Designer: Celia Fernandes da Silva

Label Name: Maninha

Dress Name: The Audrey

Celia Fernandes da Silva is a graduate of The Technical College Jean Mermoz in Normandy where she obtained a certificate for Level Two in Fashion. She went on to work as an apprentice for a French clothing manufacturer company which produced bridal-wear, including that for Paul Ka.

Celia’s ‘Audrey’ dress, with its clean lines and graceful ruffled shape, takes its inspiration from Audrey Hepburn in the iconic film ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’.

A lightweight organza was chosen for the ‘Audrey’ to make a dramatic stylised silhouette. The hemline of the dress falls above the knee but the ‘Audrey’ works by making a play between revelation and insinuation: the open back panel is answered by a high neckline.

Celia Fernandes da Silva explains, the ‘Audrey’ is for a woman who is classy and in control of her sex appeal: she implies her assets just like Audrey Hepburn did in her Givenchy dress.”

At our press day it was Sharon Ridoynauth, Associate Fashion Editor for Sunday Times Style, who singled out the ‘Audrey’ as her favourite of all the designs.

Here is Celia’s interview:

 Your age? 29 years old.

What three words best describe your working ethos? Ambitious, Hardworking, Creative 

 Who would you most like to be your muse? Any woman that embraces her essence and knows herself.

Which designer do you most admire and why? All of them, and none of them in particular. My preferences change from one season’s collection to another and depend upon how daring the designer is with a particular collection.

 What is your greatest fashion phobia? Nudists

What trend do you predict will be big for the coming year? Pearls, laces, sheer fabrics, nude tones and gloves for the confident hard working women.

 Describe what makes the perfect LBD? The one that makes a woman feel her sexiest

Designer: Vjera Vilicnik

Dress Name: Dress To Impress

Vjera Vilicnik has just finished her master’s degree in Fashion Design at London’s Istituto Marangoni. Before this, she completed four professional levels of haute couture embroidery in Paris at Ecole Lesage, the last remaining house of embroidery for haute couture heavyweights like Dior, Chanel and Lacroix. Vjera has also worked at Saint Hill couture house in Paris and in England collaborated with Tom Ford, Max Mara and Julia Smith.

Vjera’s design, entitled ‘Dress to Impress’, is an exercise in pared down glamour. The cut of her dress is simple and efficient with a belt tying together its clean fitted silhouette. She chose 100% cotton as her fabric to ensure an unassailable guarantee in quality. Vjera was committed to producing something that was timeless and would last a lifetime.

This LBD was designed first and foremost with the customer in mind. Vjera sees the wearer as, “a woman who is full of contradictions – but they are not really contradictions – for I saw my client as brave, good at many things, a lover and a wife, a mother and a working force.”  

Just in case you need any more persuading that this really is the ticket if you want to Dress to Impress, Nicola Copping, Deputy Fashion & Beauty Editor from The Financial Times thought this the chicest of the lot.

It’s time for Vjera’s vital statistics:

Your Age? 23 years old. (Vjera is our youngest competitor)

What three words that best describe your working ethos? Well, it’s almost three words: Hand-crafted – Soul-stitched   -   Beautifully investigated.

Who would you most like to be your muse? I would love to bring back Edith Piaf to life and see how she behaves today. I love Charlotte Gainsbourg, her fragility contrasts with her strength and her loveliness with her awkwardness. Outside of the celebrity world, it is my sister who is a real loving hero of mine, and who I would name my muse.

Which designer do you most admire and why? I admire designers who have found a way to survive in this hard economical climate without compromising their vision. And, I admire designers like Erdem, who create beautiful whimsical pieces but which are still wearable in the real world, because after all we do live the real world.

What is your greatest fashion phobia? One of my biggest fears is that in fashion the quantity of products is more desirable than the quality of products. This is a win over creativity, uniqueness, freedom, vision.

What trend do you predict will be big for the coming year? Trends seem to come and go in cycles. The trends returning this year are for simple luxury, adorned classics with twists of upcycling.

 Describe what makes the perfect LBD? The perfect LBD is short, serious and with an impeccable detailing. It might be black but it is still alive. The dress manages to be both a fail-safe and a first choice.

