Tune in, turn on and shop out!

The U.S. debut of Topshop in New York, is yet more proof that when it comes to new fashion and retail innovation, the British highstreet is the international King. What often gets overlooked, however, is the cost of a constant desire for fresh fashion – namely the environmental impact of disposing of yesterday’s trends. Last year the clothing and textile industry created 2m tonnes of waste, 3.1m tonnes of CO2 and 70m tonnes of waste water(1).

Like Britney Spears, the British highstreet is finding out the hard way that with celebrity status comes a certain amount of responsibility. If Britain is going to avoid the global warming equivalent of a head shaving, public nervous breakdown, media feeding frenzy, and a restraining order against seeing its kids, it must start to see itself as a role model on the international fashion stage and make a serious commitment to the development of a sustainable and responsible fashion industry.



The TNS World Panel reported that 7.1 million consumers think that ethical clothing is quite/very important but find availability poor or very poor. Nevertheless, if the Feelgood Fashion Conference on Wednesday night proved anything, it was that sustainable fashion is moving actually away from what Mary Portas so aptly terms ‘knitted muesli’. From Gap’s pioneering of Corporate Social Responsibility and mavericks like People Tree (who are the self-titled ‘Trojan horse’ in TopShop), to innovative online boutiques like Aidli and emerging eco-design collectives like ReVamp, a clothing revolution certainly seems to be looming large on the horizon.

It is how that revolution will unfold, however, that has really got me in a spin. The big retailers are like politicians, thinking only in terms of their short time in power. At the end of the day it’s always going to be about winning points, increasing sales and boosting brand awareness in the short term. To make a change in the long-run you need the passion and dedication of grass-roots organisations – the underdog who taps in to an underlying sentiment and causes an uprising.

If we plan on securing a future for this vulnerable planet by focusing on smart consumption, it has to be the end of fashion as we know it. Trying telling that to the millions of shoppers who visit the value retail giants Tesco, Primark, George at Asda and Matalan (3) every single day – and who contribute to 1.2 million tonnes of landfill in the UK alone (2).

As the average cost of clothes drops year on year, the fight to make sustainability sustainable isn’t going to be a competition, it’s about the best man winning.



(1,2)Defra Sustainable Clothing Roadmap 2007
(3) Mintel Report: ‘UK Clothing Report 2005’.

Sources

‘Fashion and Sustainability: A Snapshot analysis’. Report from The Centre for Sustainable Fashion at LCF.
www.labourbehindthelabel.org
www.fashioninganethicalindustry.org
www.maketradefair.com
www.ethicalfashionforum.com

New Generation Ethical Fashion

www.naturalcollection.com
www.adili.com
www.ecoutlet.co.uk
www.junkstyling.com
www.veja.com
www.luflux.com
www.revampfashion.co.uk

NB Author's note: I am aware that this blog is also known to champion the very retail giants derided above, but how better to highlight the tension between an arising ethical consciousness and a Londoner's insatiable hunger for fashion?

No proper posting today, but h'core notes from the Feelgood Fashion Conference coming up. Is Camilla about to become an eco-warrior? Is green really the new black? Is sustainability sustainable? Find out tomorrow!

Street Chic

London Fashion Week may be in full swing in west London, but for those of us not eligible for an invite, we must find our fashion focus on the highways and byways of the city centre. Today I spotted this...



... which turned out to be from Top Shop. But also Shades of Grey were being rocked, making me think a trip to GAP to stock up on some of these...



... may be due. Only question is... will the old budget stretch to this rather fabulous peacoat from Comptoir des Cottoniers?

A Sunday jaunt down to Belgravia to visit my Pater allowed time for a little bit of window shopping at Harvey Nichols. Loving their latest window display and reminded me that I have a ticket to the Feelgood Fashion Conference at the British Library on Wedneday, where they will be discussing sustainable fashion. Tickets can be bought if you click HERE.



Photograph by www.blazingcameras.com

Shock to the system! Finally something truly inspired, hilarious and creative has come out of Reading University!



Heard about them on Radio1 this afternoon - brilliant!

And if parody is your thing, try this on for size as well...

Camilla's Store is reporting live from her sick bed this afternoon, so what better than the the Top 10 Sick Bed Must Haves...

Entertainment is key, but obviously a weakened immune system would not be able to handle anything too mentally stimulating, so in at number 5... It's Dawson's Creek. Nothing beats a cold like a bit of teenage angst and underage sex.



