Wednesday 10 March 2010

River Island Launching Kidswear

River Island is launching its debut kidswear line for Spring/Summer 2010. Expanding its remit to include girls and boys aged 3-10 years; the ‘Boys & Girls Collection’ is influenced by River Island’s older lines but developed especially for kids. The new collection will be available online from 6 April and in selected stores across the UK from the 12 April. Styles for girls include skinny grey biker jeans, pink embellished tutu skirts, patchwork dresses and studded denim waistcoats, while for boys, 50’s style varsity sports jackets, ripped jeans, rocker tees and drummer boy jackets all feature. Footwear styles include roughed up workman boots for girls and preppy deck shoes for boys. Prices range from £3.99 for vests to £14.99 for dresses and £24.99 for jackets.

The Greatest Fashion Show on Earth

From 18-20 March, Westfield London in partnership with leading fashion magazine, Sunday Times Style, will host ‘The Greatest Fashion Show on Earth’. The three day spectacle starts with a VIP night, in collaboration with the British Fashion Council, supporting Naomi Campbell's Fashion For Relief Campaign and the White Ribbon Alliance to raise funds for mothers and babies in Haiti. Erin O'Connor will open the event, alongside chairman of The British Fashion Council, Harold Tillman. The VIP evening will also include a charity auction to support the White Ribbon Alliance, with special guest and White Ribbon Alliance Global Patron Sarah Brown. Two of the BFC Vogue Designer Fashion Fund short-listers will be showcasing their talent on the runway. Set in The Atrium exhibition space, the show will showcase 54 looks from the season's latest trends, from over 700 fashion brands, from luxury labels to high street favourites, chosen by stylist Charlie Anderson and produced by London Fashion Week’s On|Off designers The Doll. Finally, Angel Jackson will be creating a limited edition Fashion for Relief bag which will be sold at Westfield throughout the three day event.

Fred Perry collaboration with Liberty of London

Fred Perry has announced its new ‘Blank Canvas’ range in collaboration with Liberty of London. The collaboration sees the two British brands join forces on a collection of classic Fred Perry items to launch internationally in April. The range includes four classic Fred Perry pieces styled using two of Liberty’s classic prints; ‘Mark’ (paisley) and ‘Edenham’ (floral). Items include four re-worked classic M12 polos, two in black with ecru tipping and two in white with larkspur and berry red tipping. The polos have then either been printed all over in each print or have a subtle touch with the Edenham or Mark print on the inner collar and placket. A short-sleeved shirt fully printed in both Liberty designs and the Classic Fred Perry Black Harrington Jacket with Mark lining complete the Blank Canvas collection.

New contemporary jewellery range LUA LUA

Gaudion Bowerbank has announced the launch of the new contemporary jewellery range LUA LUA by Justyna Niewiara at www.gaudionbowerbank.com Justyna Niewiara has a background in Fine Art, studying History of Art at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, developing an understanding of form, colour and material that inspired her designs for the new collection. Justyna draws inspiration from fashion designers such as Hussein Chalayan and Martin Margiela. Some of her recent collections have been in response to art, fashion, music and even chemistry and physics. For example, the Tutti Frutti Necklace shown here combines a contemporary approach to design fusing the ancient art of Egypt and the Aztecs. Prices range from £35.00 to £110.00 for bracelets, £35.00 to £43.00 for earrings and £60.00 to £250.00 for necklaces.

Mango “el Botón”-MANGO Fashion Awards

Mango has launched the third edition of its “el Botón”-MANGO Fashion Awards, a competition which aims to promote the international projection of talented young fashion designers. Participants will have the opportunity to present their collections before a prestigious jury and compete for 300,000 euros in prize money, the largest sum offered to date in a competition of this type. In late April, the jury will select the 10 finalists from all the applications presented. The finalists will then receive 18,000 euros to produce their collection, with the winner being announced in November. In the previous editions, the jury of the “el Botón”-MANGO Fashion Awards had two chairmen, the acclaimed designers Valentino and Oscar de la Renta. Respectively, they awarded the prize to the winning Belgian duo Sandrina Fasoli & Michaël Marson and, last year, to the South Korean designer, Lee Jean Youn.