Designer: Eunice Ansah

Label name: Ayisha

Dress Name: Lace Noir
Eunice Ansah started her career in fashion at fourteen when she interned in the French Connection Press Office. After this, she worked at YSL, Max Mara and Harrods.

In 2004 Eunice Ansah graduated from the London College of Fashion and three years later, she set up her label, Ayisah, to specifically create cocktail dresses

The dress Eunice has entered BrandAlley and Fashion Capital’s competition is called Lace Noir. It is inspired by medieval clothing.  Here lace has been combined with rah-rah frills to make a garment that is seductive and fun.

For Eunice fashion has always been a part of her life. She remembers secretly taking her mother’s polka dot dress to strut around the house when she was 2 years old. “Dressing up, dressing others, it is who I am.”  

Lucy Handley, Features Writer from Marketing Week chose ‘Lace Noir’ as her favourite LBD.

When I spoke to her, Eunice revealed a little bit more about herself and her fashion:       

Your Age? I just turned 26.

What three words best describe your working ethos? Passionate – Loyal- Intellectual.

Who would you most like to be your muse: I adore Picasso, the King of Cubism.    

Which designer do you most admire and why? There are so many great designers that have inspired me over the years, but when, in my teens, I started to really live and breathe fashion there was one designer that kept blowing me away and that was Emanuel Ungaro.
 
What is your greatest fashion phobia? My greatest fear would be not to be able to design. I find the whole processes of researching, designing and creating a finished final garment just an amazing experience.

What trend do you predict will be big for the coming year? I predict a big trend will be for a strong 1950s feel with high waist skirts and trousers bold prints.  Darker and softer pastel tones of pinks, terracotta and browns will be the new must-wear colours. Dresses will be adorned with waves and frills.

Describe what makes the perfect LBD? The LBD is a necessary for every woman and this is because of its simplicity, effortless glamour and elegance. Black adds a slim line quality and offers a bit of alluring mystique.

Helen Clinch and Myra Nigris

Label name: HEMYCA

THE PIIA DRESS

Helen Clinch and Myra Nigris met at the London College of Fashion and realised that they shared the same design vision.

After graduating they continued their training as design assistants to Ben de Lisi and Roland Mouret. It was in 2006 that they launched their own label HEMYCA.

The Piia dress makes use of traditional menswear tailoring to ensure defined shape and structure. Taking its lead from Classical sculpture, clean lines and an emphasized waist-line are all important here.

So, architecture, history, the romance of Venice and the corseted dresses that peopled it are all cited as inspirations by the HEMYCA designers. According to Helen, “The dress creates a sophisticated silhouette: forbidden love and secrets result in the unique shapes made in rich fabrics of organza, and menswear tailoring.”

When we revealed our top ten LBDs to a host of fashion journalists only last Wednesday, Lisa Berwin from Retail Week could not resist but take the Piia dress home with her. She commended it on its wearability, understanding that a square neckline always flatters, and the detailing of the box pleats that circle its hemline.   

Your Age? We are both 30

What three words best describe your working ethos? Quality, Passion, Unique

Who would you most like to be your muse? HEMYCA’s customers are our Muse! Strong, confident women who stand out from the crowd, the collections are designed to inspire, challenge and evoke a sense of certainty and assurance in the individual.

Which designer do you most admire and why? Chanel for their understated elegance and ability to keep innovating each season.

What is your greatest fashion phobia? That the grunge look will make a comeback!! It is the opposite of what we are!

What trend do you predict will be big for the coming year? We predict the return of classic tailoring and a more sophisticated look, based around The Grace Kelly exhibition at the V&A and Greta Garbo Exhibition in Milan.

Describe what makes the perfect LBD? It’s the fit, the style, elegance; it’s the dress that makes you feel confident for all occasions. It can be accessorized in different ways to allow your own personality to shine through.

