From grooming spas to doggy holidays, pampering your pooch with luxurious products is a growing trend.
It’s definitely nippy in the UK and Balearics right now, and I can almost guarantee that you’ve pulled out your thickest coats from the wardrobe. Well now, you can dress your beloved pet just like you – with a new £280 (322 euros) Moncler jacket designed especially for your dog.
And whilst it might seem to have only niche appeal, the limited edition padded jacket by the Italian brand has been flying off virtual shelves – in fact, it’s currently sold out online.
The luxurious range of doggy coats, which have been dubbed Mondogs,are a scaled-down version of the brand’s trademark puffer jackets – and button up at the front.They come in a range of colours, keeping dogs warm and protected without limiting their movement.
Make no bones about it, Moncler’s dog jackets are the cutest things ever, although I wish a dog came with them, at this price. It is not the first time that high-end designers have ventured into the pet market, with Versacecurrently selling their own dog bowls for £569.
And yes, there are actually people out there buying these things.
The new campaign for PUMA x BALMAIN featuring Cara Delevingne has just been released.
The ‘boxing-inspired’ shots focus on real-life stories of people fighting the good fight, whether it’s standing up for what they believe in or supporting those who just want to be themselves.
Cara, along with a beautifully diverse group of individuals from all parts of the world, can be seen wearing the fashionably sporty collection.
The PUMA x BALMAIN created with Cara Delevingne collection launched worldwide only yesterday – November 21st.
Modelling the unisex boxing-inspired limited edition collection, Cara has previous ties to both brands, being the good friend and muse of Balmain’s Creative Director Olivier Rousteing and a Puma ambassador since 2016.
The unique tri-collaboration merges performative sportswear and Parisian couture, all while conveying the theme of “troublemaker,” which is why he chose Cara for the project. The two friends have worked on several projects together over the years, from Cara starring as the face of Balmain campaigns to closing its fashion show.
The 35-piece collection comprises bra tops, boxing shorts, sneakers, outdoor apparel and accessories in a stark color palette with hints of gold — design elements straight out of Balmain’s atelier.
The collaboration is available now in Puma and Balmain stores, as well as online.
Here are some more stocking filler ideas this festive season. They are currently best-sellers, so make haste and order these this weekend before they sell out. They’ll arrive in plenty of time. All you need to do is pop out for some pretty Xmas wrapping paper.
It’s no surprise to us that this beautiful spinning pendant is proving popular with customers. It’s handmade to order in the UK and incorporates the birthstones of those in your life who are your whole universe. It can feature up to 10 birthstones in different sizes and spins, to reveal a personalised message, making each one completely bespoke to the customer.
This limited edition Veuve Clicquot arrow tin is proving festively popular. Champagne is a failsafe gift idea and going that extra mile to get it personalised makes it extra special. The metallic tin can be treasured long after the bottle has been downed.
This personalised weekend holdall is such a popular gift for someone who travels regularly. In a classic style, it’s high quality, durable and the tastefully embroidered initials add a classy touch.
Apple AirPods were one of the most popular gifts last year and we expect 2019 to be just the same. They’re packed with functionality and look great. This latest version has Siri built in and charges wirelessly.
One of the top picks this Christmas is the Larq water bottle. Not only is it reusable, but both the water and bottle can be digitally purified at the touch of a button, neutralising 99.9% of harmful odour-causing germs. What’s more, it is double insulated, keeping water cold for 24 hours or hot for 12 hours.
Welcome to this ‘festive feel’ instalment of Zips It Up. Yes, the most wonderful time of the year bearing down on us, with Christmas Day only 40 days away.
Christmas shopping should be fun. Think ‘Oxford Street’, bundled up in coats, hats and scarves, the smell of chestnuts in the air, with carol singers on the street corner. Year on year, retailers battle to out-do one another’s festive window displays in a bid to lure us (and our credit cards) through the door.
Selfridges caused a big festive stir by being the first department store in the world to unveil their 2019 Christmas windows – a whole 69 days before the Dec 25th.
