UK unveils new arts fund in bid to boost ‘gangbusters’ creative sector by £50bn June 14, 2023 Ministers have unveiled plans to boost the UK’s “gangbusters” creative industries by up to £50bn. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has revealed a plan to give a multimillion-pound boost across film, music, fashion and gaming, which could see the arts sectors grow by £50bn by 2030. The ‘Creative Industries Sector Vision’ [...]
The fashion crime of rucksacks over suits is growing in the Square Mile June 10, 2023 A couple of years ago an American woman caused an international incident when she admitted to covertly chucking her husband’s cargo shorts in the bin, such was her dislike of them. The following week was littered with opinion pieces about the maligned shorts, from other women owning up to doing the same to loud-and-proud cargo [...]
Everyone is talking about quiet luxury but there’s a problem June 9, 2023 Unless you have spent the first five months of 2023 on retreat or continuing your Second World War service for Imperial Japan, you will know that one of the most significant trends in the fashion world has been “quiet luxury” or “stealth wealth”. The concept is that the smartest of the smart are now dressing [...]
Sainsbury’s bets on style with plans for a new online fashion marketplace May 21, 2023 Sainsbury’s is reportedly planning to launch a new online marketplace for high street fashion brands in a move which will pile pressure on department stores like John Lewis. Looking to diversify its product range whilst capitalising on a strong web traffic presence – and vast distribution networks – Sainsbury’s is looking to stock a range [...]
Yeezy win? Adidas to sell trainers from axed Kanye deal – and donate proceeds to charity May 12, 2023 Adidas plans to sell trainers from its axed partnership with the US rapper Kanye West and donate some of the money to charity. The German sportswear giant announced it was ending production of Yeezy branded products with “immediate effect” at the end of October after West made antisemitic remarks on social media and in interviews. [...]
Radio star: The incredible story of the Panerai diving watch almost lost to the sea April 26, 2023 In the nineties, you didn’t have Patagonia gilets, quarter-zip sweaters or Logan Roy logo-less baseball caps – you had ‘oversize’ watches. They were status symbols you could drive right into the boardroom, unlike your 911, and style statements to mark you out in a sea of suits. The sea is an appropriate metaphor, as the ur [...]
Top women’s watches, from Cartier to Jaeger-LeCoultre and Chanel April 25, 2023 It’s been an incredible Spring for wristwear and women have been catered for impressively by the giants of horology. Here are some of our favourite women’s watches hitting stores now. CARTIER BAIGNOIRE ALLONGÉE This latest Baignoire looks simple (the Francophone among you are correct: it really is named after its bath-like shape) but its creation [...]
What’s ticking: All the latest watch news, from Geneva and beyond April 25, 2023 Aston Martin and Girard-Perregaux prove it ain’t easy being British-Racing green, Dr Rebecca Struthers makes a similarly convincing ‘case’ for British watchmaking, while George Bamford doubles down in W1K. A round-up of the coolest new watches. A brief biography of time Books on clocks and watches are usually authored by men of a certain age [...]
From a surprising new Rolex to a Muppet in the month window April 24, 2023 Cross the (tastefully appointed) maximum-security threshold of Watches and Wonders and the hierarchy is instantly apparent. There’s Patek Philippe with its parked-up spaceship, conveying its blue-blooded, dyed-in-the-metal pedigree. And then there are 30-something other Swiss watchmakers all clamouring to make a noise in the revitalised, post-Covid white noise of horological newness. This is an industry [...]
Working 9 to 17: Patek Philippe’s stunning Calatrava Travel Time April 24, 2023 A 24-hour-display dial takes a bit of adjustment to read as instantly as your usual 12-hour. But not as long as you’d think. Patek Philippe’s Calatrava Travel Time was the blue-eyed posterboy of the resurgent Watches and Wonders event, Geneva’s luxury watchmaking fair, which took place earlier this month. A consolidation of the now-defunct ‘Baselworld’ [...]