10 posts tagged "Harvey Nichols"
Flying High With E-Commerce For The Business Class Set
The intricacies of Luxup, a recently launched site that combines e-commerce with good old-fashioned store shopping, are not few. The site doesn’t obviate a visit to a bricks and mortar shop, where, paradoxically, you’ll receive merchandise not typically sold at said store. That’s because you’ve already bought it at Luxup’s Web site and downloaded its corresponding “brand pass” in order to collect it. You’ve beaten the obstacles of limited supply (from as little as four pieces to as many as 25 per item) and the clock, both for shopping (items leave the site after a designated time period) and collecting (usually a few weeks; don’t dawdle). What Luxup is essentially selling is a secret password that unlocks the hidden back room of your favorite designer store, whence you walk away with products that are either completely exclusive or available earlier than they would be at retail. After your trials, you’ve reaped reward. Phew.
And yet the reasons to do so are many. Luxup, the brainchild of two former hedge-fund managers, has already amassed a cabal of top talent, from Averyl Oates, formerly Harvey Nichols’ buying director, to run its buy, to Harriet Quick, late of British Vogue, to be its editorial director. The names it stocks are no less impressive. Belstaff, Nicholas Kirkwood, Balenciaga, and Valentino are among the initial offerings. Given that the kind of high roller who shells out for such names is often a traveler as well, Luxup works city by city: Grab an exclusive, cherry red Balenciaga biker jacket in London, or a Deco-style Marni necklace (above) in New York. Naturally, the site is an special draw for the well-heeled business-class woman who’s flying to shop—which may explain why Luxup’s site is currently offered in English and Portuguese, for the plummy Brazilian market. And it’s hard not to notice the Chinese characters lurking after the Luxup logo, and the promise that Hong Kong is the next city to come. But you don’t have to be part of China’s new class of super-spenders to dive in. Once again, then: phew.
Marni’s satin, glass, and stone necklace, $570, is currently available on Luxup.com as a world exclusive for pickup at Marni’s New York Store, 161 Mercer St., NYC.
Worlds Collide In London, Where Donna And Samba Mingle
The world converged in London last night. “I’ve just flown in from L.A.,” said a breathless Donna Karan, “after Barbra Streisand’s closing-night concert at the bowl. The jet lag hasn’t kicked in yet.” Karan has been outfitting her friend Babs for the singer’s world tour, but the customer still comes first, which is what brought her to Harvey Nichols, to launch her own boutique and show her Resort collection. (Nicks’ brass said Karan was the top seller on its international floor last week.) Yasmin Le Bon (left, with Karan), Irina Lazareanu, and biking gold medalist Victoria Pendleton were among those on hand to welcome her.
Meanwhile, across town, another American transplant was celebrating its London debut: SushiSamba, the Japanese-meets-Brazilian chain, which opens its doors at East London’s Heron Tower. Alison Mosshart, McQueen muse Annabelle Neilson, Katie Grand, and Richard Nicoll (left) were among the revelers, as was Style.com’s roving advice columnist Waris Ahluwalia, while Pixie Geldof’s band Violet played a set Mark Ronson spun the tunes. (His uncle, Gerald Ronson, built the tower.) At Harvey Nichols, Yasmin Le Bon was applauding her friend Donna’s knack for knowing how real women want to dress in the real world, but the dress code here was more unreal woman in the unreal world: a clatch of barely clothed samba dancers. “You know it’s a good party when you’re picking feathers out of your mouth all night,” Peter Pilotto said with a laugh.
Harvey Nichols’ Secret Garden
For its tribute to the Chelsea Garden Show, Harvey Nichols asked some of London’s brightest designers to create floral installations, unveiling the results last night at its Secret Garden cocktail party on the retailer’s fifth floor. Roksanda Ilincic, Marios Schwab, James Long, and Mary Katrantzou all showed off their masterpieces, which included Ilincic’s “wall” of live flowers, Katrantzou’s window treatment, and Schwab’s gazebo made to feel like a confessional booth.
While Katrantzou, Joan Collins, Tali Lennox, and Astrid Muñoz sipped cocktails from tiny watering cans, Bianca Jagger (who had her grandchildren Amba and Assisi Jackson in tow) and Schwab offered up the best moment of the evening. As the two sat in the “confessional” gazebo and stared at its ceiling, Schwab asked, “Can you see it?” He was referring to well-hidden erotic/pornographic scenes crafted in the Perspex tiles. Whereas it took some guests hours to catch it, if they did at all, there was no getting past Jagger—the queen of seventies decadence (pictured). “Of course, darling, but don’t make me say ‘penis’ in front of all these people…”
Prism Pops Up In Harvey Nichols
It hasn’t been particularly summery in London this week—yesterday evening, for instance, saw the city drenched in yet another cold, temperamental squall. Not the most auspicious weather, perhaps, for the launch of eyewear and swimwear label Prism London’s two-month-long pop-up shop on the fourth floor of Harvey Nichols. Or, as Prism’s Anna Laub pointed out, perhaps the weather was auspicious. After all, there’s nothing like dingy April showers to make the mind flee to the poolside or the beach—a flight of fancy given a big assist by Prism’s swimwear and sunglasses mix. “I’ve been wanting to find a way to present the suits and the glasses together,” Laub explained, when asked about the raw wood installation created by set designer Robert Storey and Architecture at Large honcho Rafael de Cárdenas. “We were in here until 1 a.m. last night, hammering,” Storey recalled. “It was kind of surreal, being in here on our own.” “It was a real Mannequin moment,” Laub added. “I wanted to run around and try everything on. But I didn’t.” As always, a girl can dream.
Lacroix’s Ballet Costumes Get Their Own Exhibition, Mary Katrantzou’s Typewriter Dress, And More…
Christian Lacroix is the latest designer to be honored with a museum exhibit. His Swarovski-decorated designs for La Source, a 2011 production of a nineteenth-century ballet, will be showcased at the National Costume Museum in Moulins, France. [WWD]
Mary Katrantzou is known for her hyper-realistic digital prints, but a typewriter collector in Switzerland thought one of the designer’s Fall 2012 dresses (pictured) was a bit too literal in inspiration. Adwoa Bagalini, who runs the blog Retro Tech Geneva, wrote Katrantzou a friendly letter pointing out the similarities to her typewriter photo. The designer admitted the correlation and sent Bagalini her own typewriter dress. [Racked]
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who were appointed as creative directors of Superga in September 2011, are set to unveil their latest capsule shoe collection for the label later this month at Harvey Nichols. They have also revealed that they will be doing a Superga range under their label The Row. [Vogue U.K.]
The latest industry rumor isn’t about a Dior appointment—but rather, the house’s former designer John Galliano. Hint reports that Galliano may be heading to Schiaparelli. With the Costume Institute’s upcoming exhibit Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: On Fashion, it would be a timely comeback for the Italian house. [Hint]