Nicky's Rag Tales

1. No surprise that the Kate Moss for Top Shop collaboration is ending and that the last collection will be launched in October. Often photographed with BF Sir Philip Green there is no talk of any huge bust up just a natural end following 14 collections. Originally it was 6 collections a year and last year it was down to 2. The last one I looked at was decidedly dull and boring a complete damp squib so my feeling is that the poor sales made it non viable and so the end is now in sight. Perhaps take a good look at the last one to see if there is anything worth bagging for future ebay investment selling?

2. Pucci, the pioneering Italian fashion brand

Two versions of a fabulous new book fantastically written and with beautiful images on the History of this Iconic Italian print house. One a limited edition of 10,000 copies @ £ 135 and the second a Vintage Art Edition limited to just 500 signed and numbered copies. Each book is bound in an original vintage Pucci fabric and is accompanied by four art prints of original drawings from the designer Emilio Pucci. Each book will be signed by his daughter Laudomia Pucci who continued to design under the Pucci name after Emilio’s death in 1992 and who is Image Director and Deputy Chairman of the company since 2000.

Available to buy online from September from Taschen

Anna and Grace Rag Dolls

3. How appropriate that two women who work in the Rag trade have had rag dolls made in their image. The Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington dolls were commissioned by Barneys NY. Brooklyn based artist Andrew Yang was given the task of making the dolls. Apparently the hair gave him some minor problems and he decided quite rightly to make outfits ‘that reflects their individual style’ rather than copy any specific outfits. The dolls will be auctioned on Charitybuzz.com starting on August 31st all proceeds going to the New York City Aids Fund.

This is most probably Alexander Mc Queens very last creation and one that he had his hands on. A really rather beautiful gown, it didn’t figure in the final collection shown shortly after his death. It was made specially for his long time friend Annabelle Neilson who is also a very good pal of Kate Moss. A society girl who was often photographed wearing Mc Queen and referred to as his muse on occasion. Ms Neilson wore the dress last June to Elton John’s White tie and Tiara Ball.

Try as I might I trawled for some interesting thought provoking news items to awaken those brain buds but I couldn’t find a single item worth sharing. Lots of boring stuff but perhaps I wasn’t looking in the right places? I have been indoors in my showroom all last week selling the Jaeger collection for next Spring Summer and have been really busy which of course I’m certainly thankful for. It does mean however that the only news I gleaned was what the best sellers are, how the collection goes together and the names of lots of new customers.

I did stumble on this product that’s so totally stupid it was worthy of sharing on that basis alone. Cat food scented soap which I found on Style.com If you want to attract cats then this is for you. It costs $5.99 a bar and if you really really want it then get in touch and I will give you the email address where it can be ordered. I will also dispense some other advise which I will call ‘tough love’ here (though I would really like to call it something else entirely…. )

When I eat meat I don’t think of the cow, or it’s life, or how it met it’s end. I know I should and believe me I’ve tried to be a conscientious vegetarian with a heart but when the barbecue is lit and I can smell the stake sizzling all hope of being a better person goes out the window.

Can the same analogy be drawn with those bargains I sometimes pick up in Penney’s or Zara or even occasionally H+M? Though bargain is stretching it a bit. I can only think of one item in the last two years that was a worthwhile piece of clothing that had longevity built into it. The garment in question is a black long tux blazer that I wear time and time again over jeans and a white shirt.All the other clothes and accessories were huge disappointments as holes suddenly appeared where none were intended or literally fell apart. Of course I never took those pieces back because lets face it if they only cost a tenner my inner voices say ‘I told you so’ or ‘what did you expect’?

Here is news that perhaps should make us think, it comes from Reuters and Associated Press Last Week……….

DHAKA, Bangladesh July 30th — Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers took to the streets, burning cars and blocking traffic in the capital Dhaka on Friday to protest against a government-announced wage hike that fell far short of their demands.

Police officers said security forces used tear gas and batons Friday to disperse the protesters in central Dhaka, where dozens of garment factories are located.

The angry workers broke into shuttered buildings and set furniture on fire in the heart of Dhaka Friday, the BBC reported.

Officers said several people were injured. The officers spoke on condition of anonymity, citing local briefing rules.

After weeks of violent protests, Bangladesh nearly doubled the minimum monthly wage Thursday for millions of workers in the key export garment industry to 3,000 taka ($43) from 1,662 taka, but it fell far short of labor union demands of 5,000 taka. The increase will take effect on November 1, 2010.

Dhaka July 30th Garment workers riot and the police wield batons

On a lighter note entirely Emma Watson has morphed into Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby by chopping her hair. she posted this image on Facebook last week. This is how I wore my hair as a teenager so I have some inkling of what this is all about. Of course Emma Watson is a really beautiful girl but I’m left wondering if this is truly a trend likely to take off?

Remember this?

