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Tag: london fashion week

  • Guangzhou Fashion Label Mithridate Plans Retail Expansion and Footwear Push

    Guangzhou Fashion Label Mithridate Plans Retail Expansion and Footwear Push

    Guangzhou fashion label Mithridate will open new physical stores this year. It is also expanding into commercial accessories and footwear categories.

    The Chinese brand announced the retail push alongside its Spring 2027 ready-to-wear runway presentation at London Fashion Week.

    Store Openings and Category Growth

    Management is using the international runway schedule to back a broader commercial build-out. Creative director Daniel Fletcher confirmed the label will add brick-and-mortar locations this year to capture domestic and regional demand.

    Teams spent recent seasons developing production lines for shoes and accessories. Those categories carry higher margins and faster replenishment cycles than runway garments.

    “We have new stores opening this year, we’re really growing, and when you look at what we’re doing with accessories and shoes, categories that have taken some time to develop, the ambition is big,” Fletcher said.

    Runway Format and Product Lineup

    Its latest women’s and men’s collection mixed British tailoring with casual separates to anchor the retail mix. Looks included Victorian-style uniform tailoring, bubble-hem party dresses and headwear designed by milliner Noel Stewart.

    Commercial pieces centered on British preppy sportswear. Offbeat rugby jerseys, ribbed polos, school-style scarves, striped micro shorts and relaxed studded denim formed the core line for retail distribution.

    Shifting Playbook for Chinese Labels

    Chinese independent designer houses have overhauled their expansion strategies over the past two seasons. Instead of relying solely on domestic multi-brand stockists and wholesale showrooms, brands based in Guangzhou and Shanghai are funding direct store networks.

    Standalone shops require reliable footwear and leather goods to lift revenue per square meter. Ready-to-wear draws foot traffic. Leather goods and shoes protect operating margins when department store wholesale orders drop.

    Building Foundation Beyond Domestic Wholesale

    Earlier, the company established its production base in Guangzhou before tapping Fletcher to lead design and raise its profile in European markets. Early collections tested international wholesale interest before management committed capital to retail leases and category diversification.

    Mithridate will roll out its Spring 2027 footwear and accessories lines as the upcoming retail locations open later this year.

  • Fashion brand Unhidden brings clothes made for all bodies to LFW

    Fashion brand Unhidden brings clothes made for all bodies to LFW

    Fashion designer Victoria Jenkins unveiled stylish and practical clothes made for people with disabilities on the runway at London Fashion Week on Friday, in a collection intended to address a gap in the market.

    The ‘Unhidden: A New Era in Fashion’ event saw around 30 models who all live with a disability, chronic condition or visible difference model floaty dresses with easy access around the waist as well as colorful chiffon tie shirts with adjustable sleeves at footwear brand Kurt Geiger’s showroom.

    Designer Victoria Jenkins poses following her catwalk show “Unhidden: A New Era in Fashion”, with designs presented by models who all live with a disability, chronic condition or visible difference, during London Fashion Week in London, Britain, 17 February, 2023.

    “Unhidden is an adaptive fashion brand… primarily targeted at inclusion within the fashion of people with disabilities,” Jenkins told Reuters.

    During a hospital stay when another patient raised it, Jenkins, who has reduced mobility, first discovered a gap in the market for clothes designed with all bodies in mind in 2016.

    Surprised that only a few brands, including Tommy Hilfiger, offer such fashion for all, she decided to use her previous experience as a garment technologist to set up her own brand.

    A model presents a creation during the “Unhidden: A New Era in Fashion” catwalk show, with designs presented by models who all live with a disability, chronic condition or visible difference, during London Fashion Week in London, Britain, 17 February, 2023.

    “When I had this idea, it was like a light bulb and just everything changed,” she said.

    “It helps me personally… but also I see the impact around me of people being able to dress how they need to.”

    Jenkins demonstrated a royal blue shirt with pop snaps that open and close easily, as people who have had strokes can struggle with buttons.

    “It also has openings all down the arm,” she said, so that anyone going through treatment “can access their arm without taking any clothes off. It’s about dignity.”A model presents a creation during the “Unhidden: A New Era in Fashion” catwalk show, with designs presented by models who all live with a disability, chronic condition or visible difference, during London Fashion Week in London, Britain, 17 February, 2023. Model and content creator Jessica Ping-Wild, who uses a prosthetic leg and struggles to find suitable trousers, said a brand like Unhidden makes all the difference.

    “A designer taking into consideration the fact that bodies are different… it’s almost breaking that mould of beauty that has been so ingrained in society for centuries,” she said.

    Jenkins’ collection also includes shirts with longer backs for wheelchair users as well as tailor made suits. She hopes her clothes become even more readily available in the future.

    “Diversity without disability isn’t diversity. It feels like it’s the last taboo. People are still scared of the D word. You know, disabled is not a bad word,” she said.

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  • VIP.com, first Chinese partner of the London Fashion Week

    VIP.com, first Chinese partner of the London Fashion Week

    The new relationship is truly special as this is the first time a Chinese retailer becomes an Official Sponsor of London Fashion Week. Vip.com will be working closely with British brands to help them launch in its hugely lucrative and ever-expanding home territory.

    “The fashion market in China is extraordinarily sophisticated and fast paced, and hungry for new design talent,” says Jenny Jioe, Managing Director of Fashion at Vip.com. “Our consumer is aware of London’s creative pedigree, and ready for both news and product. I know from first-hand experience that the brands in London, with all their energy and unbridled creativity, are precisely what we are looking for.”

    Vip.com is one of China’s top 3 ecommerce retailers, with annual retail sales of $11.2b, 57.8million active customers, over 335million orders in 2017, and eight individual international sourcing offices. In 2016 Forbes ranked Vip.com as No.2 in its top 100 companies with the highest growth.

    London Fashion Week is a renowned launch pad for emerging fashion talent. “The nature of working with so many new businesses, is that they don’t have the advertising power of the global fashion brands,” says Caroline Rush, Chief Executive British Fashion Council. “What they have is incredible products that a fashion-forward Chinese consumer is going to love. Our role is to shine a light on these businesses and work with our partners at Vip.com to introduce these brands to a highly engaged audience in China.”

    The new partnership takes sponsorship at London Fashion Week into new, global realms of business and marketing savvy. “We are going to stage a show that is exclusive run by Vip.com,” says Paul Tyce, the Chinese e-commerce site’s UK country manager. “We will offer live streaming to our customers in China, in-depth cooperation with designers, and fashion and art exhibitions. This isn’t just about title sponsorship.”