Newsflash: Primark is available at ASOS!

I can hear the sigh of relief being breathed by cash-strapped fashionistas across the land: finally, Primark has dipped its toes into the scary world of online retail, bringing its pocket money-friendly prices to an even wider audience. 

 Bargain-hunters, your prayers have been answered. 

[All images via ASOS.com]

As someone whose home town doesn't have a Primarni to its name, I'll be relieved not to have to schlep my way to the nearest store in order to get my fix, especially when the items I've been lusting after in magazines aren't always reliably stocked in my local branch (but rest assured, there will always be an inexplicably plentiful supply of comedy onesies doing the rounds and being abandoned on the shop floor, amid the detritus...). It can also be maddening knowing that Primark offers the product that I want, but for some reason its entire stock is in sizes 8-10, for no apparent reason other than to taunt me. Pfft. Well, with ASOS to the rescue, surely things will turn a corner, knowing how efficient and successful the web retail giant is - even at a content marketing event last week, two speakers chose to use the website as an example of great strategic marketing, and rightfully so. 

 One of the six products currently available; the parka.

To those who think that Primark might seem like a very low-end acquisition for the brand, you only have to consider ASOS' target market (young women who want to stay on-trend) and its origins as a provider of celebrity-infused fashion. It's not long since the website began stocking high street labels like River Island, Motel and Lipsy, so Primark feels like a natural addition to the brand directory as ASOS continues being relevant to, and in the price range of, recession-crippled Brits. Whilst its high-end efforts such as the Black range are laudable, what keeps the site at the top of shoppers' online bookmarks is its affordability - the idea that you, too, can have a piece of the pie for less, even if you're a student or you're on a very tight budget. 

I definitely feel that this is a step in the right direction. Having Primarni on the books can only add to ASOS' reputation as the go-to site for British women, especially if it means you can replace the jumble sale feel of rush hour Primark with the sleek and sophisticated feel of the online retailer's homepage. And as for the perfect first purchase from this shopping marriage, I'd have to choose the studded parka (£22) - great for festivals, taking into consideration the high risk of crap British summer weather along the way...

The Biggest Fashion Blogger Clichés and how to Avoid Them

In the lull between Christmas and New Year, I thought it would be fun to take a light-hearted look at my blogging genre and some of the stereotypes that come with the territory. If you're a blogger then you'll probably recognise a lot of these, either within your own blog or from the ones you've got bookmarked for regular reading. 

 He was so determined to nail the vintage look that he went Elizabethan.

[Image my own, taken  at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival].

Of course, you could be running a perfectly successful site by following this list to the letter, but I'm not saying that these points have to be flaws: they're just trends within the blogosphere that I can't help but notice. 

Those fashion blogger clichés in full...

• You own Jeffrey Campbell Litas and can't stop telling everyone how great they are, in the hope that the PR department will spot you and send you another pair. THEY WILL NOTICE, DAMMIT.
• You have ombre-dyed hair but would never have considered this until it was fashionable.
• You go by a more original-sounding version of your name, such as 'Tigerlily' (you were born Tracey) or 'Nebulissima' (you were born Nicola).
• You regularly mention your boyfriend in your blog posts and occasionally dress him up for outfit posts, which he loathes.
• You regularly mention your dog/cat in your blog posts and occasionally dress him up for outfit posts, which he loathes.
• You practically blackmail people into becoming a follower of your blog/Instagram/Hello Cotton/Lookbook.nu account and you have a recurring dream of reaching 1,000 Twitter followers, which is surely a premonition, right?
• You begin your post with the immortal words: 'Hiya, girlies!'
• You greet commenting blog visitors as 'babe' or 'hun'.
• Your really imaginative fashion icon is Kate Moss or Alexa Chung.
• When you put up an outfit post it will consist of approximately 20 photos taken from slightly different angles, including classic poses such as Mildly Aghast, I Have No Idea There's A Camera Present and the Too Close For Comfort. (We all do it, so don't pretend you haven't too).
• You take grainy pouting photos of yourself in changing rooms, holding up your iPhone 5 so that we can all be clear about the make and model.
• When you take close-up photos for your blog, you have no idea how to use the Macro function. Wait, there's a Macro function?
• Your regular posts include Wednesday Wishlists and Instagram grids documenting the minutiae of your day.
• You leave insightful comments on other blogs such as 'FOLLOW ME! I'LL FOLLOW BACK! ENTER MY GIVEAWAY TO WIN A TAMPON! GREAT POST, HUN!'. If you call me 'hun' again then I will go all Attila on your ass.
• You never credit image sources and will sometimes post whole series of photos (such as those from major fashion events or product launches) with little or no commentary.
• You have a whole section of the blog dedicated to attracting PR attention, but the email address you use is something akin to ilovecutefluffykittiesxxx@hotmail.com.
• When dealing with companies or press, you add three kisses at the end of all correspondence.
• You nominate 10 fellow bloggers for an award that you've never heard of, with a daft name such as the Sweet Sugar Bubblegum Blogging Gals Lovefest, which must be passed along in a chain letter style, with the person who ends the chain burning in hell (or Primark).
• You dream of being invited to super cool all night raves in East London warehouses with posh people who call themselves DJs and smoke roll-ups.
• The main reason you began blogging was to try and get free clothes.

