Chicest Dog Walker - Olivia Palermo

International style icon, Olivia Palermo, makes walking her dog look like a fashion event. I don’t even think she ever has a bad hair day!  In the past week Palermo has been spotted walking Mr. Butler in everything from a Topshop shirt to Louboutin heels. 

On August 14^th she stepped out in a fun pair of Christian Louboutin Pigalle Pollock Pumps. She wore distressed legging ankle jeans by AG Adriano Goldschmid and kept the look sophisticated with a crisp white Banana Republic Milly Collection Piped shirt under a zip peplum jacket.  To complete the look she added Wunderkind sunglasses and of course added a little bling with a Tiffany & Co Atlas Bangle.

On August 16^th Palermo was spotted out and about wearing a Topshop Chambray Shirt, blue denim destroyed “Jane” skinny jeans by Rebecca Minkoff, which she paired perfectly with her Pretty Ballerinas Faye Fluo yellow camouflage flats. Adding to the whole look she wore Westward Leaning N9.2 Color Revolution Sunglasses in blue and white.  However, her best accessory for the day was her German model/photographer boyfriend, Johannes Huebl.

No one does casual chic like Palermo. On August 18^th she wore a red oversized sweater, white skinny jeans, peach Stubbs & Wootton embroidered slippers and Westward Leaning Children of California sunglasses.




  Images courtesy of marieclaire.co.uk and oliviasstyle.blogspot.com

Fairtrade Fashion

Latest reports say that more than a million tonnes of textiles are sent to UK landfill sites each year, a lot of which are not biodegradable. Places such as the Fairtrade Foundation are trying to find ways to help cut back on the amount of textiles being dumped in landfills.

Every year to celebrate fair and ethical trading values they have an event called Fairtrade Fortnight. This year such shops as Topshop, Marks and Spencer and Tesco all unveiled new ethical collections.

Marks and Spencer introduced Fairtrade-certified cotton to its Limited Collection, which included a T-shirt dress and a bag, with model Lily Cole fronting the campaign. The retailer will also launch a range of recycled denim.

Tesco unveiled a fair trade denim range that was distributed to shops on March 10 and the women’ range of jeans and shorts will hit shops on April 21. They expect to sell between 15 million and 20 million fair trade garments this year.

Meanwhile, Topshop, one of the most influential brands on the high street, unveiled a 36-piece collection made from fair trade cotton. The range will go into 30 stores and will include everything from T-shirts to woven waistcoats.

Eileen Maybin from Fairtrade Foundation said: “After this year’s successful Fairtrade Fortnight they are planning on doing this again next year to keep the awareness of ethical clothing up.”

Topshop - friend or foe?

Even though Topshop has begun to take part in producing ethical clothing, their methods for making clothing are still surrounded in controversy.

Arcadia Group, which owns Topshop, has been asked to improve labour conditions for the people who make its clothes.

In September, the Times found migrant workers facing deportation when they complained about long working hours, low wages, overcrowded living conditions, poor ventilation, and a lack of sanitation in their workplace.

Yet the Arcadia group refuses to join the Ethical Trading Initiative and work with other retailers, trade unions and NGOs to improve conditions.

To try and get through to Topshop and the Arcadia Group, there have been many protests to persuade the Topshop to improve working conditions. The latest protest took place on March 1.

Rebecca Jones, organiser of the March 1st London demo said: "Topshop still have to sign up to the ethical trading initiative," and "other high street retailers are trying to make changes."

10 people were at the March 1st demonstration, which Rebecca Jones said: "made a big visual impact." Rebecca described Topshop's response as "childlike". She states they tried to set up talks with them in Oxford and they didn't show up.

Rebecca is not sure when then the next protest will be, but there might be more in the future.

Spring 2008 Preview

For spring 08, buying into the season's trends will be a lot easier than it was last year as the high street retailers have focused on more well-defined themes. They will be targeting both young and mature shoppers by exciting the younger ones and for the mature shoppers they will be able to find more classic pieces.


Here is a breakdown of what some of the shops will be offering:

Kew and Miss Selfridge: Romantic and feminine theme will be seen in the collections they purchase for their stores. With lots of floral prints, waist-accentuating chiffon dresses and with details focusing on ruffles, bows, rose corsages and beading.

H&M and Kookai: There will be tribal elements implemented into these two shops ranges. This trend is nature-inspired and you will see prints in brick, brown and mustard. Also expect to see macrame knits and bead embellishments.


Karen Millen & George Asda: Millen and Asda use the 1970s-style safari story, Millen focusing more on the fashion-forward options and George Asda offering a more conventional interpretation. The basic look is just as the name suggests, safariesque style with khaki, white and beige with animal print highlights, rolled sleeves and belted dresses.

Another era making a comeback is the 1950s and shops such as Topshop and Debenhams are filling their racks with this style. Topshop will offer prom-style full-circle dresses with cinched waists while Debenhams has a more edgier interpretation with dresses in hot pink, yellow, black and white.

River Island and New Look: Expect these retailers to stock a lot of bright, clashing colours, jewelled embellishments, beads, colourful footwear and bags.

River Island and Kookai: Both shops will have peasant tops and embroidered dresses with neutral tones.

With all the bright colours, pink being one of the biggest trends, and all the ruffles, beading and bows expect high street to be given a large dosage of femininity for the new season.

See Drapers magazine for more information.

Both images are from Bottega Veneta's spring 2008 collection courtesy of Fashion & Fashion, group on facebook.