The latest edition of the London Fashion Week opened last Friday to celebrate 25 years of British fashion.

The six-day event consisted fifty womenswear and six menswear collections, as well as designer presentations, exhibitions such as ‘Hat: An Anthology’ at the V&A, and of course the Central Saint Martins show, a must-see for talent scouts.

True to its reputation, the London catwalk burst with originality, not only from established British names like John Rocha, Betty Jackson and Nicole Farhi (whose new, sexier collection received mixed reviews), but also from relative newcomers, such as Christopher Kane and Danielle Scutt.

London Fashion Week saw also the debut on the catwalk of sisters Savannah and Sienna Miller as fashion designers with their label Twenty8Twelve. Described by some of the fashion press as ‘eminently easy to shop and unpretentious’, some critics argued whether it was worthy of the catwalk though. Likewise, shows by high street chain shops Topshop and Jaeger made me wonder whether the organisers had run out of designers to showcase this year...

On the jewellery front, there wasn’t actually that much around. The shows appeared dominated by a certain austerity – a sign of the times? Nevertheless, Caroline Charles did use some chunky necklaces, whereas luxury brand Qasimi (which made its debut on the London catwalk this year and featured one of my favourite top models, Yasmin Le Bon) went for chandelier earrings to complement their luxurious silk dresses.

One final comment: the presence of buyers from on-line fashion shops like Net-a-Porter, Matches and Browns was noticeable. The internet has proven its value as a marketing tool for fashion designers: it gives them global exposure, increases brand awareness and therefore creates demand. So online shops are being quick to step up to the mark in order to get a slice of the action and are attending more and more fashion shows searching for new and exciting collections to include in their shops every season, just what we do at Caradiaz when it comes to buying jewellery!

Next stop in the fashion calendar: Milan

Caroline Charles A/W 2009-2010

Yasmin LeBon for Qasimi A/W 2009-2010
Pictures: www.wireimage.com

, net-a-porter, matches, browns

Today I had the most unpleasant experience with a sales rep from a networking site that shall remain nameless, as I don't intend to give them any slightest publicity, even if it’s bad publicity!

A couple of days ago I signed up for a free membership to the site, following someone’s recommendation from another website I regularly visit.

First thing this morning, we get a phone call from someone at that company asking for two minutes of my time to talk about how I found the site, etc. – perfectly reasonable questions I was quite happy to answer. The two minutes had long passed and this guy was still going on and on about a) things I already knew about my line of business and b) irrelevant things I simply didn't care about.

Ten minutes into the very much one-sided conversation, something comes up and I tell the guy that I have to go. But he just goes on and on and on, telling me how much respect he has for working mums (it’s on my profile with the company) and mentioning something about interviewing Max Clifford in his apartment, obviously trying to impress me now. At this point, I'm desperately (but still politely) trying to get him off the phone but the guy goes on and on like a Duracell rabbit! When I ask him if the conversation is going somewhere, he is adamant it does and keeps talking even more rubbish. When I manage to get a word in, I tell him that I am not interested in a fee-paying membership, if that's what he was after (it was pretty obvious although he wouldn’t admit to it!). And noticing that he’s about to loose me, he quickly comes to the conclusion that it’s really not a good time for me to talk and that he will call back later, despite my polite 'no, thank you'. I tell him there is no point but he insists.

When I finally get rid of him I feel exhausted and exasperated, he’s kept me on the phone for longer than I wanted with a lot of non-sense, trying to brainwash me into buying the membership. Aggggg, I’m furious. A bit later I go to the company’s website and email their sales department telling them not to call me ever again. But guess what? The guy rang back.

He picked up right where he left it and as my blood was starting to boil, I told him for the umptieth time that I was NOT interested in any membership at any cost. He was not prepared to take no for an answer though and offered me a deal three times cheaper than the one advertised on their site. I said ‘not interested’ yet again and he became even more pushy, obnoxious and incredibly patronising, calling me by my name every time he started a new sentence.

I reached the end of my tether. I kept repeating 'not interested' but the guy wouldn’t shut up so in the end I just slammed the phone down. I was absolutely furious. We don’t even take sales calls at Caradiaz, but this guy managed to wriggle his way through with the excuse of asking for feedback on their site.

All I wanted was to be able check their business forums every now and then for interesting topics that might be relevant to our business and to participate if we felt our experience in business could be of help to other businesses. But this guy's sales technique not only didn't work on me AT ALL but pissed me off so much that in the end I called the company and instructed them to cancel my membership altogether, even if it's free.

I never believed in cold calling. As a target customer I find it extremely annoying and as a business I think it’s demeaning and unethical, the lowest form of marketing anyone can use as it preys not only on people’s goodwill but also their weaknesses. That’s why we simply don’t do it at Caradiaz.