 You are so edgy that your hair is actually made of diamantes. 

This bloke is apparently an art installation... 

[Image my own, taken at London Fashion Week S/S13].

How to avoid the pitfalls and stereotypes

• If you don't want to compose a Wednesday Wishlist then don't bother. The world will not end, honest. Your followers can, and will, shop without you.
• Find out what your personal style is about. Step away from the role models and the routine of stalking your favourite high-profile bloggers and actually discover what you want to wear.
• A picture tells a thousand words, or so they say, but repetitive photos are really not the answer. It's quality, not quantity, and we don't need to see the same pose in the same outfit but with a 360 degree view. You have a mirror for that.
• Don't post for the sake of posting - if you don't have anything original to say then don't panic. It can wait.
• When you do post, say something different, and always credit your image sources. If someone nicked your content and passed it off as their own then you'd want to know about it, so treat others with the same courtesy.
• If you're marketing yourself as a blogger then remember to be professional, not casual. Get yourself a non-cheesy email address and use it; respond to outreach from businesses in the same way that you'd respond to a job vacancy, i.e. no kisses, full sentences and proving your worth. Oh, and ditch any embarrassing fashion aliases (you heard me, Tigerlily). 

Happy blogging and may your posts be non-duplicate in 2013!

If you have a favourite blogger who avoids the pitfalls then feel free to share their URL below.

How to Approach Fashion Bloggers: An Outreach Guide for PRs

 You need to stand out against the competition and be unique.

[Image my own, taken at London Fashion Week S/S13].

'Tis the season to be bombarded by PRs and marketing departments... yes, Christmas is upon us and many agencies and companies are approaching bloggers and needing their press release to be noticed. I've sat in both camps, PR/outreach and blogger, and I can safely say that it's easy to forget what it's like to be at the receiving end of your emails when you've spent ages working on a campaign and you have a never-ending list of people to contact. I totally get it. With this in mind, I've put together a few tips to make it a bit less stressful as you make your way through that blog list, and hopefully help you to achieve great results. 

1. DO make it personal

One of the laziest things you can do is to email without finding out the name of the blogger. Presumably you spent a few milliseconds/seconds/minutes looking at their posts, so it shouldn't take long to figure out their name, unless they deliberately prefer to remain anonymous. Simply writing: 'Hi, I love your great blog!' means you might as well admit that you're copying and pasting the same template email over and over again, and it doesn't matter how many kisses you put at the end to soften the impact (preferably none). Which blog do you love? Who has a bloody clue?! If you really loved their writing or photography so much then spend an extra two seconds referencing the post that caught your attention.

Most importantly, remember how annoying it is to receive post through your letterbox that's addressed to 'The Homeowner', because that's what you're effectively sending to the blogger. It's even worse if you don't even put any kind of greeting on the email at all, because that is being rude as well as being spam.

2. DON'T make us watch the party without an invite

Some PRs have an unusual strategy which is to prey on the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) culture by sending bloggers images of press launches that they were not invited to. Perhaps the target audience will be so impressed by the sheer coolness of the fashion party that they were not cool enough to attend that they will be spurred on to create a brilliant blog post about the ones who were invited? The more likely option is that they will just stare in bemusement at the sheer audacity of the PR. 

Let's put it in a scenario: the most popular girl in your school hosts a party but doesn't invite you, then asks you to help distribute her photos from the night, as you might just be lusting over what some of her chosen few guests were wearing. Madness. The difference between these events and the ones that we willingly write about without the chance of an invite (such as the Met Ball in New York) is that I know the organisers of the Met Ball are not trying to squeeze me for publicity; I can look from afar and admire, without having my face rubbed in it that I'm at home in my pyjamas. I knew I wouldn't be walking the red carpet in New York but I was happy to go along for the ride.

