SS16 campaigns: Blugirl channels Jane Birkin and some California cool

Blumarine’s younger label Blugirl has gone for a retro celebration of all-thing-Californian for its SS16 campaign with model Charlotte Cardin looking like an extra from The Graduate-meets-Love-Story-meets-Stepford-Wives. Shot by Michelangelo di Battista and styled by Viviana Volpicella, the movie links are underscored by the fact that the campaign was shot at Universal Studios in Hollywood…

New-in comp shop: The Bardot top

The Bardot top was big news on the SS16 runways and crept into the high street offer as early as party season 2015. It’s set to hit big for warm weather deliveries over the next few months as part of a general trend for shoulder-baring tops. Come sunnier weather and you won’t be able to move…

John Lewis: First hint of shoppers buying new season looks

We had the first hint of good news around new-season fashion retail today as John Lewis (now giving its weekly update on Tuesdays rather than Fridays) said its sales rose 2.5% in the seven days to February 6. Fashion sales rose 4.4% within that figure with “some encouraging reaction to new season ranges”, according to John…

SS16 campaign: Marni communes with nature

In case you didn’t get the celebration of nature in Marni’s print story for SS16, the label’s new ad campaign really rams the point home. Tom Hunter has shot model Suvi Koponen against a woodland backdrop with one shot resembling nothing less than a leopard sleeping after a big meal.

Haute couture SS16: Social media moments

Fashion can seem to be a strange world when you’re not at its heart. It’s impractical, obsessed with things that the rest of the world thinks trivial, it’s frequently silly, and sometimes seems designed to make us all feel totally inadequate. Couture is all of those things but it’s also fabulous and social media-savvy. Here are some of my favourite SS16 moments.

Couture 2016: Alberta Ferretti wows us

Alberta Ferretti is one of those labels that always comes up with delicious fabric mixes and feminine takes on the trends of the day. Yet it’s not one that you expect to make you say “wow”.  This couture season is rather different though. The Alberta Ferretti Limited Edition label has channelled many of the key trends we’ve…

Couture SS16: Dior keeps it low-key

There’s something about a collection that’s put together without a named creative director at the helm. It’s like being given a bottle of perfume in a generic bottle – the smell is the same but it doesn’t feel quite as good. So it was with the Christian Dior SS16 couture collection today.

Couture SS16: Versace says sex sells

You’ve got to hand it to Versace. The fashion house has had its ups and downs but it’s back on a roll doing… well, what it’s always done really. Versace knows that sex sells and that’s what it gives it well-heeled clients, specially when it comes to its haute couture Atelier Versace offer.