Put Wednesday the fifteenth of September in the diary now. This is one sale on BrandAlley you will not want to miss. As you might have already heard we’ve teamed up with Fashion Capital to select the top ten best up-and-coming designers’ vision of the ultimate Little Black Dress. The quality of the results have far and away exceeded our expectations, and we know they will get you excited too. Over the next ten days I will post a different dress and a different designer for you to scrutinise and, I’ll wager, fall in love with. By the fifteenth you will be fully prepared to shop for your favourite.

Olga Papadopoulos

Label name: Eva Evanovich

THE RIHANNA DRESS

Olga Papadopoulos designs under the label Eva Evanovich. She has never been formally taught design; instead, her training has been of the hands-on variety: Olga has worked in fashion for the last decade.

She started on the High Street with retailer Hobbs, after which she moved to Versace and then onto Joseph and finally Arrogant Cat. Olga took from these different brands ideas for how she would like her own brand to be: “I now know what I want from the choice in production sources to the lights in the showroom.”

Olga’s first entry, she submitted three designs so good that we had to include all of them in the final top ten, is the Rihanna dress. Made from 100% wool, it is inspired by her own childhood memories of cold winters in Russia. Olga likes woollen fabrics as she understands that a LBD needs to be more than stylish, it needs to be practical too if it’s to be a wardrobe favourite.

Olga envisaged Alice in Wonderland in a modern urban world, and the Rihanna was what she thought the modern Alice would wear. The intricate draping and patterned cutting are intended to exude femininity. Olga sought to create a dress which was highly individual.

I interviewed Olga to find out a little bit more about her designing ethics.

Your Age?32

What three words best describe your working ethos? Quality, Individuality, Comfort

Who would you most like to be your muse? Helena Bonham Carter

Which designer do you most admire and why? Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel, because her craft came from working knowledge. Like me, she never studied the subject but that didn’t stop her from becoming one of the most influential figures in fashion.

Describe what makes the perfect LBD? Timeless

Back in July, on my first trip to the BrandAlley offices as their Blog Editor, I was told by Kristina, BrandAlley’s PR Executive, one of my first assignments would be to review a spa. It was an epiphany moment, for right then I discovered just how the elusive ‘job satisfaction’ felt. You see, I love spas. I love padding about in white flannel slippers; I love spa music – that weird cacophony of panpipes and insect noises; I love spa fruit and the fact it is everywhere you look in what must amount to thousands of Perspex containers; and, this really is depressing, I genuinely love gyms.

Stoke Park Club can be found on the outskirts of Stoke Poges village in Buckinghamshire which is 38 miles outside of London, and very near equidistant from the M40 and the M4. While the brochure was kind enough to supply me with a helicopter reference, I opted for the Paddington to Slough train and a ten-minute taxi thereafter. From my front door to Stoke Park’s rather grander front door, it took little over an hour. In essence, if you live in or around London or you have a helicopter, Stoke Park Club is very easy to get to.

The club’s long drive winds through its 27 Hole Championship Parkland golf course: it is undulating, emerald and peopled with pastel coloured players – you would be forgiven for thinking that you were in America. In fact Stoke Park Club was Britain’s first country club created after the enormous white house and surrounding land was bought in 1908 and converted into the prototype of what it is today.

That Stoke Park Club is picturesque is undisputable: a number of films have been shot here including Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Wimbledon (2004) and Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001). The Spa is located in a pavilion beside the main house and my immediate impression on walking in was of somewhere clean, modern and tranquil. On my guided tour, I saw thirteen treatment rooms, an Italian marble steam room, a deep relaxation room – where you can just go to sleep if it all gets a little bit overwhelming, a hair and nail salon and a lot of sun loungers in pretty terraces bravely pretending they could be suntraps. Oh and I can assure you that the gym is well equipped, light, airy and with a lovely view of the parkland beyond.

Fortunately, I found here all those things I love about spas and before my first treatment, an SPC Aromatherapy Massage, I had eaten about ten apples. The massage was relaxing and light. My masseuse asked me what sort of pressure I would like, others who also suffer from a bad back will appreciate this request too; I did not want the 25 minutes to pass by in agony. My next treatment was an SPC Active Glow facial. All the products used smelt delicious: I came away a particular fan of the SPC Decadent Rose Toner, which was used frequently to remove the different masks and oils applied during the 55 minutes. My skin felt soft and supple afterwards. However, I would say that if you are looking for a deep-cleansing pore-extracting facial, this is not the right one for you. Finally, I had a Jessica Reshape and Varnish Pedicure. Having spent the weekend at the dance festival Creamfields a foot massage was perhaps the most welcome experience of all the whole day. I chose shocking pink for my toenails, which now look a little bit more worthy of my Louboutin wedges.