Selfridges stores across the UK now feature more than 85,000 baubles, 200 Christmas trees and 65,000 pieces of paper confetti, as part of its “Selfridges Rocks Christmas”. Each store window has borrowed an element of a well-known Christmas story or fairy tale, such as Rapunzel or Cinderella, meanwhile giving it a modern twist.
Across the other side of London, Harrods has unveiled its Yule 2019 incarnation. The iconic store, founded in 1849, has transformed itself into an emporium of magic under its theme for the year: ‘The Kingdom of Christmas.’ Christmas has been brought to life through a series of street-facing wintry scenes, with festive animals helping Harrods and their brands in delivering seasonal gifts to children of all ages.
Harvey Nichols’ display has drawn inspiration from all things Scandinavian. The much-anticipated window display across all Harvey Nichols stores in the UK and Ireland is a fusion of Scandi-architectural influence, featuring handcrafted cedar slat panels draped with festive garlands, framing the windows and glowing like the Nordic night sky.
Of course, call me old school, as this may all mean nothing to you if you sit at home and order your gifts on Amazon. But personally, I can’t wait to get out and witness all of the window displays.
In this week’s issue of Zips It Up we check out Xmas gift ideas for the whole family, take a look at the debut fashion collection from a certain British Wimbledon Champion, plus, if you hate Christmas and simply want to get away, we have discovered the most fashionable luggage to breeze through Terminal 5 with.
It’s just 40 days until the big day. Put bluntly, that’s just one pay packet left. So, have you even contemplated buying any Christmas pressies yet? I bet you haven’t!
Don’t worry, neither have I, but as usual Zips It Up is here to make life easier. This page of helpful suggestions is likely to earn you brownie points over the festive season.
Whilst a little more time-consuming to order than a straightforward “click-to-buy” type purchase, anything personalised is the way to go. There are literally hundreds of companies personalising anything and everything. But get those Xmas orders in ASAP.
Here are some suggestions – for him, for her, for the folks, for the little ones and for the teens Basically, we have everyone covered. And it’s all on one simple website:
www.notonthehighstreet.com
Here’s my pick of the best.
For Him Personalised Birth Year And Nickname Organic T Shirt
A great gift, that’s equally perfect for other landmark celebrations too, such as 30th, 40th, 50th or 60th birthdays.
This cool design features the year of birth in a stylish modern font, as well as the option of personalising the design further by adding a name, or nickname, plus an additional phrase such as ‘Awesome since…’, ‘Established…’ or anything else that takes your fancy.
A plush faux suede cushion, personalised with your favourite photo of the folks, handmade especially for you. These fabulous, super soft cushions, are made from either faux suede or 100% organic cotton. They’re especially useful for those wanting to give their loved ones a hug when said loved ones aren’t there in person.
I have two of these. Think ‘Carrie’ in Sex And The City. Design and personalise an original Name Necklace, which is then laser cut and finished in London by hand.
Add a personal touch with this gorgeous name necklace with dainty cable chain. All of the Anna Lou of London personalised jewellery is handmade to order and can contain one name or word per pendant. Contact them via the ‘ask seller a question’ button with any special requests or queries.
Capture the true magic and sentiment of Christmas with a personalised report from Santa. Award points and gold stars for good behaviour and reveal whether the recipient child has made it to Santa’s ‘Nice’ list.
The option boxes allow one to add child’s name and age, and award points for ‘kindness’ ‘politeness’ ‘sharing’ ‘tidying’ and ‘table manners’. Merit stars are then awarded (out of 5) and finally you can opt to place the recipient on ‘naughty’ or ‘nice’ list.
This Personalised Embroidered Patch Bomber Jacket is perfect for fussy teens and ‘inbetweeners’.
Each jacket is bespoke and hand embroidered in the UK, packaged in a customised M&G box (however, please note that if multiple jackets are ordered, they will be consolidated into one box).
Jackets come with a selection of embroidered patches containing your personal initials. You can choose as many patches as you like and where you would like them placed on the jacket. I know my other (fully grown) half would love this.
Each jacket is totally unique and makes a perfect gift.
He’s not exactly the most exciting sportsman in the world, and I’d be unlikely to use the words Andy Murray and ‘fashion’ in the same sentence, but Murray has just launched his first sportswear range – and it’s eco-friendly.