3. DO make sure your product is right for the blog

The scatter-gun approach of targeting contacts may get you points for enthusiasm but it doesn't get you anywhere in the long run. If you're flogging anything and everything then don't send out a press release that covers your extensive range of gifts for babies and husbands unless your bloggers write about families and marriage. Seriously, I don't care how bespoke your Christmas presents are, I cannot feasibly write about them unless I become pregnant or engaged overnight which, let's face it, would be highly unlikely on both counts (though that would be a show-stopping blog post). 

Doing that little bit of research can save you a wasted email and will allow you to stop getting distracted with the pursuit of easy targets when you should be focusing on building quality relationships with interested bloggers who you can work with again in the future. And remember, you can be more specific with your target audience, so don't aim at a die-hard vintage blogger if your client's product is brand new and smells slightly of plastic. It's okay to be picky in order to cut out all those irrelevant pitches, because you're unlikely to get a great uptake rate if you're barking up the wrong tree in the style stakes.

4. DON'T forget the geography

It's an obvious one, but you'd be surprised how many emails I receive that are geographically irrelevant to me, bearing in mind that I don't make a secret of the fact that I'm based near London. New York Fashion Week looks fantastic and I'd love to go, but inviting me with a week's notice means that there's no way I can scrape together the money for a hotel, let alone a flight, much as I'd like to accept the invitation. Closer to home, I've been invited to events on the other side of London at short notice - presumably as a last resort, I'm under no illusions here - which are basically impossible for me to get to without arriving as the last revellers are heading home. I know a lot of my peers are in the same position, wondering why they've been asked to go to a city that is hundreds of miles away without much warning, and it is much more common in the travel industry where I work, but then that comes with the territory as travel is now full of adaptable digital nomads. Fashion? We're a bit more settled.

By all means ask someone on the off-chance if they can attend your event, as you never know when people might be travelling, but be honest and admit if you know it will be out of their way ("Paris to Edinburgh? Yeah, should be a doddle. Dunno why she's making a fuss."). All it takes is a quick look at their author bio or their Twitter feed to see where they're based and then you can work out if they should be able to attend without setting out on a two-day trek to reach you.

I honestly hope these tips help to reduce some of the mad panic surrounding this time of year for those of you in PR and outreach. If you want to share your own tips or insight then get in touch, as I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Calculating Blogger ROI: Why Travel Bloggers Are Lightyears Ahead

Last week I headed off to World Travel Market (WTM) 2012, as part of my work, and it was a brilliant opportunity to find out what one of the blogging world's most innovative sectors is getting up to. Travel bloggers are some of the best networkers and negotiators, as well as being incredibly nice people, and they know how to make an impact. When I attended a seminar on how to measure a blogger's Return on Investment (ROI), I was fairly intrigued as to how this could be done, as a fashion blogger as well as a travel industry insider. 

I figured this photo had the wanderlust/style crossover covered.

[Image my own, taken at a vintage fair in Brighton].

Knowing that the seminar was being run by Melvin Böcher of Traveldudes and Keith Jenkins of Velvet Escape, I felt that I'd be in pretty safe hands - these guys are two of the most successful bloggers in the travel sector and they certainly know what they're talking about. It was chaired by the head of TBU (Travel Bloggers Unite) and showed just how supportive and well integrated these bloggers are.

A Gap in the Market

"It seemed strange that there was no way to calculate ROI on my press trips, yet I had 80,000 unique visitors to Traveldudes," said Melvin, reflecting on his website. "In contrast, I worked on a local newspaper which had 30,000 unique visitors but also had 50 members of staff; I have assistance with Traveldudes but I am the only full-time person running it."

The idea was then planted to measure your blog's success based on a combination of factors such as your AVE (Advertising Value Equivalent), Google Analytics statistics and your impact on others, such as your scores on Klout and Peer Index as well as how much you could charge for a sponsored tweet. The overall rating, applying AVE principles to content and social media outreach, would then help organisations to work out if it would be good value to collaborate with you on press trips or other opportunities. 

No, you don't need to be psychic to calculate ROI.

[Image my own, taken in Boston, USA].

Jo Johnson,deputy MD of 4BGB, said: "This is what has been missing in terms of evaluation. The travel industry really wasn't sure of the value of bloggers vs. print media. For example, the value of getting re-tweets hadn't ever been calculated, but it is important, such as if Melvin [with 100,000 followers] re-tweets you."

I can see why the travel industry is keen to improve evaluation and pinpoint those key bloggers - if you're working in fashion or beauty then you can easily send out samples or organise a press day and work to a smaller budget, whereas the travel industry is investing a lot more money in detailed press trips. What's also worth bearing in mind is that the majority of fashion bloggers are happy to post about product launches and deals, but their travel equivalents are a lot more wary about working with brands and often ask for payment. This means that developing a relationship with a blogger in travel is much more of a long-term investment and is not as simple as sending out a press release.