If you fancy some unadulterated pampering, I recommended Stokes Park Club without hesitation. The staff are all helpful and polite, the food is excellent and the facilities of the highest order. It would be especially good if the significant other in your life plays golf: then you both can enjoy yourselves. 

And now it’s your chance to win!

You’ll get to experience the same luxurious SPC Skincare products (www.spc.co.uk), inspired by their own English country gardens and using the finest ingredients. Post all that summer partying (and drinking –eesh) it’s the perfect way to start the Autumn revitalised and beautiful.

So, it’s a no-brainer. Enter our competition and win a positively dreamy package which includes: 
One night’s luxury accommodation
SPC Active Glow Facial (55 mins)
SPC Back, Neck and Shoulder Massage (25 mins)
Jessica Reshape and Varnish (hands or feet) 25 mins
SPC Plant Collagen Night Cream 
Full English breakfast
Lunch in San Marcos
Three course table d’hote dinner in The Dining Room
Use of all facilities in the Spa

All you need to do to enter is email competitions@brandalley.co.uk with your name, address and a daytime telephone number.

Good Luck – its 100% worth it, I promise!

No entries will be accepted after Friday 24^th September 2010. Competition rules are available on request.

Last night I went to see the new biopic Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky directed by Jan Kouen whose previous films include the 1997 Doberman and the 2007 99 Francs. I made three major cinema-going mistakes before taking my seat in the auditorium: I was tired but insisted on going to the 9pm showing, I hadn’t had dinner and the popcorn counter was closed, and – this was probably the most unpleasant of all the misfortunes – I’d forgotten to bring a coat and thermal underwear as defence against Cineworld’s ferocious air-conditioning policy.

I found the 120 minutes viewing hard-work. My friend, Katie, who, by the forty minute mark was pretty much wearing her handbag as a tea-cosy-hat for warmth, hissed at me “I can’t believe you are making me sit through this.”

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (15) begins very near where Coco Avant Chanel left off. Anna Mouglais, herself a muse for Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel model since 2002, makes for a stronger, fiercer Coco than Audrey Tautou. Mouglais beautifully realises her grieving Coco Chanel whose lover Boy Capel has been killed in a car-crash during the interval between these two films.

The film opens with an opening night. Igor Stravinsky (Mads Mikkelsen) is in Paris, it is 1913, The “Right of Spring” is being performed by a confused ballet company and to a mostly outraged audience, but there are a few sympathisers and one of them is Chanel. She sits elegantly in a breathtaking dress of her own design. Seven years later Chanel and Stravinsky meet. Chanel’s fashion house is flourishing, Stravinsky’s music is not; it is now post-revolution and he is a penniless exile in Paris with a large family. The attraction between the designer and the musician is palpable. At their meeting Chanel offers Stravinsky and his family the loan of her art deco villa outside Paris so that he can compose and she can be near him. Despite the proximity of the Stravinsky children and his tubercular wife the two become lovers and their mutual passion inspires individual brilliance from each.

 The film has historical inaccuracies. Stravinsky was better off than the film portrays, by 1914 his “Right of Spring” had won recognition as a masterpiece and this was long before he met Chanel; it was not Stravinsky’s dying wife who introduced Chanel to the Russian peasant smock; and rather crucially, there is no definitive proof that the two had an affair.

In a way none of this matters because the film is all about artistic beauty and artistic creation. Being about Stravinsky the score is phenomenal, if you like classical music, and with Karl Lagerfeld giving access to the Chanel archives, the dresses are unreal – you’d have to be sartorially dead not to appreciate them. Imagine the TV Chanel no.5 adverts and then imagine a very very long advert and you have the film. Dialogue isn’t thick on the ground, neither is action, nor really is scene change and the ending is frankly bizarre. But as an exercise in beauty it is worth a trip to the cinema – just go prepared.