It's important to keep the liquids up if you're gonna get well again in time for the weekend. Put spending nearly £5 on designer juice down to a soaring temperature and get your mitts on some Innocent Smoothie with Acai. Drink it straight out the carton to avoid having to share!



At Number 3, it's the all important illegal narcotics - leftovers from trips abroad and stowed away for just such desperate times. By this stage, however, you've completely forgotten how much you're meant to take, the use-by date has deteriorated, and you end up crawling around the living room at 2 in the morning demanding swiss roll and capers.



When it comes to being ill, it's all about the munchies. In an ideal world, little 'things on trays' will be brought up at hourly intervals by a loving parent, partner or spouse, but in the absence of such a willing individual one needs sustenance, comfort and ease. Take advantage of it being the one day a year when you're allowed out the house in your pjs, pop to the shop and pick up that staple of the storecupboard and every convalescent... Heinz Tomato Soup.



So, you're fed, watered, entertained and heavily medicated, but all this is pointless if you can't snuggle up, get warm and get well. It's the ultimate in luxury and guaranteed to bring warmth to even the chillyest of chills... Cashmere bed socks from Brora. Whoever said being ill couldn't also be stylish?

OMG! It's Media Bratz!

This evening I found myself doing a spot of child minding for the younger generation of media brats. I arrived to find them stuck into a Bratz Dolls dvd, but rather than mindlessly going along with the god-awful image of American childhood (revolving, it seems, around anorexia, hair extensions and OMG! Best Friends For, like, Ever!) my fellow MBs, were taking a thoroughly post-modern ironic approach to the whole thing.



I guess that's what a childhood in Kentish Town does for the upper-middle class youth of today.

Loving this... the new ipod nano - shake it to shuffle it!!

An Ethical Dilemma

We are living in interesting, if confusing times. On the one hand, we do our recycling, switch off our lights, wash on 40 and tut to each other about child labour in the value fashion industry. On the other hand, we love going absolutely coco-nuts in the Topshops of this world and boasting to our friends about how we got "twelve outfits and a coat for just twenty quid!".

The sad truth is tha,t when faced with the new AW08 collection in Miss Selfridge, the average shopping addict wouldn't give a monkeys to hear that the lot of it was made by orphaned 3 year olds who were paid in heroin.

Is it possible to resolve this? Only time and the actions of the highstreet retailers will tell.

VERSUS

Notes from a small Island.

Umm, hello!? When did River Island suddenly get so freakin' great!!?? And I think these shoes....



...Are going to change my life.

What's in where. What's hot NOW!

Ok, so I'm going to try out a new section for Camilla's Store. I'm a bit nervous as there's a slight risk of coming across as being my own muse when what I really want is to provide a snap-shot of the latest trends on the highstreet.

First up, Urban Outfitters. The new AW08 ranges are in and I'm loving their short-short skirts paired with loose fitting tees. The nineties are coming back in a big way - I even saw a girl on the tube wearing vintage floral doc martens!! It'll be ying-yang necklaces and John Lennon sunglasses in no time!

Anyways, I tentatively post a pic of yours truly rocking the Urban Outfitter's look.

Socks and the City

When it's socks you're after the British have a pretty pathetic list of options. M&S for safe and boring, Primark for a pound a pair and Paul Smith if you're lucky enough to be a guy. Socks aren't exactly the most glamourous items in our wardrobes, but get a pair of socks right and they can make your little day. A girl I knew even used to have Friday Feeling socks - a pair of pink and black stripeys that served as a constant reminder of the impending days off.

And so it was with great glee and excitement that we fell upon Tabio - a shop hailing from Tokyo whose sole aim is your soles' delight. No sock goes unrepresented - from itty bitty sparkly bands for just your instep, to over-the knee knitted cashmere bed socks. Not to mention every colour tight one could ever wish for - not that I sartorially recommend ever wishing for bright yellow tights, but each to their own.

As September sets in, I swung by their Covent Garden shop to pick up some new leg-centric attire.

Apologies for the lack of posts so far this week - been hard at it up at Queen M's. So, let me share a tip for all the worker bees out there ... www.deliverance.co.uk. A food delivery company like no other - restaurant quality at 'oh go on then' prices straight to your door and your tired soul.

Tribes at War

Ok, I'm going to say something rather controversial now and, I'm sure, deep down, it represents some deep-founded resentment and jealousy that links way back into my Clapham-based childhood. Nevertheless, here goes. I have a serious problem with Shoreditch-ites.

It's the 'I'm SOOOO different, just like everyone else' syndrome, previously the sole domain of goths and emos, but as I wandered around Old Street last Friday afternoon I began to feel that I would scream if I saw another trilby hat, another pair of pixie boots, or another 'vintage' checked shirt.

