UK fashion, data from customer relationship experts at Optimove suggests retailers should use the event to build long term relationships rather than focus on sales.

Photo © Lucia Carpio 2018

Optimove* data has found there is no dramatic change in online purchasing during Fashion Week, while also suggests that for most retailers the impact of sales will not be significant.  This is despite retailers try to drive a sales boost with ‘see now, buy now’ initiatives from brands such as Topshop and Burberry; or getting involved by sponsoring after-parties, pop-up shows and events.

Instead, Optimove said retailers should be focusing the development of long term relationships that can provide future value.

Pini Yakuel, founder and CEO of Optimove, comments: “Featuring in London Fashion Week is a great asset for many brands as it helps them to reach a wider audience.  However, focusing on boosting sales directly through showcasing at Fashion Week could quite possibly be a fashion ‘faux pas’. 

“Fashion is a passion industry: it brings together people with a shared love for style and design, and brands can utilise this to build a relationship with customers that lasts beyond Fashion Week. Simply aiming to sell more during this one week means that brands will miss out on connecting with customers and cultivating lasting brand loyalty and increasing customers’ lifetime value. 

“For the more valuable work of offering customers real value, brands need to communicate in an emotionally intelligent way.  Retailers should be able to identify a particularly fashion-forward customer and give them sneak peeks to an exclusive collection, access to limited editions or treat them to VIP/Concierge experiences, for example. 

Pini continues: “This means moving away from general demographic assumptions and towards segmentation based on behaviour analysis.  The data which helps brands to build up a fuller view of their customers is the most valuable thing to come out of London Fashion Week, because it can help retailers develop a relationship based on ongoing exchange of value.”

*Optimove is the Science-first Relationship Marketing Hub, used by over 300 customer-centric businesses to drive measurable growth by scaling customer engagement.

Textile experts to judge this year’s TexSelect Awards in Paris at Première Vision Designs

Helen Palmer, director of textiles, materials & knitwear at WGSN and her team at WGSN will be choosing a winner for a new award this year, the WGSN TexSelect Textiles of the Future Award.

“As Foundation Sponsors of TexSelect, we decided to do more for TexSelect and the young designers it supports, as well as raise awareness of the world-critical issue of sustainability. WGSN is all about the future and future creativity and helping to showcase upcoming talent, so this new award and everything it stands for is a perfect fit for us,” said Helen in an interview with TexSelect.

Separately Natasha Lenart of Victoria Beckham and Eda Karadogan of Ipekis are judging this year’s The Woolmark Company TexSelect Award.

“This is such a wonderful opportunity to encounter young designers with boundless creativity that hasn’t yet been influenced by the day-to-day of the working industry,” says Natasha Lenart, who is fabric and knitwear development manager at Victoria Beckham.
Eda Karadogan from historic Turkish company Ipekis is equally enthused: “I am excited to be judging The Woolmark Company TexSelect Award. It’s such a good way to discover new talent and to support them.”

The winner of The Woolmark Company TexSelect Award will receive £1,000 plus ongoing support from The Woolmark Company and opportunities to learn about developments.The Woolmark Company has supported TexSelect since the charity was founded more than 40 years ago, with the Award established in 2011. It recognises design excellence in fabrics created with 60% or more Merino wool, whether presented as printed, woven, knitted and/or mixed media fabric.

Other awards also to be announced on Thursday 20 September in the DESIGNS FACTORY area of Première Vision Designs, Hall 5, will include the Fashion Prize, Interiors Prize (donated by Clothworkers' Company), Pattern Prize (donated by Liberty London Fabrics), and Colour Prize (donated by mode...information and Pantone).

Also to be announced are the Marks & Spencer TexSelect Fashion Textile Award, and the Worshipful Company of Woolmen TexSelect Design Innovation Award for Wool in Interiors.

Elka's AW18 Sea Crew collection honours the heritage of the hard-working fishermen and sea crews of the North Sea.

The weather is turning and the north wind will soon start to blow and bite.  Spare a thought for those who bear the brunt of the cold when their work takes them out to the cold north sea.

I'm thinking of fishermen who throughout history have always mended their workwear with patches whilst at work in the harsh conditions of the rough seas. These patches bear testimony to years of fighting and working in often inhospitable conditions. These patches act as badges of honour and can signify the duration of one’s service.

Since the foundation of the brand Elka in 1958 one of their main objectives has been the outfitting and protection of Danish fishing fleets. Thus the Sea Crew collection is a reinterpretation of designs that have kept fishermen dry for 60 years.

Built with original 320g OEKO-TEX® standard 100 PVC fabric and high frequency welded seams Elka makes sure that every jacket from the Sea Crew collection meets the same exacting standards that we send to sea.

The original PVC collection has been the heart of our DNA since the company’s inception, and that the company takes pride in making clothing that is durable and waterproof enough to be worn by fishermen on the North Sea.