Summer holidays are what dreams are made of, and packing the stuff of nightmares. I always forget something vital, and haul across the many hundreds of miles and territorial borders a thing that is completely and utterly useless. This year I brought a huge candle to Ibiza to make my bedroom smell nice. I never once remembered to light it. If you are wondering which book to pack, I thought I could perhaps help narrow the choice with some recommendations of my own personal favourites. 

The Critically Acclaimed Prize Winner:

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas.

This international best seller has been nominated for the Booker Prize, and won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. The story starts in Melbourne at a suburban barbeque. A man slaps a naughty child, and from here the reader is beaten from one narrative to the next, ensnared by peculiar prejudices and nasty circumstances. The final slap is the opposite of physical contact, and the worst for it. Rosie, a beautiful white woman, is told by Bilal, an aboriginal man converted to Islam, she must never contact his family again. He finds her immoral.  Sexually explicit, violent and a little depressing, The Slap is a damning account of multiculturalism.

Buy it now

The Easy-Going Classic:

The Diary of A Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith, illustrated by Weedon Grossmith.

I read this at university and found it hilarious, charming, and very English. Mr Pooter is a nobody but with aspirations of being a ‘Somebody’. He has no remarkable talents, he does not live in a big house, nor does he have a large income. He is constantly being thwarted by tricky tradesmen, errant friends and an incomprehensible son. The book, written by two brothers with lovely illustrations by one, gently mocks contemporary Victorian obsessions – from bicycling to spiritualism – it’s all there. Mr Pooter is the Victor Meldrew of the Victorian world.

Buy it now

The Poolside Pleaser:

Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins by Rupert Everett.

This is a brilliant, witty tell-all autobiography that may have been written four years ago, but will still get you turning its pages today. One moment Everett is self-deprecating, the next supremely arrogant, but always entertaining. In every way, this is unbuttoned candour: he spares no details from his time in Earls Court as a rent boy, his drug-fuelled partying, to his many Hollywood faux-paux.

Buy it now

The Fashion Biography:

Lee Miller: On Both Sides of the Camera by Carolyn Burke.

Lee Miller suffered the curious plight of being such a brilliant muse; no one would take her seriously as an artist. This biography sets out to rectify this. Despite her being a notorious beauty, appearing on numerous covers of Vogue’s and billboards, she had an unhappy life. Born in 1907, she was raped seven years later, contracting gonorrhoea from which she suffered for a lifetime. Perhaps as an odd kind of post-rape therapy, or perhaps as not, she began her modelling career posing nude for Father’s amateur photography. By the 1930s, she was living in Paris appearing in Jean Cocteau’s film and Picasso’s portraits until she became the lover, muse and assistant to Man Ray. During World War Two, she came into her own as a war photographer. You may remember the self-portrait she took lying in Hitler’s bath. This is a compelling book for anyone interested in fashion and the wild world of surrealism.

Buy it now

The Glamazon:

Bonjour Tristesse and A Certain Smile by Francoise Sagan.

Bonjour Tristesse was published in 1954 when Sagan was only 18. In hot heady language, we hear of a seventeen year old’s summer in the South of France. Cecile is a captivating adolescent muddle: self-conscious but attention seeking, insecure but cocky. Despite having her first holiday romance, she only loves her father, an elegant philanderer with plenty of beautiful young girlfriends. But when Anne joins the holiday, Cecile’s father falls for an older woman, precipitating a vicious power struggle between all the characters. Sagan clearly loves glamour and beauty. If you want to escape to a worldly, rich and luxurious universe this is the book for you.

Buy it now

The Book That Will Win You A Lot Of Respect:

The Third Man: Life at the Heart of New Labour by Peter Mandelson.

While queuing for an Easy Jet departure (no speedy boarding for me), I was clutching this book. Three different people turned to ask me about it, and whether it was worth reading. I hadn’t started it then, but my queue testing was unanimous, if you want to express your political gravitas this is the book for you to read/hold.