I held my tongue, spent nearly £10 on bagels and got the first Northern Line train out of there.

Pimp yo' tech up!

Bud clicks for your earphones from www.budclicks.com




And a tech-tastic selection of skins for everything from your iphone to your laptop at www.gelaskins.com



ps. That was Camilla's Store's 100th post! Yay!

Low, golden sunlight, the burnished tinge to the leaves and a chill in the evening all mark the end of another british summer. But before you start polishing your conkers and digging out the old snow boots, why not hit the streets in this selection of provocative tees and make one last fashion statement before daylight saving time kicks in?








In descending orders, tees from TopShop, Urban Outfitters, moretvicar.com, palmercash.com x 2, and Abercrombie

The Beijing Olympics are over... our turn next. Whoop dee do!

A little more hilarity for you on this bank holiday.



Watch the whole series at www.clarkandmichael.com

The American Prints exhibition at the British Museum ends on the 7th. Totally worth a visit!

Some little hilarity for the weekend...

See more Will Ferrell videos at Funny or Die

Camilla's Store's photographer in residence, of Blazing Cameras fame, has been off on his travels and has re-invented himself as Our Man In Terminal 5.





Let's hope his bags followed him out the other side!

As we're all in sheltering from the August rain and cold, how better to do it than with a lovely cup of tea?

Living in Austin Texas, I got really into the fantastic selection from the Republic of Tea and a pot of Spring Cherry green tea sits, adored, on the kitchen counter. They give quite good packaging too.



Speaking of packaging, our Native Ringtons apparently based their packaging design on old ration books from the war.



Harvey Nichols own brand teas are weirdly well-priced at something like £4.99 a tin and their peppermint is the best I've yet tried.




So, on this wet evening, brew up and snuggle down.

Pop-ups and nomads

You'd think that mobile libraries full of batty old people and ice-cream vans fronting drug-dealing cartels would give nomadic retailing a bad name. Quite the contrary, it seems that hip brands are modern circuses as they swoop into town, shout there wares, entertain the masses and then skip out before we begin to get bored.

American Apparel has pop-up shops



Starbucks has the Starbucks Salon



While over here we have the Chocstar bus

Come... join us.

9.47pm, Charing Cross tube station, Northern Line. A black and white poster simply requests 'join us', and, at the bottom, 'Heavenly. A new kind of branding agency'. Firstly, snaps to them for dreaming up such a clever recruitment idea. Secondly, it made me think about how the really great brands make a concerted effort to market themselves to potential employees. Get recruitment right and you've got brand ambassadors who are already walking the walk and talking the talk before you've even handed them the health and safety guide.



One company I've come across who does this brilliantly is Innocent Smoothies. Their tone on the 'careers' bit of their website is all about family, team-playing and having a lovely time. They invite you to tell them about your unusual hobbies, your cake baking abilities, and whether you got to grade three clarinet, and then to post it to 'A Job Would Be Nice, Fruit Towers, London etc'.

As experience becomes a huge factor in modern selling, the people who represent your brand become key. If they personally support your product, they're going to be great at getting other people to as well. New terms are also being employed which reveal a move away from seeing employees as staff and embracing them as integral to your marketing strategy. Abercrombie and Fitch has 'in-store models', while Apple Mac have 'geniuses'.

Time was we trawled through the job section hunting for a job, now we go shopping for one and see which company, which brand is speaking to us directly.

I don't want to labour a frequently made point here, but what is it with Starbucks??

As a previous resident of Soho I'm well accustomed to the day-to-day transience of businesses on the surrounding streets but when it comes to Starbucks they really take the biscuit. Or should that be biscotti?

A quick skip along Great Marlborough Street this afternoon revealed the disappearance of Metro - the processing lab of choice for London's best photographers - and in its place? You guessed it.... Starbucks! Because what with Nero, Le Pain, and the M&S cafe on the same street there just isn't quite enough Latte opportunities!

Something interesting is in the air...

A recent visit to Urban Outfitters, Oxford Street revealed an interesting development in the American invasion (see earlier posts). Not content with offering great service, super-soft cotton AND vast shopping landscapes, they are now commandeering our nasal passages! Like A&F down the road off Bond Street - whose perfume you can being to smell as soon as you cross into Zone 1, Urban was pumping a distinctive scent straight through the air con. I suspect it's somewhere approximating the odeur released by Alexa Chung as she decides which vintage/high street combo she will throw on that day, while chatting to Noel Fielding on her blackberry.