Handmade in their own factories since the beginning their materials are OEKO-TEX® certified and the Original PVC Collection still utilises their classic designs with bonded seams and raglan sleeves for maximum flexibility and waterproofing. After sixty years of sending these jackets out to sea the company declares proudly that their garments still stand up to the test every time.

Read in full on the Textile Innovations page.  Click HERE. 

Ethical footwear brand Po-Zu unveils AW18 and SS19 collections ahead of London Fashion Week

This Autumn/Winter 2018 season, British ethical footwear brand Po-Zu's signature style returns with chrome-free leather boots and best-selling sneakers. The new collection features new developments and silhouettes, including a non-leather runner which nods to the continuing athleisure trend, a vegan Chelsea boot, a vegan high top and a vegan snow-boot to see us through the après-ski season.

Building on the 12 year history of the brand, Po-Zu launched a new ethical line from Sri Lanka for the Spring/Summer 2019 season while also growing the Portuguese product range to offer a stylish ethical alternative for both men and women.

Sven Segal, CEO of Po-Zu, commented: “Seasons may come and go but the ethical footwear trend is here to stay. Therefore, we are also introducing new styles, a large amount of which are also vegan.

Spring/Summer 2019 features fresh new colours and stylish easy-to-wear sneakers made with organic cotton, coconut coir and Fair Trade rubber. “

Safia Minney, MBE, Managing Director of Po-Zu and Founder of Fair Trade fashion pioneer, People Tree, comments: “It’s been incredibly exciting building our ethical and sustainable supply chain in Sri Lanka and we’re so pleased to be able to offer customers an even wider choice of ethically-made footwear at prices that are ever more accessible.

Safia continued: “Consumers are waking up to the harmful consequences of their purchasing decisions. We are seeing ever more a shift towards vegan fashion that is not just cruelty-free but also plastic-free and environmentally-friendly. Working with naturally vegan and biodegradable Po-Zu shoes offer style and substance with top-class sustainability credentials."

Meanwhile, Po-Zu continues to maintain a cult following with the geek and Star Wars community, adding several new styles to the AW18 offering for Star Wars fans. Most notable is the new Leather RESISTANCE in luxury soft chrome-free leather.  Referencing the Rebel Alliance emblem with a heat embossed logo on the side the new sneakers shine new light on the timeless Star Wars brand. The range, which has been officially licenced by Lucasfilm and Disney has been worn on actors and stars alike including Daisy Ridley (Heroine Rey) Mark Hamil (Luke Skywalker), director, Kevin Smith, Youtuber, Casey Neistat and more.

Consumers’ increasing awareness of sustainability, ethical fashion and sharing economy

Some of the industry's visionaries on sustainability, ethical fashion and fair trade joined up to discuss Sourcing and Design and the Next Chapter on Fashion and Sustainability at Bloomsbury Gallery in London on September 4th  while ethical footwear brand Po-Zu’s launched their new SS19 and AW18 collections.

Photo from Pu-Zu. 

The discussions highlighted consumers’ increasing awareness of the harmful consequences of their purchasing decisions, and the growing shift towards vegan fashion that is not just cruelty-free but also plastic-free and environmentally-friendly. 

Sven Segal, Founder and CEO of Po-Zu said: "Everything starts with awareness. Most people are completely unaware of the issues with the footwear and the fashion industry.  My speciality is shoes and I can tell you there are tonnes of really nasty chemicals put into ordinary shoes. There ought to be a list of ingredients if you buy online on the product page much like with food."

On the next chapter for the industry, Safia Minney, MBE, Founder of People Tree and Managing Director of Po-Zu commented: "I see the work of the pioneers informing the agenda. The problem with ethical fashion and footwear brands is that we have to run so fast and compete on an unlevel playing field because we are competing with sweatshop fashion and fashion that is highly polluting and exploitative."

Caryn Franklin MBE, British fashion commentator, Professor of Diversity in Fashion and former Fashion Editor and Co-Editor of i-D Magazine: "It is a case of joining up the dots. If we are looking to be empowered and emboldened by our choices and to feel that to a certain extent we have embodied cognition: that we are feeling good about what we are wearing so therefore we have confidence and self-belief..."

Caryn continued: "If you know that something has been made by somebody in despair, then it has absolutely nothing to contribute to  life and your experience of yourself, because that information, you can't un-know."

On the vegan revolution, the plant-based economy and cruelty-free fashion, Bel Jacobs, freelance fashion journalist and former Style Editor at the Metro said: "The very fact of the matter is that sentient beings are suffering."

Bel added, on the next steps for the industry "I think social media is putting forward stories about what is going on behind the factory walls in a more efficient and devastating way than ever before and I think consumers are going to react to that."

Tamsin Lejeune, CEO of Common Objective and Founder of the Ethical Fashion Forum remarked: "The entire fashion and economic system is dysfunctional. We need tax breaks for ethical fashion pioneers to level the playing field, so they can compete."

Last but not least, on the sharing economy, Zoe Partridge, Founder of wardrobe rental concept, Wear the Walk said "It is about changing people's mindsets and how they consume."