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The Traitors Is Fashion Styling For The Sustainable Fashion Faithful

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Full disclosure, I have not seen any of the latest season of The Traitors on the BBC, but I have been reading all the articles across the mainstream media about the success of the style success of Claudia Winkleman, the presenter of the show, which has been thoughtfully put together by her stylist Sinead McKeefry. There are so many news pieces, features, blogs, articles dedicated to showing us how to recreate these looks and I am not writing this as a fashion writer, but from the place of sustainability and purpose; and so far, I have seen nothing on this topic.

For those who don’t know, The Traitors is a reality show, which has upped the fashion stakes and caught the attention of the country. It’s a haute country look that has been inspired by the wonderful backdrop of the imposing Scottish castle and landscape setting. It is what I would describe as appropriate winter wear, and what we should all be wearing in the depths of winter to keep us properly warm, none of this acrylic and polyester stuff. The style is woolen cable knit jumpers, sturdy tweed, thick socks with the occasional sweeping theatrical moments.

The wardrobe of the latest season of The Traitors is not about fast fashion. Instead, it will be one that will be brought out every winter, it’s a look that is classic, where the fabric will get better as the years go on and if you look after the pieces well, they will serve you. These are sumptuous knits that will need to be darned with love when holes appear, boots that will need resoling when worn and lovingly polished. This is a style to keep you warm in winter, and in my view what purposeful and ethical fashion looks like, where you invest in this look not just for a season but for the future. This is not a look that should end up in landfill.

It struck me, that the other angle to this clever Traitors look is that it is also about heritage styling and heritage brands, which is wrongly associated with luxury. Especially, as traditionally, prominent heritage companies started as clothing suppliers for blue-collar workers…think of the history of denim or the Doc Marten boots that Claudia Winkleman wears, which are as I have read her favourite boots. Heritage brands have endured the test of time, often with a rugged aesthetic. These are clothes and accessories crafted to do a job, created to serve, and function. Where everything is durable, that can be worn while out and about, and on repeat. The complete opposite of fast throwaway fashion. This is a look for people who know how they want to look, come across, and are confident in their style.

This type of styling is something that British heritage brands do so well and are known for their craftsmanship. As an aside, I think The Traitors will be a boost for British fashion.

So, how am I going to end this piece, well I would love to see more popular programmes, films, and even TV adverts with clever stylists and styling, showing us how to invest in pieces that are meant to be loved forever, not a season. Fashion that is for the ‘faithful’, where pieces become our trusted friends, items that we turn to in winter, summer, spring, and autumn, and is not about dopamine buying.

 

Photo credit: The BBC

In Conversation With: Celebrated Fashion Designer, Rina Dhaka on 23 August, 6pm to 8pm

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Calling all fashion lovers on 23 August, from 6 pm to 8 pm, I will be in conversation with the celebrated and much-loved designer, Rina Dhaka who the BBC has called the ‘Gautier’ of the East. Rina has dressed Naomi Campbell, Uma Thurman, and many more…she is known for her combinations of traditional Indian fashions with modern fabrics like Lycra and jersey, bridging traditional rich and contemporary styles in her fashion collections.

At India Fashion Week, her work was recognized as the best collection in Milan! Rina Dhaka entered the Indian fashion scene in the 1980s and since then her work has represented India globally in France and Germany and been exhibited in New York, London, and too many cities to mention; she won the best designer award in Miami Fashion Week 2004.

My favourite bit is that Rina has created collections which focus on sustainability as the way forward in fashion and is a PETA India Ambassador. Collaborating with the NGO Smile and Honour, Rina has dedicated profits from her Indian Couture Week show to their operations in raising awareness for girl child empowerment.

This is a Bridge India event, an influential think tank, whose events are always a relaxed affair. On 23 August I will be chatting with Rina about her career, what inspires her, discovering her epic global journey of Indian fashion and there will be an opportunity for the audience to ask their own questions.

