This week’s blog post was contributed by Ellie Burns, a work experience student with a bright future in Fashion Communications and Promotion. Ellie has her own blog, ‘Ellie’s Favourite Things’ which can be found by clicking here.
When working in retail, it is important to keep on top of the ever changing trends that make people go ‘ooh.’ With the high street being painted as ‘in crisis’ since the internet boom, doing research into what will sell is paramount. By looking through stores that work with us here at Retail Assist, we can see that many retailers are taking inspiration from the recent birth of the royal baby, Prince George Alexander Louis, and the Royal Family. For example, Mint Velvet recently compared two fashion icons, Kate Moss and Kate Middleton, writing on their Facebook page, ‘there’s only one Kate M who’s queen of the style stakes’ as they talked about subtly stylish trends. Moreover, Card Factory also took inspiration from recent events in order to promote their new baby shower gifts, whilst Dash Fashion gave their Facebook readers a ‘royal treat’ with 22% off all full price styles to celebrate the new arrival.
The Royals and the idea of being sophisticated and high-status could also be contributing to many brands in how they promote products. This is shown by Mainline Menswear as they tweeted about ‘clothes designed by a ‘sir’’, when talking about a Paul Smith clothing range; as well as The White Company describing their loungewear as having a ‘silky soft blend’ and being ‘luscious’, and Mint Velvet describing their clothes as being ‘traditional pieces,’ all adding to the luxurious feel.
Furthermore, it seems that the Duchess of Cambridge is not only a wife, mother and princess- but a trendsetter, too! We love her sophisticated yet fashionable taste as she mixes her favourite designers with the high-street. With stores going into melt down with whatever Kate, and now baby George, wears, retail sales have been booming. We think Kate would love this casual, double layer dress from Whistles and this super summery wisteria print dress from Mint Velvet…and what for the baby? We’ve picked out our favourite fashion items fit for a prince too!
Have you noticed a royal theme hitting the high street? Have you been swept up by baby fever?