Style and Fashion Update from My Niche Room

Ok since I haven’t got a beautiful glamorous news room with flashing lights and a lovely view of the city to report fashion news, enough of the day dreaming. Here again today is Nicheless and Fun bringing you the latest fashion and style round up, and remember retail gazette is receiving accolades for the news.

1. House of Fraser, the department store that traces its origins back to Glasgow, has announced that they will be investing in a £150 million pound expansion. The store chain which was recently bought by Nanjing based Sanpower for £480 million said like for like sales were up 4.2% in six months, with sales strengthening in the second quarter. Chief executive John King said: “As a business, we are committing 150m of investment in the UK over the next four years to further improve the shopping experience for our customers, through better store environments and developments to our online platform.” And on behalf of all window shoppers and real shoppers, I say we appreciate your idea.

2. As the second London Fashion Week this year came to an end last week, Carol Rashti, Marketing Director at Rakuten Marketing put together key trends of LFW and how they can be translated from the catwalk to the high street by retail marketers. One of the biggest digital trends which is slowly but surely dominating the industry is how Fashion Houses are now using social networking sites to increase revenue. In response, industries are now tapping into the market of using media platforms to help promote their brand further, for instance Burberry was the first brand to pilot the Twitter ‘Buy’ button with select garments straight from the catwalk, whilst Topshop teamed up with Instagram and Facebook to deliver visual snapshots of the new line. The use of live streaming of shows has created a direct link between Fashion houses and their customers. Goodbye to window shopping, hello to social media shopping.

3. Supermarket retailer Asda has launched a line of plus sized clothing that is set to be one of the cheapest plus sized ranges on the high street. The capsule collection consists of 35 pieces ranging from tights priced at £4 to a smart textured blazer costing £16. You could easily buy a whole new outfit for less than £50. The line came about after customers complained they struggle to find fashionable and affordable clothes in larger sizes. Asda offers cheaper alternative to their competitors Evans and Asos Curve with their clothing being a fraction of the price. Way to go Asda!

4. Following a similar move in the US last year, Instagram users across the UK may have noticed ads from several well-known brands appearing in their feeds. Facebook, which owns the photo sharing app, is seeking to turn Instagram into a sustainable business in order to fund new ideas. Ok seems Mr Mark Zuckerberg is out to acquire the whole social media.

5. London’s Oxford Street and Regent Street was taken over by the most prestigious magazine last night Vogue as it hosted their annual Fashion Night Out. In its sixth year the stylish shopping event teamed up with top retailers ranging from high street to high end and department stores with many offering goody bags, presentations with Vogue editors, exclusive in store offers and complimentary manicures. British beauty Daisy Lowe took the decks at Uniqlo and came out from the DJ booth for a final song to dance with the shoppers. Bip Ling was DJing at H&M and Mr Hudson was on the decks at Hugo Boss. The enticing window displays and special offers was a real treat for Vogue readers and fashion lovers. Ok in plain language, If you weren’t at Oxford street last night, you did not just miss a free classy party but bags of freebies.

6. This is neither fashion nor style but I love chocolate…..In a very organic collaboration, luxury confectionary brand The Grown Up Chocolate Company has signed a supply deal with national online grocery supermarket ocado.com. The partnership came about after the chocolatier making business entered ‘Britain’s Next Top Supplier’, a campaign by Ocado that invited small food and drink business to present a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitch. While The Grown up Chocolate Company didn’t make it past the second round, they were approached by the online grocer anyway as the products seemed right for the Ocado customer. Very good move.