Buy it now

The Little Black Dress, or the LBD because it is so universal it has its own abbreviation, is a sartorial lifebelt against “smart casual” dress codes and not having enough time to change between work and dinner. Versatility is the LBD’s middle name. As Christian Dior explained:

“You can wear black any time, you can wear it at any age, you may wear it on almost any occasion. A “little black frock” is essential to a woman’s wardrobe.”

The essence of its magic is this: black conforms so the cut, the length, the accessories don’t have to. (And it makes you look taller and slimmer.)

Of course it was Audrey Hepburn in her black Givenchy shift dress with her big pearl necklace and elbow length gloves who showed us what the black dress was capable of achieving. And perhaps every time we slip something black and slinky on our subconscious pictures her and we are assured we have made a good choice, which we no doubt have. The LBD’s fashion credentials go back to Coco Chanel in 1919. She couldn’t bear the bright colours the Parisian women wore, being “too awful, they make the women ugly. I think they ought to be dressed in black.”

The Little Black Dress I have hanging in my wardrobe is Matthew Williamson, short with big shoulder pads and silver embroidered cuffs. It was a present, and I adore it. What about you? If you find your LBD wanting in its fashion alchemy, maybe BrandAlley could help?

BrandAlley is inviting its customers to play a part in the LBD’s future. The LBD, like any species of fashion, is forever needing to evolve or risk becoming old hat. So BrandAlley has teamed up with the industry’s insiders FashionCapital.co.uk to create the definitive LBD competition. The call is for quality and originality and from this new talent.

Go to

www.fashioncapital.co.uk/Opportunity-to-design-for-Brand-Alley.html

and take a look at what up-and-coming designers of the future have sketched as the LBDs of the future. Those that you like, vote for, and if they get enough votes to make the Top Ten BrandAlley will make them up and sell them on the website. It’s a whole new level of interactive shopping. So get clicking!

And to get you even more excited, we’ve hooked up with 30 days of fashion and beauty to give you and three friends the chance to win a couture LBD and a fashionista day out in London.  You’ll be taken to a top London hotel for afternoon tea and champagne, be personally fitted for your chosen dress, have your make up done by an exclusive make-up artist. What’s more, a top fashion editor will give you tips on styling and accessorising your BrandAlley bespoke LBD. What are you waiting for?  Click here to enter

Paris has Le Marais. Milan had Via Montenapoleone. New York has 5^th Avenue. London has…….Westfield. This much we know. According to holiday operators Thomson and First Choice, the Top 3 Hot destinations for 2010 are Turkey, Egypt, and Mexico. But are they any good for stylistic procurements? And can man combine the oft-financially segregated realms of sun and fashion in one complete holiday?

Turkey

Shopping and sunshine collide right at the edge of the Mediterranean in a place called Bodrum. A hot spot for high-end boutique stores (down near the marina), Bodrum is also an ideal location to get to grips with your urge to don an authentic pair of hand crafted Aegean style leather sandals. Get involved, get Gladiator’d. For the bargain hunter, the resort of Mamaris further south is the compass bearing to set. It has beach life, historical buildings, a decent night life, ideal weather conditions, and a wealth of open markets (Thursdays are best) trading impressive embroidered textiles and fake designer goods (not that we condone that sort of thing). For those of us who prefer the look of the genuine article, though, the Karacan Point Center has plenty of shops retailing designer clothing at reduced prices during the late September to late October sales. Turkish tip: keep your receipts as Turkey is VAT-free shopping so you might just get a handy tax refund on departure. Just beware of tax refund scams at the point of sale (don’t sign anything!).

Egypt

Historical tours and poolside family japes aside, Egypt is all about watersports. Sharm El Sheikh was voted the No.1 Traveller’s Choice for Beach & Sun Destinations in Africa on the Tripadvisor website this year, so no self-respecting man-of-action should visit the luxury Egyptian area without getting himself wet with water-based fashion. There are many dive shops around Sharm El Sheikh, but the one you want to look for is Beyond Limits on the upper floor of the huge Na’ama Shopping Centre. Na’ama Bay has the most concentrated selection of places to purchase if you want to avoid the aggressive bartering of street vendors at the Old Market. If you do need to bargain with someone, wear sunglasses and start your offering at half their asking price.

