Category: fashion accessories
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‘Is Brand more important than Product?’ A question for students at the London College of Fashion. (LCF)
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, fast fashion, ladies fashion, luxury, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, new retail, retail, retail businesses, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, social savvy, telling product stories, visual merchandising, website excellenceI am pleased to say I will soon be embarking on my annual collaborative challenge module with the staff & students of the London College of Fashion. Always a fascinating period of my year, absorbing the enthusiasm and energy of another generation of designers & young retailers. The students are so tech native that visual…
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Marks & Spencer looking good, by making ‘Less look commercially attractive!’
in assortment structure planning, customer experience, fashion accessories, food & drink, high street planning, home, kids fashion, ladies fashion, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, multi-category, omni-channel retailing, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store theatre, town centre planningMarks & Spencer continues to impress with its sales figures and market share across fashion and home, as well as the more predictable food category. And whilst few would argue that they have the most exciting shops on the high street, the ambitious and highly successful store regeneration program is already reaping rewards, and putting…
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How dull must the future of fashion seem to Generation Z!?
in customer experience, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, fashion accessories, fast fashion, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, re-sell, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, secondhand, shop of the future, store experience, sustainabilityI wouldn’t imagine that too many GenZ’s have seen the latest ‘Top 30 Fashion Retailers by 2026’ report from Retail Week, or indeed read Retail Week at all. If these 18-24 year olds did read it, then I’m sure their hearts would plummet at a top 10 filled with the old bastions of retail, topped…
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Recycled products only add to the fashion volume problem, unless they help reduce the amount of new products produced.
A very interesting post from Brett Mathews on new legislation being brought in by the Netherlands to make fashion businesses more sustainable and accountable for the lifecycles of their products. – At least 50 per cent of the textiles sold “must prepared for reuse or recycling”– At least 20% of the textiles sold are prepared for reuse…
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We should all be talking ‘Best-seller materials’ and not ‘Best-seller products?’
in assortment structure planning, ethical retailing, fashion accessories, fast fashion, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, pre-loved, product suppliers, re-sell, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, secondhand, supply-chains, sustainabilityI was asked yesterday what circular fashion production and RFID tagging had to do with better ‘best-seller’ product selection, less worst sellers, and therefore less waste and all the sustainable benefits of that. The answer is nothing. RFID is an identification and data tool. The skill of designers & buyers, supported by predictive analytics, is…
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TK Maxx. Using Visual Merchandising to make every customer’s visit into their luckiest day!
in accessories, assortment structure planning, customer experience, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, footwear, health & beauty, kids fashion, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, multi-category, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail strategy, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, value retailing, visual merchandising, visual merchandising operations, vm compliance, vm operationsThe best brands make extraordinary things very simple. And the clever use of visual merchandising does not need to be complex or sophisticated to define a brand and create unique experiences. I was involved in the research for the Channel 5 documentary about TK Maxx. The interview with one of the producers made me distill…
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In today’s ‘Shop of the Future’ do you spread visual merchandising more thinly or indulge in its richness?
in branding & visual communication, brave-words, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, fast fashion, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, new retail, omni-channel retailing, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, technology & electrical, visual merchandising, visual merchandising operations, vm operations, windowsVisual Merchandising, like any other function within a retail business is having to adapt in response to the paradigm shifts that are occurring in the industry. Those changes are becoming a revolution, not an evolution. What began with globalised supply chains, fast fashion, the advent of ecommerce, pureplay retail, has accelerated into social and rich…
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Swoperz: An idea born from community taking pre-loved children’s fashion to another world.
in customer-engagement, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, fashion accessories, fast fashion, kids fashion, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, pop-up stores, pureplay, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, social savvy, sustainabilityLet me introduce you to Swoperz, if you aren’t already familiar with this innovative app that allows children to swap their clothes. As with all the best brands it has a very simple proposition that is born from observing a need. But as with exceptional brands it also ticks many wider boxes, that make Swoperz…
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“Meet your wardrobe of 2028!” – It has more Second-hand than Fast-fashion
in accessories, analytics, assortment structure planning, brave-words, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, fashion accessories, fast fashion, footwear, internationalisation, ladies fashion, leisure & sport, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, multi-category, new retail, omni-channel retailing, product suppliers, pureplay, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, supply-chains, sustainability, value retailing“Meet your wardrobe of 2028!” – It has more Second-hand than Fast-fashion I love this chart! It was produced using Globaldata research and is now 5 years old. It predicts what types of retailer our fashion wardrobe will be bought from in 5 years-time, in 2028. What an appropriate time to revisit it, mid-way through…
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eBay: First to sell the new story of second-hand
in accessories, branding & visual communication, brave-words, customer experience, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, ladies fashion, luxury, meaning in the retail madness, omni-channel retailing, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, social savvy, store experience, store theatre, supply-chains, sustainabilityOnce again, I find myself agreeing with Murray Lambell, UK general manager at eBay. Not only with his words and insights, but with the actions that eBay are taking towards operating and flourishing in a better and more sustainable retail future. Last year eBay promoted only re-sell products for Black Friday, opened a Luxury Exchange to verify…
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