My other favourite bit is that after the session, we will have time for drinks, snacks, and networking. Click to book

One more thing is that the venue is the famous, eccentric, and much loved The India Club, 143 Strand, London, so if you have not been here yet, you have been missing out.

2020 Will Be The Year Of The New Type Of PR Strategist

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Traditional public relations (PR) has been evolving for the last ten years, but in 2020, I believe we are really going to see traditional PR experts forced to become all round PR strategist if they are going both survive and to be able to service the needs of their clients. Where we will focus not only on PR but social media, branding, marketing, copywriting, diversity in campaigns, sustainability and technology, where technology will be playing a bigger role than previously thought.

This need to become all round PR strategists will be pushed by the brands who recognize that they have to up their game, which in turn will be driven by consumers who will demand that brands do better and get it right. This isn’t something that marketing or digital professionals will be able to deliver on, but instead by communication experts who will have an overview and a real understanding of the brands they are working with and representing.

For instance, we have seen many of the luxury brands starting to drive diversity in 2019 by employing ‘diversity chiefs’ after many culturally insensitive campaigns. Chanel hired its first ‘Head of Diversity and Inclusion’, Fiona Pargeter, this year, as a way to reportedly “beef up the resources” devoted to creating diverse and inclusive environments. While, Prada launched its ‘Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council’ earlier this year in February. This was after, the brand came under scrutiny when some of its products (black monkey figurines with oversized red lips) displayed in a New York, US, store were thought to resemble blackface imagery.

Other luxury fashion houses, including Burberry, are also hiring for similar roles. Renée Tirado was named as Gucci’s first global head of diversity, equity and inclusion and followed its out-of-touch autumn/winter 2018 collection featuring a balaclava polo neck jumper with large red lips – a product accused of portraying blackface. The Italian fashion company apologized, stating it would turn the incident into “a powerful learning moment”.

These hires are not clever publicity moves, but a must have for companies worldwide who recognize that they need to embrace diversity, as there is no longer the excuse to get it wrong. Consumers are demanding better and for brands to be inclusive and sensitive.

Sustainability will be seen as a bigger core brand value and news item than any PR or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) professional could have imagined. With climate change, plastic pollution and reducing waste continuing to dominate global headlines, companies will need to ensure that their CSR initiatives are not just used as marketing tools, as they will face a consumer and media backlash, but are instead integral to their core brand values, which is then sincerely filtered through to all their internal and external communications, operations and delivery.

Thirteen years ago, companies would start CSR projects to show their stakeholders how good they were, which was window dressing. Fast-forward to 2019, businesses need to prove how good they are!

This means creating a human connection between a brand and its audiences will be pivotal in 2020. Where the PR strategy will need to be driven by emotion and have the human element in order to be more meaningful and lead to a growing focus on expert, local and enthusiastic micro-influencers, instead of macro-influencers. Everything will be drilled down, as consumers suffer from constant information overload and expect to engage with businesses on their own terms. It’s so important to create campaigns that provoke emotions that are relevant and memorable, and therefore, PR experts will need to consider all aspects of a client’s social and digital footprint.

The best campaigns will focus on creating not just customers – but true fans who are passionate about the brand, who proactively search for information and become active advocates for the business.

Simultaneously, it will be important and a challenge consider how to reach consumers undergoing digital detoxes. How is your brand providing value to an audience overwhelmed by hypo connectivity? As interactive content and video are no longer enough; no one-size-fits-all, off-the-shelf solutions. The challenge is real –creating campaigns that tap into human truths and acknowledge human potential will be key.

I am definitely looking forward to 2020…as Serendipity PR is more than ready.

 

 

 

 

 

It’s No Longer Possible For Brands Not To Be Diverse In Their Advertising Campaigns

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I was recently invited by a high-end luxury online shopping brand for women to give feedback on its new online advertising campaign. First-off, I had not even noticed it’s new campaign and I suppose that was in itself telling, because it had not been memorable for me. However, when I did carefully consider it, I realised why it had not hit home…and that’s because it was not relatable and it didn’t connect with me. The advert looked out of touch and dated in the context of today’s conversations and I gave this feedback to the ‘enquiring luxury online shopping brand.’ But I also wondered how they could get it so wrong?!

