Aren’t we all so glad it’s now getting nicely into the New Year and there is actual news around? By December 31st we’re all getting a little tired of retrospectives (even though half of us online are guilty of writing them) and we want news! Let’s find the Sex and the City 2 trailer! Someone must have a new diffusion line out! Well luckily the celebrities and Fashionable People have been busy bees from the start of January, thus we have some interesting stories to report to take your mind off of the snow. Hurrah!
First up, if you, like the majority of shoppers, are fed up of the sales and the mess of markdowns now on offer, do not fear! Keep your eyes open for the fantastic post-sale Cruise collections that fill the void before the new season hits with a vengeance. Most designers stick to the ‘cruise’ theme, and we can all get our inspiration from Chanel and the striped tops and cute dresses (perfect if you are actually lucky enough to be boarding boat/plane and leaving our icy shores for a winter holiday). The high-street stores also do their own version of inter-season lines, so keep your eyes peeled for the things not under huge red sale signs and you might just be ahead of the pack.
Some labels do know how to create a frenzy around new lines though: including Mulberry, who launch the much-anticipated Alexa bag on Monday 11th January. A long-standing fan of the brand, Alexa Chung has carried a men’s Mulberry satchel-style bag for a while now, and Emma Hill and her creative team decided to honour their fashionable muse with her own namesake version. Word on the street seems to suggest that oak is the colour to covet, but if you are fan of the slightly more avant garde then you could go for patent leopard print instead.
New Year and new season means new adverts in our glossy magazines, and top of the pile is Emma Watson in her second campaign for Burberry. The images are young and fresh, with Miss Watson looking model-esque in a variety of spring trenches, including a fantastic lilac, round-shouldered take on classic Burberry. And making his model debut is her brother Alex, who seems to take after his big sister with pouting lips and glossy hair. Apparently the young Watson has been signed to a model agency so we will be surely seeing more of him on billboards soon.
Barbour might be an iconic British brand relatively unchanged since its conception, but the countrysiders’ jacket has become an established part of the style icon’s wardrobe over the years, with the likes of Alexa Chung and Kate Moss et al taking their cue from the Queen when stepping out, from London to Glastonbury. And now it’s going to get a fashionable twist in the form of a collaboration with another British treasure, Anya Hindmarch. Latest press releases say that Hindmarch will create four jackets for the Barbour brand, and will be using her memories of her British childhood to stay true to tradition whilst adding a dash of the Hindmarch chic that has been so popular in her accessories collections.
And finally, the Fashionable Folk are doing well once again in the eyes of Queen, with milliner Stephen Jones and designer of beautiful dresses Amanda Wakeley received OBEs in the New Year’s Honours List, alongside Cath Kidston and Luella Bartley.