Since his (now reconsidered) “retirement” announcement in January, tennis and sports-lovers alike had been waiting with baited breath to see where Andy Murray would go next. After all, having won both Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016 and Olympic gold medals in singles in 2012 and 2016, the 31-year-old has quite some collection of strings to his bow.
And the answer, it seems, was turning his hand to fashion design, with the launch of the apparel line AMC, in collaboration with luxury British sportswear brand Castore.
This marks Murray’s first foray into commercially available sportswear, but such is his belief in the range that he has vowed to exclusively wear AMC’s products for all on-court activities.
The line includes a range of tennis tees, polos, shorts, jackets and accessories, which have all been made from regenerated nylon and recycled yarn.
Each product name acknowledges a city where Murray won a tournament or place with particular meaning to him and tennis – there’s the Rio Performance tee, and the London Stadium jacket amongst the sentimentally-named garments.
The debut AMC tennis line is available from today in the Castore Kings Road Store and at castore.com from this weekend. Prices start from £30.
The range will no doubt generate quite a sartorial racket
Supreme have released another limited-edition range of suitcases, a second luggage collaboration with suitcase stalwart, RIMOWA. The collection sees the streetwear brand lending its stylistic touch to RIMOWA’s Check-in L and Cabin Plus aluminium suitcases.The range is available in two sizes – “carry-on” and “check-in”.
The two brands first got together last year, with a suitcase collaboration that reportedly sold out in less than a minute. Just like everything ‘Supreme’ does. After all, have you ever seen the size of the queue outside a Supreme store?
RIMOWA x Supreme
RIMOWA was founded in Germany in 1898, while Supreme is a skateboarding brand which originated in New York City in 1994.
While neither brand has commented on how much the pieces will cost, in the last collaboration, carry-ons sold for in the region of £1,500 and larger cases for around £1,650.
This is the latest in a string of collaborations embarked upon by RIMOWA in recent years, including a much talked-about range with Fendi.
The Supreme® / RIMOWA collection will be available for purchase in limited quantities online and at selected Supreme and RIMOWA stores from this weekend.
Welcome to this wintry edition of Zips It Up, and I thought I’d kick off with a bit of fashion gossip, as well as my first Christmas present recommendation.
In the latest news, Lady Gaga is set to grace the silver screen once again, in a film about the Gucci family fashion dynasty.
The Oscar-winner is set to take on the role of Patrizia Reggiani, the ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci, grandson of the Italian fashion house’s founder, Guccio Gucci.
Wealthy Italian socialite Reggiani had two children with the fashion boss, before their divorce in 1985. She was later tried and convicted of hiring a hitman to kill her estranged husband on the steps of his Milan office in 1995, and served 18 years before being let out of jail in 2016.
In an interview with Italy’s La Repubblica, she stated that it was her desire to work for Gucci once out of jail. “I still feel like a Gucci, the most Gucci of all,” she commented. Since being released from prison, Reggiani has reportedly worked as a jewellery design consultant in Italy.
Maurizio Gucci was the last of the family to personally run the fashion label, having resigned as chairman and selling his 50 percent stake in the company for $100 million, two years prior to his death.
The film will be Gaga’s first since she starred alongside Bradley Cooper in the 2018 box office hit “A Star Is Born”. She won an Academy Award for best original song for the feature’s hit “Shallow,” was nominated for best actress at this year’s Academy Awards, missing out to British actress Olivia Colman.
The movie is directed by Ridley Scott and I can’t wait to see it.
It’s time to start thinking about Christmas presents and PJs are always a winner. These caught my eye and if my other half puts them under our tree, I’ll be very happy indeed.
Not only are they top quality by trusty M&S, they’re my fave colours – pink and red – as well as featuring my all time favourite print – STARS. They are cute as hell, and M&S will donate a percentage of every sale to Breast Cancer research. Go online and check them out.
M&S COLLECTION
Sateen Star Print Pyjama Set
Price£35
Onto this week’s instalment, and we discover the most comfty thigh length boots ever, as well as uber cool winter tights, plus the new hot and cold anti-aging trend everyone from Mossy to my friend Liv are trying.