What do you get when The President of the United States drops by your town house for supper? You get to raise up to $1.5 million dollars for the democrats and a chance to mingle with the top US fashion and fashionable movers and shakers. Last Wednesday evening Anna Wintour, Editor of Vogue, hosted a little get together in her home in NY. Read the full article here from WWD

And while we’re on the same continent one Chelsea Clinton got married yesterday evening (after the Jewish Sabbath) in an interfaith ceremony. The bride wore a Vera Wang strapless gown with a wide embellished belt ,copies of which it’s a safe guess will be adorning many more brides in the next while. Getting married in an interfaith ceremony under a Chuppa (a temporary four sided canopy) Chelsea wore a veil which is a requirement of Jewish brides whose faces are traditionally covered until after the ceremony. The groom wore a Kipah (head covering) and a Talit (Prayer shawl) with both a clergy man and a Rabbi officiating at the ceremony at which the seven Jewish wedding blessings were recited.

Photo by Genevieve de Manio via Getty Images

I just thought we could take a look at UK Elle September Issue cover featuring Emily Blunt who is rocking the lace trend but perhaps there’s a little overkill here?

BOF (Business of Fashion) hosted an amazing live screening of an interview with Net-A-Porter’s Natalie Massenet last Thursday, this is a behind the scenes fascinating view inside NAP’s headquarters.

Alexander McQueen started with skulls and this Autumn Dsquared2 have taken to the back issue or spine(less). You decide on these shoes for Autumn 2010, one of a whole series for this Winter. Perhaps this is the backbone we all need to show for the coming Winter? Alternatively teetering on a spinal cord looks more and more likely!

There is a running joke going around our showroom that no woman whatever her age wakes up in the morning and thinks to herself ‘I’d like to dress older today’! Each of us tries to remain as youthful as possible and in the past few years this has become increasingly difficult as we strive to look good but know that we have to avoid at all costs that ‘mutton dressed as lamb’ look. The sales assistants are all younger than our daughters and ignore us and the clothes on the rails were tiny and oh so short.

In the last year older women, once invisible in the fashion industry have become increasingly visible. It seems that the days of the nymphets and size “0″ obsession may finally be over. Next season sees Madonna (51) starring in Dolce and Gabbana’s advertising campaign. Stella Tennant (39) centre stage in Balenciaga and Elle Macpherson and ChristyTurlington (41) featuring for Louis Vuitton.

Of course this new age of austerity may be responsible. The collections have taken a new twist offering grown up sensible yet beautiful clothes. And so the age of the 16 year old skinny model gracing the covers and the catwalk may be coming to an end (for now at least) and if so,I for one am going to enjoy it for as long as it lasts.

London Fashion Week is just around the corner and one of the hottest tickets in town are the shows from (Topshop sponsored) Fashion East. Fashion East helped launch the careers of Gareth Pugh, Richard Nicoll, Jonathan Saunders and Marios Schwab and certainly knows how to pick the winners. It is watched closely by the fashion editors, industry leaders and buyers and this year Irish Simone Rocha is one of the chosen designers to showcase.

Dublin born Simone, daughter of Designer John Rocha, did a four year degree at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and completed her masters at Central Saint Martins in London last February. Simone has a modern and strongly sophisticated approach to woman’s wear and an eclectic eye for accessories. Her Dad’s studio in Dublin is where she develops her collections and it certainly helps to have her designs on sale in his shop on London’s Dover Street.

I for one am wishing her lots of Irish luck but looking at the images of her designs, her talent alone should insure success.

Simone Rocha Central Saint Martins Show 2010

Not exactly current news but I just had to share this video with you it’s The Making of a Chanel Haute Couture Outfit .

Also from Chanel this week ( with the notable absence of even one L B D) is the Haute Couture Show for Autumn Winter 2010/11. Note the interesting jacket lengths and the calf length skirts which we will see a lot of this Winter.

In Ireland we had the Hunky Dory ads which were withdrawn after six weeks of huge coverage in the press about their unsuitability and bad taste. The taste for the owner of Hunky Dory’s however remained sweet as owner Ray Coyle reported a 7% increase in sales of both Tayto and Hunky Dorys with over 400,000now on facebook and moves to expand into China. Will the result for Diesel be the same after London withdrew two poster adverts? See one below.

Facebook is starting to show it’s age with the latest report showing that teenagers are losing interest. What’s news in that you may ask? Teenagers have always been a fickle bunch and perhaps the fact that most of their parents, aunts and uncles and every other relation is now on it means they really want to be as far away as possible.

45% have lost interest
- 16% are leaving because their parents have joined
- 14% think “too many adults/older people” now use the social network
- 13% are concerned about their personal privacy.

Naomi Campbell is in the news again, this timeover the ‘blood diamond’ claim. Below getting tetchy on ABC News

Carole White, Campbell’s agent at the time, says that she witnessed the event. “I was there,” she says, speaking from the London headquarters of Premier Model Management, the company that she founded and that represented Campbell for 17 years. “He did give it to her. It was a small, uncut diamond. I am totally surprised that Naomi hasn’t admitted it.”

But Campbell has consistently refused to volunteer her own testimony to the tribunal, furiously walking out of a recent television interview withABC News when the reporter had the temerity to ask about the allegations. It seemed a strange reaction for a woman who, having turned 40 earlier this year, has tried to distance herself from a youth-obsessed modelling industry and reinvent herself as a charity campaigner.