Can Mary Portas be the Queen of Shoes too?

Versayce went along to the Clarks’ press day last week on behalf of S&TS to preview the autumn/winter collections. 

Given some of the excruciating situations and characters on TV show Mary Queen of Shops, anyone would think Mary Portas was addicted to pain. Her current level of ubiquity certainly suggests she has a schedule punishing enough for an incarcerated criminal.

Not so her capsule range for Clarks‘ autumn/winter 2012 collection, which despite featuring dangerously high heels, is constructed, we were told, using comfort technologies allowing for striking looks without so much as a squished little toe. This continues Mary’s relentless quest to make businesses better understand and provide for their customers. Her line is squarely aimed to meet the demands of women whose lives are chock full of kids and work, and who insist they’ll look stunning while keeping the entire dinner service spinning. Running around maybe more conducive to trainers and flats, but where’s the fun in that?

Clarks unquenchable thirst for collaboration continues in their main and Originals collections. Harris Tweed and Jaguar Shoes Collective are recruited from the UK, while Velour (from Sweden) and Rocky Mountain Featherbed (US) bring accents from further afield. While the shape of the shoes are on the whole conservative and comfortable, you can’t fault Clarks for their determination to balance these core values with relevance to today’s trend-led shoe buyers. Where they succeed is with those designs which eschew the clunky and deliver on sharp lines, or where the choice of material really hollers quality and charm. Here are our pick of the pairs…

Getty while it’s hot…Marilyn Monroe For Free

Ever since the Getty Images Gallery opened up down my road at work I have constantly found myself, on the way to the tube after a long day, being beckoned in by the glitzy champagne receptions and wondering what celeb-studded bash was taking place to celebrate some iconic retrospective this Monday…or Tuesday, or Wednesday.  Once I even caught a glimpse of Jenson Button at the gallery, being celebrated for his and Lewis Hamilton’s photographic skills…yeah I never knew they did pictures either.  But when the Marilyn Monroe exhibition took up residency, it was the final straw.

The retrospective, which includes iconic photography, as well as rarer images of the Hollywood siren, from her early days as a budding starlet to stills of the actress at her peak, also includes original costumes and garments worn by the megastar.  And we are talking some serious fashion here.  Plunging necklines, skimpy showgirl costumes, and a whole host of beadwork.  Despite the more iconic, highly duplicated images of Monroe being on display, for me the more candid and less universally exposed shots were fascinating.  Many photographs of Marilyn and Laurence Olivier feature in the exhibition, and depict various scenes when the two were in London to promote ‘The Prince and The Showgirl’.  By all accounts Olivier actually found Marilyn very hard to work with, due to tardiness on her part.

The gallery, located at 46 Eastcastle Street (just round the corner from Oxford Circus) is also absolutely free to visit.  Perfect if you want to escape the hoards of shoppers on the main street!  ‘Marilyn’, as the exhibition is known, has in fact been laid on to mark the 50^th anniversary of Ms. Monroe’s death (She passed in August 1962), and runs until 23^rd May.

Images courtesy of Getty Images.

Savile Row’s row with Abercrombie (and the likes)

Pardon the horrible pun, I couldn’t resist. Given my recent musings on the Abercrombie/Hollister brand, I found the news that The Chap magazine is launching a petition to stop plans for another Abercrombie & Fitch shop to be opened on the hallowed ground of Savile Row rather amusing. I imagine they were rather taken aback to discover they were considered to be below the standard for this exclusive area of London, given how keen they are to cultivate a sense of exclusivity to their brand. They did, after all, recently pay cast members of Jersey Shore (the American equivalent of Geordie Shore) not to wear their clothes onscreen.

The Chap magazine has a point, though. Savile Row is one of the few remaining bastions of good old-fashioned fine tailoring skill, and its bespoke suits have been hailed as the best in the world for over 200 years. With big brands like Abercrombie inching onto the scene, these traditions are under threat.

The petition will be formally presented to Westminster council, and has over 500 signatures already. David Coleridge of H. Huntsman & Sons said, “The arrival of Abercrombie & Fitch at the end of Savile row would dramatically change not just the tone but the safety of the street”.

In a letter to Boris Johnson, The Chap editor Gustav Temple, said: “Once that store is allowed to exist, there is no reason why other large chain stores, also peddling overpriced casual wear and T-shirts bearing slogans, will begin to fill up the other buildings.” It seems he’s right – according to Drapers, there has been a similar furore over the hipster brand The Kooples, who also want to open a shop on the street.

“This isn’t simply about resisting the global spread of chain stores, which market forces have made inevitable. It’s about preserving a little corner of Englishness in London. It’s only one street, for goodness’ sake, and why shouldn’t it remain exclusively dedicated to bespoke tailoring?” asks Temple.

If you want to help save Savile Row, you can sign the petition here.