Your Search Visibility

Meanwhile Keith, from Velvet Escape, brought up an interesting point about how consumers find blogs and how they behave on them. "People might not cite bloggers as reasons for buying a holiday but if they use Google then, chances are, they will come across a blog in the results. They just don't realise that's what they've found, as more and more blogs look like online travel guides, so they think it's a website. Also, consumers don't tend to leave comments, but other bloggers do. Consumers tend to talk more on Twitter and Facebook."

In light of Keith's comments, it's worth bearing in mind that social proof is one of the best ways to target and grow your audience. That means if someone genuinely recommends a blog to their friends it is more trustworthy than a company, which people might assume had a hidden agenda.

What can we learn from the ROI calculator?

Now is the time to start finding out more about ROI. The calculator is currently free but will be available from €15 a month in the future, which is pretty reasonable for something that you can use to negotiate your future collaborations with brands. Plans for development include measuring newsletters with click-through rates, YouTube and Google Hangouts. 

The seminar definitely proved to me that travel bloggers are the savviest group when it comes to understanding their own worth and projecting their potential. If you're not in the sector but you want to follow their lead in terms of marketing yourself to brands then the ROI calculator is a great place to start.

Fashion Calendar: November and December - Maison Martin Margiela, iPhoneography and Refinery29

So, Christmas is coming and your downtime is suddenly thin on the ground, right? (I know mine is). It can be mind-boggling trying to stay on top of what's going on in the fashion world at the best of times, but I find that we all seem to go into a state of tunnel vision from now until December 25th, possibly due to an overdose of Wham! and Slade, and time just disappears. So I've put together this quick guide to three of the hottest fashion and culture events over the coming weeks - just cherry-pick your favourites.

November 15th = Maison Martin Margiela for H&M

 Over-sized draped dress, £99.99, Maison Martin Margiela.

Sam Taylor-Johnson shot these images, which have a beautifully crisp finish.

 Draped dress in black, £99.99.

I'd style this with Vivienne Westwood suede ankle boots and a statement over-sized earring.

 Jacket, £59.99; trousers with front seam, £59.99; wedge shoes in nude with plexi detail, £149.99.

 Having recently picked up very similar shoes from Office, I can definitely see the allure of the nude shoe with a plastic heel. They look challenging but would be fun to wear.

That sweet wrapper clutch bag, £34.99; nude body with bra print, £29.99; oversized jeans, £39.99.

If I had the washboard stomach I'd be adding this bodysuit to my shopping basket.

In the mean time, the pop art-style clutch will do nicely, thanks.

[Images via British Vogue].

You might have read recently about American eBay mysteriously gaining some MMMxH&M merchandise ahead of the official product launch, seemingly from the recent celebrity-laden press event. Light-fingered stars aside, you can't truly get your hands on any of the goods until 15th November, in selected stores from 9am. I'll be attending the exclusive preview event on 14th, courtesy of Vogue and one very lucky ticket draw, and I will be reporting back on the blog about what I find in Regent Street.

This is something of a dramatic contrast to H&M's previous collaboration, which was with the fashion editor du jour Anna Dello Russo, who is top fodder for street style bloggers around the world. Maison Martin Margiela is the opposite of fashion chameleon Anna, as the company's inner workings aren't well documented and the mysterious figurehead actually left the company several years ago. The brand itself continues to be enigmatic but always strives to push the boundaries of convention and conceptual thought. If you think fashion is art then you will love this collection. What's more, a mainline piece of Margiela will set you back hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds (case in point: a camel coat for men costs over a grand), so this is the one time us plebs have a chance of affording it. Thank you, MMM.

November 17th - December 15th = iPhone Photography Workshop, The Photographers' Gallery, London

This is a five week workshop that would be perfect for those of you who own an iPhone and want to be more than a casual snapper (I'm still on an utterly terrible Blackberry with a shooting capacity that looks like every photo is taken through a keyhole, but I will grit my teeth and not be jealous of you lot...). The Photographers' Gallery is an excellent place to learn new skills and they really are passionate about all forms of making and sharing photos. I participated in one of their projects several years ago, which was a magazine project and live art installation in Selfridges, and it was a fascinating and fun experience that pushed me out of my comfort zone.

If you want to participate in the iPhone workshops then clear your schedule for five Saturdays from 2pm-5pm and make some room for new apps on your phone. It sounds like a great opportunity to learn a new skill that you'll be able to use all the time in daily life, especially if you're looking to create more shareable images.

