3rd Central is first base for Selfridges denim this autumn

3rd Central has just opened at Selfridges and I couldn't wait to pop into the brand new third floor denim and contemporary labels mecca considering myself firmly the fashionista target market.

I was not disappointed and spent a very enjoyable hour and a half having a good look around the whole floor. From all the hottest denim labels (complete with denimology sizing scanner machine) to shop in shops for some of the best contemporary fashion labels in the market today.

My interests were piqued by the likes of Marc by Marc Jacobs, Anglomania, Juicy Couture, McQ, Helmut Lang and Alexander Wang to name just a few. All sorts of great mid-market labels like Theory, Maje, Zadig & Voltaire and Whistles are adjacent to the yellow and beech wood decorated department and the feel is buzzy, contemporary and above all urban.

Anita Barr (a long standing buying associate of mine) has really nailed it with her first big project after being named womenswear buying director last year. There's just a really great mix of the biggest (read most commercial), hottest and directional yet contemporary collections gathered together on one floor. And the spookily tall mannequins aren't even that intimidating if you squint!

It's no wonder that while helping my stay-at-home-mum friend who also happens to be super-tall and super-slender, get her seasonal fashion update we managed not only to spend most of the day in Selfridges but dropped the best part of a grand in there too.

Kane fashion week madness at Topshop

Everyone has gone Christopher Kane mad this week as Topshop has kicked off fashion week with a rush on THE designer collaboration to be seen in!

So while the guerilla t-shirt is the only thing to wear at the shows (the Topshop PR told me they have plenty of supplies!), the LFW New Gen heavyweight sponsor has dedicated its whole window to the new Kane collab, which (apart from the ape tee) is full of studs and rivets and dance-tastic Lycra pieces.

And a quick look inside Topshop's Oxford Circus mecca reveals a great looking VM display dedicated to the in-house team's high end Unique collection - also showing on the schedule this week.







I can't wait for this season's offer, as last season's rave-culture layer-it-on space odyssey chimes so well with all the retro-futuristic 90s club gems that are cropping up on the streets of London. Check out this VM display and then check out the actual catwalk exits for cross-fertilised styling tips from the Topshop team!

Pull & Bear does club cave retail on Oxford Street!

At last Pull & Bear has opened in central London with a new club-cave like store on Oxford Street. The Inditex owned brand (yes another one) is firmly aimed at the youth market (but in a different way to Bershka) and the new rock-chick and rock-guy flagship is a world dedicated to club and college kids that want their gig-going fashion on the cheap and cheerful side.

With plenty of sparkly, shiny, studded and graphic merchandise around this is a lesson in environment and lifestyle retail. I feel old just walking around - but it's all good for the teens who clearly love it as stock turnaround is fast. This is part of the Zara family afterall - blink and you'll miss those sparkly leggings, pleather jacket or studded biker boots. All for under £100!

Here's a few pics from the opening night party!

Dover Street Market: Tachiagari AW comes early

Autumn/Winter collections seem to arrive earlier and earlier each season and while most designer emporiums let the new deliveries slip quietly into store Dover Street Market has a completely new look each season called Tachiagari - and it's a refreshing way to introduce customers to the new designer offers with exciting corners, VM displays and personality enhancing spaces.





The press preview on Monday did not disappoint, so feast your eyes on my whirlwind tour of the new spaces (floor by floor - and then back again for a few bits I missed!).

First off, loved the colourful floral window display. Complete with heady scent, Andy Hillman has created a mystical garden illusion, entitled Endless Summer, which invites guests into what feels like a greenery tunnel. Andy Hillman is a set designer who regularly works with photographer Tim Walker (former DSM collaborator) forming whimsical and magical worlds.

And more of my personal favourites include the new Comme des Garcons Shirt for women corner (rose pink & frilly whites), the suspended hanging space for Hussein Chalayan, the 'front row of fashion' Lanvin show experience, Anne Valerie Hash's reading corner space, Charles Anastase's 'my own private museum' collection of drawings alongside his grown up chic outfits, the World corner complete with eccentric masks and vintage collectibles, Loewe's sumptuous leather bags, Ferragamo's vintage table laden with 70s era shoes and the hidden away, decadent new shoe "department" (love the axes on the carpet wall) carrying hot labels such as New Gen award winner Michael Lewis, Sergio Rossi, Bruno Frisoni, Mr Hare, Cleo B and T29. Nicholas Kirkwood's new geometric frame display is also nearby, next to the new YSL Edition 24 corner full of timeless classics - and don't miss the expanded Comme des Garcons Homme Deux tailoring desk.







The new Comme des Garçons pop-up brand Black made it's debut here a couple of weeks ago (now on the ground floor for 18 months) along with brand new shop fits for Junya Watanabe, Comme des Garçons Shirt (for men) with those active looking mannequins and Comme des Garçons mainline - the collection entitled, Wonderland draws its inspiration from creating illusions such as layering of materials and prints on accessories. Check out those chic military surrealist parkas.






Tao's little rail of frills is so cute and so is the Undercover space opposite - it's like a treasure trove at the top of the forbidden tower.

In fact there's a bit of a shoe thing going on too (great news for shoe lovers such as myself) for men and women.












Downstairs the basement has had a bit of a refurb too with a whole new sneaker space - carrying hotties like Volta, F-Troupe, Generic Surplus, Common Projects and new spaces for Engineered Garments, Original Fake, Visvim, Monocle, Supreme and the new own-label from Dover Street Market. Sadly it's the last collection for Number (N)ine down here too.


And finally, loving the new collector's book space from Idea Books - this week celebrating man's first steps on the moon.

Captions and more photos here:

DSM Tachiagari AW 09