Sandra Halliday

Sandra Halliday, editor of Trendwalk.net believes that small businesses can take a lot from how the high-street fashion powerhouses run their businesses. We ask for her top tips for SMB entrepreneurs. Purchases via mobile are increasing rapidly and large corporations know being optimised for mobile is big business. Barclaycard data from February 2016 showed that online clothing sales grew by 12.8% in the last year alone. By contrast, takings in store fell by 2.1%.

The rich spend more time partying than the rest of us. Actually, maybe they don’t. But they do spend more time partying in seriously expensive eveningwear than the rest of us. That’s why designer collections are often skewed more towards ‘after-dark’ looks than than the average high street offer. It’s also why it’s so refreshing to see a collection that seems to recognise a label’s customers do ‘regular’ stuff too, such as hanging around in relaxed daywear. The Louis Vuitton pre-summer 17 (Resort) show in Brazil on Saturday did just that.

Is Marks & Spencer the High Street's equivalent of Marmite? Its clothing certainly divides opinion. Some people think of it as somewhere only their mum or gran shops, while others can't wait to check out the latest Alexa Chung collection. Remember all the fuss around THAT skirt? As new M&S boss Steve Rowe prepares to unveil his plans to tackle falling clothing sales on Wednesday, we asked Sandra Halliday, fashion expert and founder of the blog trendwalk.net, to look back over the years and see.

What on earth is going on with consumers and retail at the moment? In the US and UK, and many parts of Europe, we’re a long way from the recession, unemployment is lower and salaries are rising. It may not be some golden age in which we’re all skipping around feeling rich. But in circumstances like these, retail usually feels the benefits. But it isn’t. All we seem to be getting is report after report of tanking sales and consumer apathy. Even online sales growth seems to be proving anaemic.

It always irritates me when fashion writers use the word ‘futuristic’ about some new style statement. It usually means it’s either a) silver, b) a jumpsuit with a zip or c) something that looks vaguely like a retro sci-fi character would have worn. In an age where wearable tech is becoming more of a reality, you’d think we’d have all got over that kind of 1950s/60s view of futuristic long ago. But no.

Following the news that Adidas is to open its robot shoemaking factory for full production next year, I was browsing the new Campaign magazine website and found this gem. Apparently Pepper, the undeniably appealing humanoid robot is starting work at Pizza Hut. I then came across a piece in an Australian newspaper saying that two schools there are using robot teaching assistants.

I’ve always loved embellished denim. No, wait. Make that, I’ve loved embellished denim since 1973 when my sister bought a pair of shrink-to-fit Levi’s. After wearing them in the bath for several hours they emerged a perfect fit, if rather damp, and she proceeded to add studs. For 13-year-old me, that was the ultimate in cool. Fast forward through decades of my own customisation projects until we arrive at September 1998. This was when sales of Levi’s were tanking and commentators were pronouncing the death of denim.

How serious do women et when it comes to buying a new bag? Very. At least according to researcher NP Group, which said this month that the Millennial customer treats a handbag purchase as a multi-step process, and 41% start thinking about their most recent handbag purchase more than a month in advance. Basically, it seems, if they’re investing money in something that’s going to be attached to their arm for a long time, they want it to be just right and to really reflect their needs/taste/personality.

Another report about UK shopper footfall came out yesterday but I didn’t report on it because it was yet more of the same – store traffic down, not many people interested in spring clothes etc etc. But yet another set of figures is out today and I’m reporting this one because it really highlights just how deep the current shopping problems go as it’s about tourists cutting back their spending, not just the rest of us. Tourists, it seems, reduced their shopping budgets in double-digits last month.

I could probably be guaranteed to dislike the new Calvin Klein campaign simply because the press release that goes with it contains the words “zeitgeist”, “juxtapose”, “avant garde” and “millennials”. All that’s missing is “iconic”. But what I really don’t like about it is some of the pictures. Not that I’m prudish, but hey, bum cleavage and crotch shots? I got over finding that arty when I was in my teens.

