Merry Christmas!

Somehow denim Santa does not look as jolly???

I wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas, I hope the real Santa delivered everything you wished for and more! May you have a Happy New Year filled with great adventures!.. XXX

Virtual Rising...

I have booked the day off work today. My mission is to complete ALL Christmas shopping, so why am I still sat here in my pyjamas?? Answer: There is no chance I am going to traipse around London in the rain, fighting the crowds when i can sit here in luxury (cup of tea in hand and cat on lap!!) in front of my mac, browsing the world wide web! What a miraculous discovery!!..

Anyone working in retail will know internet sales are growing year on year. With the new generation of social networking- Facebook/twitter/tumbler/blogs its easier than ever to spread marketing campaigns and sales promotions which of course reflects the traffic to our sites and subsequently our sales!.

Top 5 retailers on Facebook:

Zara= 10,738.378 fans

Burberry= 9,945,914 fans

H&M= 8,847,902 fans

Gucci= 5,730,092 fans

Louis Vuitton= 4,541,963 fans

Wow.. right!?!!!.. There is huge potential to build further, as long as you have the newest App to send out! As a complete technophobe my mind boggles as to what else can be achieved but one thing is sure, invest in a computer whizz if you want to beat the competition!!

No matter how nice it is to shop from home, I do worry for the future of our British high street, yes you can get everything delivered at a touch of a few buttons but wont we miss the whole store experience? Trying on clothes/feeling the quality checking out the visual merchandising and generally getting inspired? Where else is better than London at Christmas??.. Got to run, off to Liberty... Wish me luck!!

the elusive pair..

Back in the day, in one of my former lives, I was a 'fit' model... which basically means a clothes horse so to speak for brands that needed a certain size to build a block, arrange a pattern and get a PERFECT fit. Sounds easy right?..   
In my role as a denim buyer I can appreciate the importance in every measurement, a slight tweak to the height of the waistline or leg opening will mean a good pair of jeans or a great pair!.

Quite a statement huh!!.. 

 

Achieving the 'Worlds best fitting jeans' is quite simply an impossible task! Its a very arrogant brand that will profess to such a feat!! (and they do... tut tut). The reality is every one of us is a different shape, unique, special and defo cannot all fit into my perfect jeans no matter how much I wish you did!..

Levi has at least tried to remedy this with their 'Curve' collection. Its a good idea, if only the styles were a little more sexy??..

My advise to you guys would be go searching, its out there I promise! If you want a 'boyfriend' block- buy a pair of actual boy jeans, if you want a 'slim slouch' buy your usual skinnies but one size up, if you want a pair of cool 'high waists' go vintage!..  Good Luck xxx

Denim PV

I am extremely lucky to travel around the world in search of inspiration for work. Last week I was in gay Pareee.. Such a beautiful city, it always inspires me and looks amazing in December covered in Christmas sparkle!
 Twice a year we pop over for a denim trade show, exhibiting all the new fabrics and trends for the coming seasons.. A little sneak preview so to speak! The warehouse is filled with the biggest mills presenting their latest development, its a denim geeks version of a SciFi convention only we think we are much cooler!?

Without giving too much away, there were a few boys that stood out from the crowd of course! Leading the pack with innovative new techniques were Isko, well done guys! Unfortunately for the purists out there we are still a few seasons away from bringing back denim with true character. The trend continues for clean colour, flat washes, new coatings and compact power stretch, as they say- if its not broke why fix it??..

PS- Loving your work Fabio, have never enjoyed the VIP lounge as much, Yummy!!

Cut off....

Whoop whoop... I have just finished packing my bag for my holiday!! I am a very lucky girl, in 4 days I will be heading off to paradise for some much needed R&R.......

There is only 1 thing a denim geek should be packing besides the bikini and snorkeling gear, and that is of course.. the vintage cut offs!!..

See you in a few weeks folks!.... xx

Casual Depression...

Don't worry, I am not going to turn all doom and gloom on you now! However, the global recession is very much here to stay and its getting harder to keep any motivation when the world is in economic crisis! Anyone else bored of the new pop phrases being thrown about 'current economic climate', 'credit crunch', 'double dip'-- (and no, we are not talking about indigo here people!!)...??
 

Wish we could get lunch for $5 in London!!..

There is however a small silver lining to this very gloomy cloud, history proves that Denim sales grow in a recession (or 'depression' as it was called back in the day). Big Whoop Whoop for us dudes!!.....

It is very clear to see that spending patterns of the average consumer will change, the focus moves from high fashion to staple pieces that will last us through the dark days! No longer will we be parading around like a peacock with all our finery on display. No one wants to 'show off' their money in such an obvious way when we should be lucky to have wages to spend at all!

Ummm.. they are hardly average consumers!!..

Our style becomes more sombre, conservative, casual, step up a pair of 5 pocket jeans. Our savior in a recession! Chin up people, it will blow over soon enough and we will surface with integrity, wisdom and a thirst for the drama that is true couture fashion... In the mean time, go and buy yourself some good jeans....

The Cats Whiskers....

Firstly.. only slightly off topic, meet Murphy my gorgeous cat... now here are some good looking whiskers!!

'Whiskering' in the denim world is a procedure that helps us launder our jeans to look more authentically aged. check out the video and you will get the gist...

It is extremely hard to look real, taking years to perfect and I have a real bug bear when I see jeans on the market that are flat with extreme stripes, like this for instance...

AWFUL!!... There is nothing authentic about these jeans, I mean, the whiskers look like bleached stripes, the brushing down the thigh is sooo extreme, I have no idea what you would naturally need to do to get it that bright besides continuously rubbing sandpaper down your legs??? Don't get me started on the 'cat' scratching on right thigh, you have met Murphy above, he is a big boy but does not have the claws to cause these marks... you would need to be wrestling with a tiger to get such damage!!.. grrrr

My advise to you, buy a rinse wash indigo pair of jeans and wear them in yourselves, its much more satisfying when you see the affects that your life has on your blues! Beautiful..