Research shows that female consumers are calling time on airbrushing and have ‘perfection fatigue’, which has significant implications for brands. Therefore, it is no longer possible for brands not to be diverse in their advertising campaigns, and when I say ‘diverse’ I mean diversity in the age of models, race and reflective in body-types. While thin and prepubescent bodies are still the preferred choice for the runway and print media world, social media is giving a platform for celebrating more diverse body shapes. The #bodypositivity movement is empowering women to push against narrow and unattainable beauty standards and instead celebrate their differences and their imperfections.

Again, traditional magazines and other forms of advertising have always heavily featured white models largely from western European backgrounds. This lack of diversity has meant poor representation of other ethnicities. Yet, the explosion of social media has been incredibly positive for making beauty more accessible and inclusive.

Importantly, social media is no longer the natural habitat for millennials, as older women are using the medium to smash one of the most ingrained prejudices in fashion and beauty –  age. With styling, skincare and beauty tutorials aimed at older women, they’ve celebrated and empowered this demographic. Furthermore, they’ve also vanquished the myth that fashion and beauty is limited to youth.

As a result, brands casting only young, thin, white, flawless models no longer feel relevant in the modern age. But crucially advertising campaigns are also very much about the story that a brand is trying to relay to its audience and is connected to the brand values of the company, so any kind ‘tokenism’ will immediately be apparent. It’s important for brands to not stop at advertising, but instead embrace realness and transparency in their values.

It is also important for those of us working in media and communications to keep pulling up those brands that are falling short. The needle is shifting. Diversity and inclusion should not stand as buzzwords; but treated as a reflection point where brand managers and content creators strive for approaches that avoid reductive stereotypes and unintentional continuation of classism, racism and sexism.

 

Love Fashion? Read This!

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With my love of fashion pulsating through my veins and working with fashion brands, I was dismayed to read the ‘Daily Mail’s’ story last week announcing that women over the age of 33 where probably too old to shop at Zara! What nonsense?! As luck would have it, I was attending the Sheerluxe fashion event this Saturday (18 March) gone, that would help erase that ageist ‘Daily Mail’ headline.

Sheerluxe always does good events – from speakers, to content, to the most amazing goodie bags and being very friendly.  Trinny Woodhall started off the day and was very engaging, real and entertaining and shops at Zara! Tips that I took away from Trinny – get a pair of jazzy, platform, silver brogues; invest in great blazers and jackets; and metallic tops are your friend.

Parisian style blogger Loulou de Saison enthused French charm and spoke about how to create that effortless Parisian style, which is always about ‘less is more’, taking one thing off. So what does that mean and how do you do that? Well, if you are wearing one piece of jewellery with a pair of jeans and top – the answer is –don’t over-do your hair, make it messy and undone. That’s how you ‘take one thing off’ the French way. And yes LouLou shops at Zara and Mango, mixing high-street with Chanel, Vetements and luxury brands.

My other love at the Sheerlux event was Donna Ida, denim queen, who was rocking a fantastic pair of leather trousers from her own collection called ‘Ginger’, which is on my ‘need now’ list. Donna gave sound advice on denim trends; told us what jeans suit which shape and made it official – the denim culottes is ‘in’.

There was a lot of pampering at the Sheerluxe event, with GHD hair styling, manicures, Studio 10 make-overs and showrooms. My favourite showroom was Pampelone Clothing, who were super cool. Alison Hansen, fashion illustrator was illustrating Pampelone’s resort wear, making each image bespoke to everyone who popped into the showroom.

My last word – keep shopping at Zara, whatever your age and get the Mango trench coat now before it sells out – it’s Parisian chic all over.