They say that before you can solve a problem, you have to admit you have one. So it is for Gap Inc. Like an unreformed addict, it’s been working on its turnaround for years but it has never really come out and admitted that the problem is fundamental. Until now. Yesterday, on reporting yet another monthly sales slide and issuing a profit warning, CEO Art Peck admitted the retailer has major issues in turning itself around, and that it’s looking at ways to improve efficiency and general operations.

This is a blog, right? And blogs are supposed to be personal. Well, I try not to be too “me, me, me” in what I write for Trendwalk. But I’m going to break my rule to speak out about how I feel about Vetements. Because I don’t get it. I really don’t get it. Maybe it’s meant to be that way. Maybe I’m not cool enough. But I used to be cool. Honestly.

The Met Gala red carpet last night showed just how big this event has become. For a start, the build-up was almost Oscars-style in its intensity. But whereas the Oscars are fairly staid these days and other red carpet events (like those for the music industry) are frequently festivals of bad taste, this one treads a line between the two. It’s sometimes all about the Cool Pool – seeing who can out-cool everyone else. But it's sometimes more Bling Thing too as mega celebrities steal the spotlight from mere fashion celebrities.

There’s a 1950s British movie called The Man In The White Suit in which scientist Alec Guinness invents a durable, self-cleaning fabric that he thinks will be boon to mankind. But he ends up as a hate figure as businesses and their workers realise they won’t need to make any more textiles or garments. Maybe it was a less disposable age, but the thought that people these days wouldn’t buy new clothes because their old ones hadn’t worn out is quite amusing.

Regular readers of this site know I’m a bit of a robot fan and will take any opportunity to publish a still from Futurama. So it interested me to see the ultimate in robot bling in Guangzhou, China, where an unnamed “tycoon” went on a shopping trip accompanied by a coterie of robotic servants. Having been at the Millennials 20/20 conference in London last week and getting an up-close look at super-cute robot, Pepper, it hit me just how far robotics have come.

So it’s a big hug and bye-bye to Francisco Costa and Italo Zucchelli at Calvin Klein. But is it an even bigger hug and a huge hello to Raf Simons at everyone expects? I do hope so. I’m a fan of much of what Costa did at the runway line but I’m an even bigger fan of Simons and if, as rumoured, he gets to take complete creative control of the wider Calvin Klein brand,  then we should expect good things ahead.

First, let me declare myself. The answer to the question in the headline is: a bit of both. I love high street designer collaborations. They’re a great way of buying into a designer look at a fraction of the regular price and the quality levels are usually high. Some work better than others  of course (the critical ‘failures’ are usually those that have too much of the retailer’s signature style and not enough of the designer’s, like the Gap-Roland Mouret one a few years ago).

So Prada delivered hugely disappointing results on Friday and promised some ideas about how it would turn itself around at a conference call on Monday. That call has happened. Are we any the wiser?

My niece got married on April 2 (to tattoo artist extraordinaire Jack Pearce) and her dress really reminded me of how far wedding dresses have come in the past few decades. And of how much more strongly they relate to eveningwear than the white satin crinolines of old… Thank goodness. She chose sequins in the muted pink that’s proving hugely popular on red carpets at the moment (think Apple’s rose gold and you’ve got the picture).

I wasn’t bowled over by Tommy Hilfiger’s AW16 collection with its slightly cheesy nautical theme. But the SS16, now that was another matter. The festival-ready, beach-ready mix of crochet and cotton, culturally appropriated motifs and exuberant colours was one of the winers of last September’s round of runway shows. And given that Tommy Hilfiger is, relatively speaking, one of the more affordable runway brands, I thought I’d look online to see if anything from the collection met my two main criteria of being more than a one-season wonder and being affordable enough to make me break my never-pay-full-price rule.