December = Refinery29, leading US fashion website, comes to the UK

I'm already a fan of Refinery29, the website that scouts for the best deals and trend updates in fashion and beauty, so I was pretty pleased to discover that a UK branch of the site is being launched in December (exact date unconfirmed). Just in time for Christmas, you'll be able to discover what fashion is like behind the scenes, with an emphasis on sneak peeks at the hottest designers and nightlife, but also a personable feel that gives you localised knowledge about the shops near you.

I've also read that there will be Brit It Girls, though there's no word as to who they will be. I'm praying it's not the 'stars' of Made in Chelsea and hoping for insiders who we can see as role model-esque figures - maybe more along the lines of Lily Cole (who is equal parts model/History of Art graduate/actress/charity and environment campaigner). The website sees itself as a 'global style hub' and I am looking forward to seeing who its Brit ambassadors will be; hopefully people with a unique insight and sense of what the trends mean to them.


With the calendar complete, which events are tempting you for the next month or so? Share them around and spread the word - let's make the run up to Christmas about doing something different and squeezing in more fashion than festive panic.

Social Media Week London, Part II: Data-Driven Fashion and the Death of Trends, Continued

 Just down the road from the event, what should I walk past but a massive social call to action?

Urban Outfitters incorporated social into their window display with this over-sized whiteboard.

So, it's a return to looking at fashion's relationship with e-commerce and social networking in Part II of the event write-up. The remaining speakers were Natalie, Molly and Jo, all offering a slightly different take on the topic. 

Natalie Thng, Head of E-Commerce, Temperley London (@nataliethng)

• Temperley is at that interesting point of being 'not quite couture, but closing in on it'
• Alice Temperley is separate from the world of social and still designs for the love of it, without the pressures of Pinterest, etc.
• Having previously worked at Reiss, Natalie has found that the difference with this brand is that you get press without asking for it
• Reiss had the strategy of giving products away to celebrities, whereas her new role is about being selective - this perhaps illustrates the gap between high street and designer 

Molly Flatt, Social Business Director, 1000 Heads (@mollyflatt)

• There's been a hilarious over-reaction towards social media and how it could be destroying 'the word' - Molly compared this to the way that people considered the Gutenberg Press to be sacred hundreds of years ago
• Bloggers are just a tiny part of social
• "We're in a sweet shop moment right now," she said, but the backlash is an inevitable part of that

Joanna Wiggins, Editor, ASOS Marketplace (@JoWiggins)

• ASOS Marketplace is a thriving vintage community
• One of the problems for sellers is that they might not necessarily be an expert with social - one of the biggest sellers on the site didn't know her way around it but she has a great business
• The great thing about Marketplace is that "brand new designers can be making things out of their bedroom or become more established."
• One of the things that ASOS has to monitor is how trends evolve over time even to the extent of colour names, so what had always been known as 'maroon' is now called 'oxblood'

 And here's a quote from Jeff, of Editd.com:

"Things look organic online but there's always someone pushing it; repackaging the old and presenting it as the new."

Step forward, Urban Outfitters: what I'd think of as one of the prime examples of successful old-as-new branding. Why? Because they're the go-to shop for anyone from (very affluent) teens to men and women in their thirties who work in the creative industries or have creative leanings. You'll find a steady stream of kitsch homeware that is brand new but is inspired by the aesthetic of flea markets, thrift stores and car boot sales; you can get into Lomography (a type of analogue photography) instore, grab a hip flask or track down some upcycled vintage clothing.

I found it a stroke of luck that the flagship store was just moments from The Engine Rooms, where the #SMWLDN event was taking place. This gave me food for thought.

The tiny issue I have with this display is that it left the VMs feeling a little lazy. 

In a shop filled with Diana F Lomography cameras and cool gadgets, couldn't they have made a more techno-friendly window for the Oxford Street flagship? 

Before I go totally VM-mad on you, it's back to the panel for the last few reflections on retail and fashion. 

Q. Is retail dead?
Natalie - Brands have become more established than retailers; with a brand you get a story and an emotional connection when you buy into something. Luxury brands can give snippets of information to potential customers and not lose what they're about.
Geoff, Editd - Some high street retailers are treating their company like a brand, such as Topshop or Reiss, but others like Debenhams don't manage to do this.
Tamara, Mintel - I do think the death of the high street is unlikely.
Molly - You have to bear in mind that 90% of word of mouth still happens offline - only 2-5% is online - and most of it comes from real experiences we've had, and we still love going to the shops. Fashion is very sensual as it's all about textures, colours, smells... You just need to give people a real emotional and physical experience in your store and they will talk about you.

