Here are some of this week’s news and features highlights handpicked by TheIndustry.fashion team.
Kurt Geiger launches limited-edition Paddington collaboration collection
Kurt Geiger has unveiled a limited-edition collaboration with Paddington Bear and the pictures alone are enough to make you fall in love with this delightfully playful collection!
The collection features a line-up of handbags, including one adorned with the iconic bear’s face, alongside statement footwear, from Paddington-print trainers to cosy slippers and slides. There’s also a range of accessories for men, women and children, including gloves and beanies featuring the marmalade sandwich-loving bear.
At the heart of the collaboration are three exclusive, limited-edition Paddington collector’s bears, each reimagined through Kurt Geiger’s distinctive, maximalist aesthetic and presented in its own special box.
And for those who want to take a little Paddington magic everywhere, miniature versions of all three collector’s bears are also available as adorable bag charms.
Sophie Smith, News Editor & Senior Writer.
Charli XCX partners with Vinted to resell personal wardrobe
I have been using Vinted for years, so it is fun to see the platform branching out into collaborations of this kind, much like traditional high-street retailers. It is particularly interesting to see it working with someone as influential in fashion as Charli XCX. I also love seeing how second-hand pieces can be incorporated into a tour wardrobe, with Charli and her stylist Chris Horan using Vinted finds alongside newer items to create truly unique looks.
Making pieces from Charli’s personal archive and tour wardrobe available to buy is also a clever way to engage fans, giving them the chance to own something with a personal connection to the artist. The fact that all proceeds will go to Rainbow Railroad, which supports LGBTQI+ people facing persecution, gives the collaboration an added purpose beyond fashion and resale.
Catherine Rowe-Kosary, Junior Writer.
How I started in fashion: Pandora’s General Manager for the British Isles, Nicole Clayton
Pandora’s GM for the UK and Ireland, Nicole Clayton, has built an impressive career spanning fashion, footwear and consumer goods. Before joining the global jewellery company she held the role of CEO of the Americas at Dutch denim brand G-Star, while her earlier career saw her in leadership positions across premium and luxury companies including LVMH, Aritzia, Bottega Veneta and the OTB Group.
It was fascinating to hear about how she got her start in fashion, why grit was the first lesson her early jobs taught her, and why she thinks of a business as a puzzle of “the right pieces, people, and opportunities”, and why building, transforming and reigniting brands is where she does her best work.
Camilla Rydzek, Senior News Writer.
Khan hails traffic-free Oxford Street as ‘truly momentous occasion for the capital’
Monday morning saw London Mayor Sadiq Khan hail the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street as “a truly momentous occasion for the capital”. Almost a kilometre of the busy central London shopping street, between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street, will now be traffic-free with vehicles being diverted onto nearby roads.
Buses, taxis, private hire vehicles, private motorised vehicles, cycles, scooters and pedicabs can no longer enter, while deliveries can only be made from midnight to 7am. However, critics have said the scheme is too rushed and fears have been raised about diverted traffic increasing congestion, which is already being realised in surrounding streets such as Wigmore Street – where there are also new bus stops – with traffic at a standstill. Black taxis too are seeing journey times significantly increase through central London as a result.
Tim Barnes, Westminster City Councillor for Growth and Planning, believes Khan is “rushing preparations”. He said: “If this is going to be the ‘greener, better and more prosperous’ success that the mayor has promised, then issues around access, air pollution, street cleaning and public safety need answers urgently. “Right now there’s a danger that we will have all of the downsides and too little upside. “Traffic will be pushed to the small streets nearby causing economic and environmental harm.”
Not only that, so far Sadiq Khan’s pedestrian only utopia hasn’t quite lived up to the billing, with scores of cyclists blatantly ignoring the signs and darting past security guards who have been left at the bollards flailing their arms in exasperation.
Of course this is just phase one, and no doubt Khan has a plan for proper policing to stop all forms of transport aside from emergency services from entering the zone. And the planting of 50 new trees and the introduction of 100 new seats and dining tables come spring 2027 will make the place so much more appealing, for some. The end result is meant to drive increased trade for the stores, food chains and other businesses that line Oxford Street. Only time will tell if that works out.
Tom Bottomley, Contributing Editor.