Blog by TopDown Trading

Asos has launched a trial of a new tool on its site that allows shoppers to see what their clothing selections would look like on different body types.

The “See My Fit” feature is an augmented reality tool that has been created in collaboration with Israeli AR company Zeekit.

It provides online shoppers with a simulated view of what an item of clothing would look like on models of various sizes, in order to better reflect the body types of individual customers.

The See My Fit button is currently available to use when viewing one of 800 selected dresses.

When used, the feature offers a view of 16 models wearing the same dress who range in size from a four to an 18, and in height from 5’ 1’’ to 5’ 9’’.

The Swedish multinational group H&M has just created a new platform under the name of H&M Lab. A digital portal, for now exclusively operative in Germany, through which it will market the latest services, its newest products and all the innovations created by its research "hub", The Laboratory. It will also be looking for new collaborations and projects with all kinds of emerging companies.

A new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has been formed to analyse sustainability in the clothing and textiles industry. 

With the new APPG, which is supported by sustainability charity Hubbub, MPs from all political backgrounds will come together to review supply chains, materials used, and consumer behaviours. 

The APPG held its inaugural meeting this week, where it was joined by dozens of major retailers, industry bodies, and recycling experts.

London Fashion Week returns on Friday to celebrate the nation’s most esteemed design talents.

Over the course of five days, editors, buyers and social media influencers will come together to see what brands including Molly Goddard and JW Anderson have up their sleeves for spring/summer 2020.

But this September could mark the beginning of a seismic shift in the fashion industry. 

With the increasing likelihood of a no-deal Brexit looming and environmentalists putting pressure on the British Fashion Council (BFC) to cancel fashion week altogether, there’s a very real chance that this bi-annual trade event might never be the same again.

From sartorial mastery to political shakeups, read on for everything you can expect from London Fashion Week this season.

Fur has always been one of the most incendiary topics in the fashion industry, but the debate has reached new heights in recent months as an increasing number of labels implement bans on using animal skins in their clothing.

The ethical issues of using animal fur for clothing are well-documented, and while it might’ve once been considered uber glamorous to glide down the street in a fluffy mink coat like a 1930s Hollywood starlet, doing so now would be seen as a sartorial cause célèbre. Also, an activist might pour a bucket of fake blood on you, which is probably not much fun either.

UK brand whose sales jumped 35% last year says it appeals to women not driven by trends.

PrettyLittleThing and Missguided have hit the big time selling £5 dresses and £1 bikinis to the youth market but another online British brand, Hush, is expanding rapidly in a backlash against fast fashion.

Sales at London-based Hush, which is run by a husband and wife team, jumped 35% last year to more than £40m as its jumpsuits and dresses found an audience among women aged 35 to 45 who, it says, “like fashion but are not a slave to it”.