Mexico

The Yucatán Peninsula is filthy, filthy rich with cultural history. It’s also known as a haven for holidaying youngsters, with Cancún its most popular destination. The area is replete with shopping malls (popular with the American market, of course) filled with trendy boutiques that specialise in locally designed and imported clothing, which isn’t particularly adventurous but the La Isla Shopping Mall is the best of the bunch due to its waterfront location. Inexpesive local fashions are available downtown at El Centro. Cancún does have plenty of duty free shops, though; good for stocking up on fragrance for the year. Further down the coast is the city of Playa del Carmen where a stroll along the pedestrian-only Quinta Avenida will proffer batik fashions, locally made accessories, and a fair few premium tequilas to boot. The cities of Mérida and Campeche further west are cheaper, but equally fashionable, alternatives for shopping whilst on y’hols.

So, not an entirely convincing display from the top three destinations of the year, but there’s plenty to get you by. Perhaps the way forward is to select a holiday destination purely based on the high standards of fashion you’ll expect to find there? Therefore, maybe you could try…

Buenos Aires, Argentina

There’s something very European about style in Buenos Aires; one could almost go so far as to say ‘Parisian’. The majority of shopping happens downtown in Microcentro, mainly along the busy Calle Florida and Calle Lavalle avenues. There are a few boutique stores nestled amongst the chains and the gallery-cum-shopping-space, Autoría BsAs, is home to a variety of local designers. To spend some serious pesos, head for the area of Recoleta, home to your Armanis and your Cartiers, etc, as well as the store for woolen goods and quality shirts, Cardón. To evoke a playful, slightly more unique style of dress, head for the less crowded area of Palermo Viejo where the buildings are as colourful as the clothing housed within them. For the hip young gent, Bolivia is the store to visit. Whilst for the man who yearns for a well-crafted, retro style leather shoe, 28 Sport is your first port of call.

Dubai, UAE

Shopping in Dubai relates to only one word: MALL. If you don’t like shopping malls, then you’re on the wrong continent, my friend. Dubai is absolutely overrun with malls. To name but a mere few, there’s the BurJuman (very high concentrations of designer shops), the Deira City Centre (for the everyman), the Dubai Outlet Mall (speaks for itself), the Karama Centre (bargains!), the Mercato Mall (for the youthful, and Italian architecturally-inclined), and the Wafi (just plain massive). Of course, the mother of all malls is the Mall of the Emirates which is so big it has its own ski slope. Yeh, mahooooosive! It has around 500 fashion shops, including a few new kids on the block like Versace, Zara, FCUK, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, D&G, Diesel, and even Next, plus some boutique local designers. Personally, I’d head for The Dubai Mall (the world’s largest based on total area) not only because it has the easiest name to remember, but because it has all the staples for UK men such as Fred Perry, Topman, Tom Ford, Reiss, and Dunhill. Plus, for something a little different, there’s The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai’s first and only outdoor shopping concept by the beach (Boutique 1 is a good place to start).

Saint-Barthélemy, The Caribbean

St Barts is synonymous with the wealthy, often famous, pleasure seekers because the jet-set crowd will find no better shopping in the The Caribbean. And it’s easy to see why. Firstly, it’s tax free. Secondly, Dior, Hermès, Lauren, Vuitton, Bulgari and their ilk have all taken up residence in the capital, Gustavia, Aside from these wallet-emptying establishments, the shops that will distract momentarily from the awesome, idyllic setting include: Human Steps, for your name brand shoes; Chris Shop, for your ready-to-wear casual stuffs with a slight rock n’ roll edge; Angels & Demons, for your hip collections by Philippe Plein, t-shirts by Corleone, and John Galliano undies; and the menswear Laurent Effel store, for your belts. A few tips: don’t bother shopping between midday and 2pm because that’s two-hour lunch break time (how very French); don’t leave St Barts without purchasing a colorful linen shirt, it’s the law (sort of); and, be sure to stop by the beach resort of St. Jean to check out the shops in La Savane Commercial Center.