Picture: www.punchstock.com

I’ve always been a fan of American fashion: from plain Gap T-shirts and jeans, to pretty much anything by Banana Republic (whose European flagship store opened in London's Regent Street in March 2008) and Anne Klein, not to mention the big designer names such as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera. So for the past eight days I have been avidly following the coverage of the New York Fashion Week.

Gosh, who would have thought that there is a global financial crisis going on! The shows were just as glamorous as in previous years and the seventy-five designers that took part this year didn’t hold back with their collections, producing exquisite, highly luxurious pieces. Challenging the recession? Perhaps. Having said that, several ‘big’ buyers were a no-show and some designers opted to show in their own studios, rather than big, fancy venues.

Having seen the highlights of all the shows, my favourites have to be Donna Karan and Oscar de la Renta. There was nothing from their shows that I wouldn’t wear. Donna Karan’s clothes were simple but luxurious, sexy and highly sophisticated. I loved the draped jersey dressed and the block colours, particularly the abundance of black and grey – my favourite colours! All in all, timeless classics one can wear year after year - hence a good investment! As for de la Renta, his clothes were simply exquisite, the epitome of elegance, a true class act. What else can I say?

And the jewellery? Well, not all designers chose to accessorise their clothes but those who did went for statement, chunky jewellery once again – just what we like at Caradiaz! My favourite choices (not just for the jewellery itself but for the overall styling effect on the catwalk) would be again Donna Karan and Oscar de la Renta. However, designers Jenni Kayne, Michael Kors, Badgley Mischka, Charlotte Ronson, Lela Rose, Diane von Furstenberg, Vera Wang and Jason Wu (one of Michelle Obama’s favourites) also opted for big, chunky necklaces to adorn their models’ necklines.

Anyway, now it’s on to the next city in the ‘fashion week’ circuit: London.

Donna Karan A/W 09-10

Oscar de la Renta A/W 09-10

A few days ago I received a request from Lynette Allen, an established author and keynote speaker with a long experience working with women in business, to take part in her Pink Expertise campaign to inspire women to use their natural talent in business. All I had to do was answering a couple of questions:

i) what talent do I naturally have that makes me successful? and
ii) when did I first realise that talent was going to help me and how do I use it?

So I put on my thinking cap and this is I came up with:

In response to question one, I think I’ve been quite good at creating my own opportunities in life, both personally and professionally. When I have decided to do something, I’ve done it, so I guess you could say that I’m quite determined and somewhat confident. I’m not saying that I have thrown myself at the deep end without thinking things through though. Quite the contrary, any plans or ideas I’ve come up with (such as setting up Caradiaz), I have thought through, researched if necessary, balanced pros and cons and then wait until the time was right to do it. So far it’s worked fine for me and I don’t have any regrets.

As for the second question, I probably put my determination and confidence to the test when I moved over to this country from my home in Spain. I was 26 and it was a huge thing for me as I was leaving not only family and friends behind, but also a pretty good lifestyle and a very well paid job to go on an adventure. But it was my dream so I went for it and ended up realising that actually I could achieve anything if I really wanted to.

To be honest, I had never stopped to think about 'my talents' before or the part they've played in my life. So answering these two questions was really quite an interesting exercise and I’d like to thank Lynette very much for asking me to participate.

Picture: Lynette Allen

There are many fashion events around the world throughout the year, particularly as more and more cities take to the concept of a ‘fashion week’ during which local designers present their latest creations. But they key dates every respected fashion expert must have in his or her calendar are those of the women’s prêt-à-porter (ready to wear) shows, which are held twice a year in the cities of New York, London, Milan and Paris in that particular order.

This year’s dates are as follows:

Autumn/Winter 2009/2010 collections
New YorkFashion Week: 13th to 20th February 2009
London Fashion Week: 20th to 25th February 2009
Milan Fashion Week: 25th February to 4th March 2009
Paris Fashion Week: 4th to 11th March 2009

Spring/Summer 2010 collections
New York Fashion Week: 10th to 17th September 2009
London Fashion Week: 18th to 22nd September 2009
Milan Fashion Week: 23rd to 30th September 2009
Paris Fashion Week: 1st to 8th October 2009

In addition to the above, there are also haute-couture shows, cruise collections (or ‘resort’ as they are referred to in the US) and menswear collections. But nothing compares to the huge buzz that surrounds the women’s prêt-à-porter shows in Paris thanks to the pulling power of names like Chanel, Dior, Saint Laurent and Valentino amongst others, and to the the presence of world-class celebrities/clients such as Catherine Deneuve, Kylie Minogue, Keira Knightley, Claudia Schiffer and Dita von Teese, to name a few.

Films like Robert Altman’s Prêt-à-Porter from the early 90s and more recently ‘The Devil wears Prada’ offer a glimpse into the glamour and fabulousness of the Paris fashion shows but they also reveal the not so glamorous side of the industry: conspiracies, greed, back-stabbing, jealousy, bitchiness…

At the end of the day, all that glitters is not gold!