First spotted as a bohemian trend on Kate Moss and Sienna Miller back in the early 2000s, the fur-lined boots had enjoyed a heyday, before becoming so common, your Grandmother started wearing a £5 copy to the Bingo (as well as every mother on the school run).
Until last year that is. Alexander Wang sent plush black UGG style velvet boots down the runway, and after collaborations with Jeremy Scott and Phillip Lim, it heralded the iconic footwear’s return to fashion-forward status.
Even today, UGGs are amongst the most divisive fashion items to ever walk the streets. Me? I’m a HUGE fan. I don’t care how UGGly people think they are.
The Californian (but Aussie originating) brand has partnered with avant-garde Parisian label Y/Project to bring fresh energy to its designs. The results? A little bonkers and rather brilliant, and definitely light years away from the “cutesy” styles so loved by Sienna and Paris Hilton et al back in the day.
Glenn Martens, the Belgian creative director of Y/Project, is known for infusing humour into his conceptual, boundary-pushing collections. He describes putting your foot in an UGG boot as “putting your foot in a warm pot of butter.”
When considering his take on the Ugg, Martens said “I thought why not…immerse your full legs, so we decided to design an UGG boot that climbs up to the crotch and covers the whole leg.”
Martens has applied Y Project’s unisex, streetwear-inspired aesthetic to the Ugg designs, which were shown at both men’s and women’s Paris fashion week. “You’ll see the exact same piece on a man as on a woman, just styled differently,” he notes. “The importance of duality can be seen across this collection.”
All the classic Ugg DNA is present: the sheepskin, the chestnut tones, but this time around it’s all a little more outlandish. There are shin-high and thigh-high styles as well as UGG sliders, which all come in camel, chestnut and black.
The UGG x Y/Project collection is priced between £195 and £995 and available now.
Plunging yourself into minus 85-degree cold is always going to be a shock to the system, but there’s something adrenaline-inducing about plunging there straight from a sizzling 90 degrees.
‘Shocks’ aren’t always a bad thing. For the skin and muscles, they can work wonders — enter the Harvey Nichols’ ice-cold cryotherapy chamber and its new heat pod: a full-body, infra-red cocoon designed to make you sweat.
This exercise is known as biohacking: a process of “tricking” our bodies into implementing the same responses it would if you were freezing cold or hot and sweaty. Or, for maximum results, both in quick succession. Experts say that the two together will burn calories, boost muscle recovery and leave skin glowing.
The treatment is popular with athletes and A-listers looking for instant results: subjecting the body to -90 degrees Celsius for two or three minutes constricts blood vessels, producing a fight-or-flight response in the body.
Circulation and collagen will increase, inflammation will reduce and muscles will relax — plus you’ll get a rush of endorphins. Everyone from Kate Moss to Cristiano Ronaldo have given it a go.
Heat at Harvey Nichols is a dry-heat, infrared sauna body pod set between 30 and 90 degrees centigrade, the first of its kind in the UK. It’s designed to make you sweat, and even at 65 degrees, you’ll be dripping within minutes. The 30-minute treatment has you lying in a space-like machine, head peeking out, in front of a touchscreen. From there you can adjust settings to suit your mood: to up the sweat count, you can do a HIIT class with resistance bands or some (really) hot yoga — the screen shows your calories burned and experts say you can burn up to 600 calories in one half-hour session.
There are also meditative options. The pod comes with a choice of aromas and LED light colours, a massage option using vibrations. You can have also a facial in there. Sweat produced during our Heat sessions promotes detoxification of cholesterol, heavy metals and other toxins.
Then it’s time for the Cryotherapy Chamber. The two chambers used in tandem is the “ultimate” form of contrast therapy, a technique known for stimulating metabolic activity and circulation without putting it under stress. This makes it a popular injury-recovery method but it’s not just for athletes.
Going hot and cold has known benefits — results include improved cardio fitness, muscle recovery, cellulite loss and better sleep.
It’s a wonder treatment for skin: heat makes your blood rise to your body’s surface and opens pores. Cold brings the blood back to vital organs and contracts pores to regular sizes, reinforcing your body’s natural defence system. Sessions have also been proven to increase endorphins.