Q. Is the future for social media to deliver customer service?
Jo - You have to empower your social media people to give the right answers, as reputation is everything. For example, Google Places affects your ranking on Google +.
M - There are certain expectations of customers, such as getting an answer on Twitter in a few hours or at least by 24 hours' time, and an answer from Facebook in a few days. The problem comes from Customer Services only being able to answer within office hours. One of the good things about social media is that if you build up loyal customers they will also defend you against the negative feedback.
Event chairperson - British Airways is a great example of customer service issues. Their Twitter bio said that they were available between 9-5 GMT from Monday-Friday, but what happens in between? This is a company that flies 24/7.

Q. Who has the power to say what is in fashion? The industry is elitist but suddenly everyone has a DSLR and yet they're not a photographer, and everyone has a pen but they're certainly not all writers.
J - Fashion has to be accessible.
N- Social media is great for giving everyone a voice, but not all brands give the same experience. Luxury and high street give a totally different commercial experience. Celine doesn't even sell online, so you have to go and buy it in person.
M- It's worth remembering that social media is not a democracy; it's owned by big capitalist companies. The people who use it can afford the phone or the computer to be able to use the networks.
G - The Arab Spring definitely had something to do with social media and people felt like consumers of the government.

And that was that - slightly strange that we closed by discussing the Arab Spring, but then again it's always refreshing to show how people in the industry are not just thinking about clothes all the time. Retail is massive but its links to social media are also relative in terms of how we all act as consumers.

If you have any thoughts on what the panellists brought to the discussion then feel free to add them below.

Social Media Week London: Data-Driven Fashion and the Death of Trends, Part I

On Thursday I attended a brilliant event as part of #SMWLDN (Social Media Week London, to those of you not familiar with the Twitter hashtag), which took fashion industry insiders from the areas of e-commerce, fashion theory and trend forecasting and got them all talking. The subject was, obviously, a contentious one - Data-Driven Fashion and the Death of Trends - and it took us through themes as diverse as Miuccia Prada's views on Twitter, the precise Pantone colour of a product online, and luxe vs. high street.

[To illustrate the subject, here's a photo I took at the Clothes Show - 

taken from the catwalk, which was showing designer clothes to a high street audience].

I found the talk really informative and it was amazing to hear from authority figures who spoke frankly about their businesses, their views on the future and the habits of consumers. Here are some of the highlights of what they discussed.

Tamara Sender, Senior Clothing & Fashion Analyst, Mintel (@MintelNews)

• "Young people talk with their fingers," said Tamara. "22% of people say they buy more clothes online than instore - a figure that has nearly doubled from 12% in 2010."
• The main reason that people interact with a brand is to take advantage of special offers
• Under 25s are the biggest fashion spenders, whilst under 35s are the heaviest Facebook users
• Although Twitter and Facebook are the main social networks, Google +, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube are rapidly growing (definitely something I've noticed by working in SEO; Google, being the one to crawl websites, pays a lot of attention to what G+ is saying)
• In July 2012 it was found that over half of adults had bought new clothes in the past three months - despite the recession, clothing is clearly still in demand

Geoff Watts, founder of Editd (@EDITD; @geoffwatts)

• The Editd website connects people in fashion, luxury and apparel with the data that they need. Over 900,000 products and 1-2 million tweets are analysed per day
• Rather than trend forecasting, it's about measuring what's already out there, with data collated and quantified
• You can look up a product on the website and find out the precise Pantone colour reference for it, then discover what other items have been produced in the same colour for that season (the art geek in me LOVES this)
• The aim is to "supercharge content marketing" with the data

My glimpse of Norris' Populist Pouting theory at work at LFW - 

this girl was waiting to be photographed for ages in her meticulously assembled outfit.

Lucy Norris, Founder of Prêt-à-rêver (@PretARever), Fashion Theorist and Trend Forecaster (how much do I want her job?)

