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At a time when brick and mortar stores are faced with ever-increasing competition from their online counterparts, one local fashion entrepreneur has decided to create something that will appeal to a small, but very dedicated market that American Express researchers label the ‘L’Atelierites’- shoppers who want a highly personalised shopping experience.
While Nicole Morris-Rosenast cannot promise you a consultation with Marc Jacobs, her new store in Athol, Johannesburg, promises to ‘amplify the shopping experience to a new level, where the focus is on super-service, and carefully selected luxury items from around the world’. The entrepreneur has transformed a private villa in the northern Johannesburg suburb into a store where items have been selected to reflect a taste for elegance. From luxury goods, bridal couture to tableware and art that is hanging on the villa’s walls- it’s all for sale.
The ‘House of Fashion’ also offers membership which comes with the services of an in-house stylist. And if you ever wondered where to get clothing by local designer Danielle Margaux, ‘The House of Fashion’ stocks the label.
The Johannesburg store is located at 93B Deodar Road in Athol. Call them on 011 784 7307.
Capetonians can visit 153 Loop Street for the same shopping experience.
Imagine, as a woman, walking into ‘La Senza’ and you have no option but to liaise with a male sales assistant about, among other things, your cups size. Absurd, isn’t it? What do men know about bra sizes anyway? Well, that’s because you are lucky enough to live in a country where women have always been allowed to work in retail.
PIC: NYTIMES.COM/ THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
Until recently, Saudi women have been forced to buy their bras from male sales assistants simply because women were barred from working at retail stores. That was until last month when the Saudi King issued a Royal decree that will force retailers of lingerie to replace all their male staff with female workers, as The New York Times reports:
The campaign to change the rules began several years ago, and was led by Reem Asaad, a fashion-conscious financial adviser who speaks flawless English and is comfortable with the Western media. It appeared to have succeeded in 2006when the government ordered that the sales jobs be transferred to women. But social conservatives and the religious establishment objected, arguing that Islam prohibited women from working outside the home and that putting women in retail shops would expose them to the view of any passing stranger. If the sales clerks were female, the shop windows would have to be covered, the opponents said.
Shop owners objected, too, saying that no women were trained to do such work. In addition, the 2006 decree failed to address the transportation problem: if women were going to work in those shops, they would need a man to drive them because they are prohibited from driving. Saudi cities have virtually no public transportation. So the decree was never enforced. Ms. Asaad then used Facebook to organize a boycott of the shops, and arranged for some women to be trained in retail work.
This time, King Abdullah has put his personal authority behind the new decree. Last year he also installed a new minister of labor, Adel Fakieh, who had embraced the idea of employing women at a supermarket chain owned by his holding company. Under the new rules, the country’s thousands of lingerie and cosmetics shops have until June to replace their male employees with women. The feared religious police, who are really the behavior police, have been ordered to cooperate.
PIC: NYTIMES.COM
This is hardly a fashion story, but I thought it was something worth noting anyway. Our “blade runner” is GQ magazine’s best dressed man of 2011, after all. Oscar Pistorius is also the face of A*Men, the Thierry Mugler fragrance. This week he is on the cover of the New York Times Magazine. Good going!
Ever pictured some of fashion’s most popular figures as ‘Simpsons’ characters? Well, one Milan-based illustrator has and the result is Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington and Karl Lagerfeld, among others, reimagined as cartoon characters based on the popular US comedy series ‘The Simpsons’. This is the work of artist, author and illustrator Alexsandro Palombo who is also the founder of humorchic.blogspot.com
Marge Simpson as Anna Wintour
Homer Simspon as Karl Lagerfeld
Every year, fashionistas across the globe have movies they wait for eagerly. This is seldom because of a great story or what have you, but rather because of the movie’s fashion relation. Last year, that movie was “Black Swan” more than any other. Remember that Natalie Portman flick where her ballet-dancer character was dressed in Rodarte? Of course you do!
Well. For me that movie I am dying to see this year is one that has already won its star- Michelle Williams- a Golden Globe and has her in the running (albeit it against one of my favourite actresses, Meryl Streep) at this year’s Academy Awards. That would the Oscars, in case you didn’t know.
Williams plays Marilyn Monroe, a style icon only the most ignorant few- even beyond fashion circles- do not know, in the movie “My Week with Marilyn Monroe”. It is on circuit next month and I cannot wait to see it! She is also covering the latest (February 2012) issue of ELLE South Africa as well as the January issue of American GQ.
Next month Brutal Fruit is bringing one of the freshest international trends to our shores – ‘Glamping’, or ‘glam camping’. The Brutal Fruit Glam Camp is a one-day event that is all about re-inventing yourself as a woman, with a range of workshops in fashion, beauty, home decor and financial management. Speakers include Aidan Bennetts, Kate Emerson and Leigh Toselli. Brutal Fruit’s promise is that every woman who attends will be treated to an inside-to-out, mind, body and soul makeover.
The event takes place on 11 and 12 February at Casalinga in Johannesburg. To stand a chance to win tickets, email the answer to the following question to tellus@thetimes.co.za with the subject ‘Brutal Fruit’. Question: What is ‘glamping’?
Winners will be drawn on 31 January.
For more information about the event click here.
Here at The Frock Report we want to make sure that your new year is off to a great start, hence this post about David Beckham in his underwear. The British soccer star has recently launched a new underwear collection for Swedish retail company H&M. The affordable range (prices start at R100) is a diffusion line from his ‘Bodywear’ brand.
According to British news site Mirror.co.uk, Beckham is reported to have said “Over the past year, I’ve been developing my Bodywear range with my team and I’m extremely positive about what we have designed and produced. The final piece in the jigsaw was a retail partner who has the vision and capability to distribute these products globally. In H&M we have found the perfect partner to collaborate with going forward.”