Whatever it is, it works. Suddenly the store had a 360 degree 'identity', exciting all our senses and making us BUY BUY BUY! Mmm, the sweet smell of success.

God bless Boing Boing!

@ Yahoo! Video

I've spent all day up at Queen M's thinking about supermarkets and 'value' fashion and it has made me more determined than ever to really fly the flag for ethical fashion. That's not to say I'm going to start buying it yet - the consumer demand is there, now it's time for our favourite stores to start supplying it! I like adili and people tree, but it's just not quite my style, not quite edgy enough. So, this is a call to arms for our high street and designer faves to get with the program, or should that be ethical sourcing policy!!

www.labourbehindthelabel.com

How bleak is this?

Apparently there are people living in rural Africa who think that Tesco is a country.

Making time

The countryside? Oh yes, that green thing that Daddy owns. Camilla's Store is off for the weekend! Back Monday party people. x

Virtual wardrobes

Several months ago Camilla's Store signed up to a Top Shop consumer research evening (every girl has her price and mine is my travel expenses and £40 in ToSho vouchers). Reading between the lines, their main point of interest seemed to be whether or not they could make friends with us on Facebook. It seems even Top Shop has insecurities!

Facebook remains strictly for friends, but I have noticed a proliferation of new websites catering to the social networking of retail wishlists. My Fave Shop and Shop Style are two sites entering the public consciousness.

As a seasoned shopper and Amazon wishlist addict, I can see the appeal of these kind of sites but I wonder where the line is between 'check this out' between friends and surreptitious data gathering amongst companies.

Another day, another London toilet! This time Busaba. Fantastic thai food, shame the hyroglyphs on the toilet doors make you think 'forget it, I'll pee in the corner'!

What's in a domain?

Pleased to announce that this blog can now be accessed via the very elegant and super efficient address of

www.camillastore.com

Bookmark it NOW!

Still trucking...

Several years down the line and the infamous restaurant cum tearoom cum club that is Sketch is still so super cool! The Russell Young pictures of Kate Moss and Pete Doherty as Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are a bit 'obvious', but if you like that kind of thing (and the punters in there paying £4 a biscuit do), then you like that kind of thing. Aside from that, the labyrinth of concept rooms, from the decadent cafe to the wall-to-wall cinema screen in the club, are utterly enchanting and compelling.

The only thing that lets the place down is their dreadful website which was certainly cutting edge 4 years ago, but now looks amateurish. Given where Flash for luxury websites is today (see Coco de Mer), Sketch are lagging conspicuously behind.

Sketch may have the best loos in London, but they need to flush their web designer!

I'm sorry but....



Oh, and also....



And lest we forget.....



HAPPY DAYS, WEEKENDERS! x

OBAMATRON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Camilla's Store guest contributor asks....

What’s a Saturday night out without a Boogie?

So finally I’ve made it to the motherland. I swear North London is not just convenient geographically, but mentally and … well just simply more convenient for life. To prove the point – during one of my last expeditions south of the channel I stupidly agreed to cycling to Paris for charity. Now, ultimately I will get into Heaven quicker but its playing havoc with my social life!

After hitting the gym for two hours in the morning, followed by an afternoon session on how to get to Paris (two stops down the Northern Line and then change was what I had previously thought) I waded past the paps outside Wino’s house to visit my brother for some bicycle buying advice.

Now we –trons are not known for our sobriety, and ebay bike hunting quickly turned into a drinking game using his flatmate’s fine chilled Chablis for shots. Soon plans were afoot for a night out – Hackney, Shoreditch, Camden…Highgate?!

Highgate isn’t normally known for wild nights, but that’s because it likes to keep itself secret. We started at Papa Del’s pizza place with its knobbly tables and excellent pizzas (although they rather oddly but the topping underneath the cheese, surely they’re no longer toppings then), but more importantly their desert menu consists of only cookies! You just can’t look hard sipping your double espresso and whisky when you have a white chocolate cookie in the other hand – but it’s just too good!


With that warm whiskey feeling in the pit of our stomachs we rambled our way down to Boogaloo – can a pub go wrong with a name like that?! With a massive outside area, loads of seating inside and the best bar staff ever, the place was jumping! A crowd of hip young north Londoners, bored with the otherwise inevitable and seemingly eternal trek back from east London, gave the place had a relaxed vibe but with a pumping soundtrack. It wasn’t long before the –trons were throwing some wicked shapes on the floor and soon everyone was up and loving the boogie!