• Prêt-à-rêver, which translates as Ready to Dream, is about the inspiration behind clothes; unlike its contemporaries, the site is not celebrity-based. It launched two years ago and has garnered praise from Grazia and Vogue for its content and approach
• Norris was full of insightful comments into the industry and wasn't afraid to really dig deep for her analysis. In developing the site, she posed questions such as: "Can an e-commerce site be as discerning as a book? What is the ongoing appeal of the white shirt? Do the cool people in Berlin become no longer cool if they all look the same?"
• One of Norris' observations from popular culture was Populist Pouting, where even people on Facebook act as though they're celebrities. She rightly suggested that we're living in "the age of narcissism... Everyone wants to be an instant creative. And can you really love every one of those pictures on your Tumblr account?" 
• Another amazing phrase she coined was Sartorial Confusion Disorder, due to the fast pace of fashion and the six month wait for what's on the catwalk to reach the September issue of magazines. In fact, she branded the September issue as redundant
•  In the melee of Twitter users at Fashion Week, several designers were hailed as examples of going against the grain, most notably Miuccia Prada but also Donna Karan, Tom Ford and Hedi Slimane. Norris spoke about Prada's anger at people being able to write off six months of working to create a collection with just one tweet, which is a very fair point, but many in the industry balk at her reluctance to move with the times. In my bit of post-event research, I found a WSJ article which pointed out that Prada didn't even have an e-commerce site until 2007, which must have seemed bizarre to clamouring consumers
• Donna Karan believes that "we are killing our own industry" with the overload of information that is available and she is reluctant to allow press and bloggers at her shows. Tom Ford asked for no photography at his catwalk, whilst Hedi Slimane would only let buyers attend
• With all of this populism "killing intelligent style", as Norris pointed out, "the shelf-life of the underground is shortening and things become too popular." Because fashion is "fundamentally elitist", this obviously creates a paradox when everyone declares themselves part of the elite
• One of the quotes that stuck with me from Norris' talk was that of Professor Louise Wilson - "Fashion needs to go out of fashion for a while."

Already I've written tons and this is only the half-way point in my notes, but I promise you it's the condensed version! As you can see, the event was incredibly useful for anyone interested in looking beyond the glossy facade of style and into the business and psychology behind it.

In Part II I will focus on the other panellists and also the round-table discussion taking audience questions.

The Future of Fashion Blogging, According to The Sartorialist

One of my photos from London Fashion Week, where street style photography and blogging was as prolific as ever.

The legendary blogger Scott Schuman, a.k.a. The Sartorialist, recently spoke to Independent Fashion Bloggers about his perspective on the blogosphere, and what he said was worth us all taking note. There's been a slight backlash against blogs recently, albeit in a tongue-in-cheek way, with The Man Repeller wearing a t-shirt that states 'All blogs are the same', and it can be hard to differentiate between clumps of bloggers in the same genre if you're looking from the outside in. 

The predominant factor is 'good content', which he calls 'the thing that will set you apart'. That means not just recycling what you see elsewhere and posting images without adding insight, because what you need to provide is something unique - and I don't mean an Instagram collage of your day with a special focus on your dog. If you're writing about fashion then write about it from your own angle, whether that's a product review, a shop visit or your favourite t-shirt. 'Just because someone says something, doesn't make it interesting', as Scott puts it.

This clutch bag I spotted at LFW says it all.

What's more, you don't need to be on the front row to have that all-important eye on the world, especially in today's media-savvy age. Thanks to the slew of websites providing coverage on brands and catwalk moments, from the big hitters like Elle, The Guardian and Vogue to the indies like The Genteel, there are plenty of ways to see what's making the news and then present your own take. Even if you miss a live stream or an entire Fashion Week (because sometimes you have deadlines or perhaps a holiday to somewhere with terrible Wi-Fi), there are great quality show reports and trend reviews to catch up on. 

The crucial thing is not to retell the news exactly as it stands, because essentially you're just repeating what's already been heard, and also you could easily run into trouble for stealing people's content - something which Google, and your average hard-working journalist, certainly does not encourage. Scott believes that those who are able to 'analyze what's going on and have a point of view' will stand out amongst the rest.

The lesson to take from this? Express yourself in your blog and hone in on what you love writing about or photographing. Don't just add to the noise - bring something different.

LFW: Topshop Unique S/S13 Gets Graphic

 Topshop Unique goes for angles and monochrome.

[All images taken from the live streaming on Topshop.com].

S/S 2012 was defined for this label by that Cleopatra print, but the forthcoming collection from Topshop Unique suggests that there's now a more grown-up directive heading our way for next summer. There was still playfulness in the Matisse-like mesh dress seen here in black (and later in white), but it was about stripping back colour and experimenting with texture and print in a more reserved style than the counterparts of the previous year.

 The live-stream was accompanied by a social sharing experiment

I enjoyed the use of intersecting lines, cut-outs and oversize shapes to form the bulk of the collection, and the odd flash of colour such as that yellow jacket and also a yellow and black abstract print which added interest to an off-white silk dress. It all felt fairly ageless and just as likely to suit a fifty-something woman as it would her daughter.

Throughout the show you could take static photos of the live stream thanks to Topshop's collaboration with Facebook, allowing the subsequent shots to be shared on your newsfeed, however I decided not to bombard my old school friends with news from the catwalk, based on their predilection for Lolcats and Farmville rather than Fashion Week (sorry, Facebook). 

I can't be the only one who felt that this would have worked better if it was a partnership with Twitter or Twitpic, which is naturally suited to brief updates about what people and brands are up to and can cope with something more aspirational (personally, my Twitter feed is about 80% fashion and nobody has an ultrasound scan as a profile picture or announces that their relationship status is 'complicated'). However, gripes aside, it was nice to see the brand reaching out to its huge social following and seeking to promote the show in new ways.

That great cut-and-paste feel comes to the catwalk.

That Matisse dress came back in white (I can't decide which version I prefer) and was joined by an excellent puff-sleeve batwing jumper with chopped sections - almost like a mullet at the back - and an elegant chiffon evening shirt dress with a fairly hypnotic pattern in what appears to be velvet. I also enjoyed the odd sprinkle of silver, especially the silver trousers which I never thought I'd find myself coveting but can't get out of my head. 

I doubt I'll be able to stretch my budget to any of these pieces but they're definitely worth considering if you can afford a bit of luxury. When pared down and brought back to design basics, the team have created a desirable collection that will have twenty to sixty-somethings dancing in the aisles.

London Fashion Week S/S13 Day 1 - Uniqueness Pop-Up Shop

 Designer Alessandra Facchinetti, looking amazing in her own collection at the pop-up shop in South Molton Street to celebrate Uniqueness' new lines. 

[All images my own].

 Now that's one huge tablet on display. Alessandra shows the girls how to use it to flick through her online mood board for the season.

 Uniqueness brings the collection to you with the lightning speed of today's technology. 

Goodbye six month wait (as Ready To Wear incurs, making it not-so-ready after all) - you can buy these clothes now.

A close-up of the beautiful art deco jewellery.

This is a sneak peek of what I saw at the Uniqueness pop-up shop. Facchinetti chose London for "its energy," she told me.

I won't go into the collection at length because I have been writing about it for Running in Heels, but suffice to say that it strikes the balance between classic pieces and covetable quirkiness.

Google Does Fashion: Diane von Furstenberg puts Google Glass on the Catwalk

 Diane suddenly realised she should've gone to Specsavers...

[All images via WWD, credited to Giovanni Giannoni].

I might have added comedy captions here (sorry, DVF) but I'm more than a little intrigued about Google's Glass technology being brought to the fashion world. The search engine giant already dominates the fashion industry in plenty of hidden ways - all those bloggers who want to rise to the top are at the mercy of Google's algorithm and the power of SEO overlord Matt Cutts, whilst new brands that need to be found online or department stores that need to be visible for key search terms above all of their competitors are also affected. This, in a way, is just a more blatant form of the big G's dominance, putting founder Sergey Brin on the front row and getting all of the models wearing his technology. I was half expecting someone from Bing to be shaking their fist angrily in the background and brandishing a pair of 3D specs, but somehow it didn't get that far.

The aim of Google Glass is to bring you connectivity without taking you away from real life, so you can record imagery and video or send messages but you're not staring at an intrusive screen throughout. To show how large companies and creatives can use it, von Furstenberg has been recording with Glass and will show how it's captured her work in a short video to be released, naturally, on Google +. Fashionistas were a little surprised at the design of the gadget but, as this is all in production stages, we can assume some modifications will be made before it hits the shops.

Aye aye, Google sets its sights on the NYFW runway. Parrot just out of shot.

Ok, pirate and optician jokes well and truly done, it's time to look at the practicalities of this thing. To be honest, I can see a lot of advantages to Glass, especially as I've often daydreamed about having a way of recording images and video in all of those places where you're not allowed to take your camera - art galleries that have crap postcard selections and demand you pay £60 for a print of a nice painting; times when you'd like to record a shop assistant being incredibly rude to you and send it to the smug CEO of the company after uploading it onto YouTube... ah, so many possibilities. Obviously with the introduction of Google Glass then those savvy shop assistants and gallery attendants will just tell you to take off your bloody tech device, but that's beside the point of the daydream, right? 

In simple terms, Glass is going to be about a personal view of the world for style mavens, whether that's used for promoting your fashion label or capturing every moment of a fabric buying trip to India. It'll keep you connected as you go, allowing you to filter ideas in something resembling a stream of consciousness. I think that, as long as they improve its slightly off-putting appearance, this will be a useful tool for everyone from designers to bloggers. Personally I can't wait to watch DVF's film and feel like I'm seeing through her eyes, if only through this new technology.