Even middle market brands talk openly about how if it wasn’t for celebrity endorsement of their brand the step change in profits would never have happened. Watching Michelle Mone owner and creator of Ultimo bras confessed for all on telly last month that if Julia Roberts hadn’t worn one of her bras in the film ‘Erin Brockovich’ then Ultimo wouldn’t be the world player it is today.

Ethical foot wear leaders ‘Beyond Skin’ openly admits on their ‘about us’ pages that if Natalie Portman hadn’t worn their shoes on the red carpet at an Oscar’s ceremony they would never of had the exposure they have now.

And while we are on the subject of shoes, hands up who remembers Carrie in ‘Sex In The City’ coining the phrase ‘Don’t take my Choo’s’ which took luxury shoe brand Jimmy Choo to the next level and made them a billion dollar designer shoe brand in the states over night!

So a little experiment I did hatch, if I have over a 200 friends on Facebook surely just by the laws of probability I must know someone who knows someone who’s famous? Right?

After much digging about my lovely list of friends offered up Edith Bowman and Zoe Ball, 2 minor radio and TV celebrities, I know! but hey! I wasn’t complaining. I had a direct line to both, no cold calling or unwanted soliciting all very straightforward.

We lovingly pulled together some fantastic and key Frank & Faith freebies and posted them off with little hand written notes thanking them and cooing etc.  We didn’t expect much in return, maybe (fingers crossed) one might be photographed by Grazia wearing one of our dresses! Who knows?

But the reality was we heard nothing! We are not even sure if the parcels ever arrived with them! Zilch, zero, nada, nothing, kiss my bum, nowt!

My neighbour summed it all up quite eloquently last week for me. She’s not fashion but with the ear bashing from me over the years she is now what I call a semi fashion professional.

On a recent shopping trip to Bath she notice down a little side street a collection of little stalls all selling bespoke local and artisan chocolates, a mini Choco market for the discerning chocoholic. Stalls beautifully laid out with handmade and beautifully packaged morsels. But where was the biggest queue? Whose stall was swamped with shoppers eagerly waving their money about? Jamie Bloody Oliver’s chocolate stall that’s who! Shoppers blinded by celebrity completely missing the whole point of what artisan Chocolatier’s are all about. She was appalled!

So why is celebrity so important to us? Why are we drawn to endorsements by the famous? A colleague today at the university where a teach part time suggested the notion of consumers need something to hang their hats on! They need that confidence to buy. If a famous face say’s ‘Hey this is great, this is ok to buy’ Then it must be. She said ‘It’s the apples on the tree theory, we see the free apples hanging on the tree and we think yummy lets have some, but we have lost the ability to judgment call for ourselves. Are the apples free? Are they poisonous?’

We are so used to everything pre-packaged, homogenised and handed to us on a plate held by a cool celebrity’s hand that we have lost our ability to decide for ourselves.

What a shame! Look at all the lovely things we miss out on! But I tell you what Kate Middleton, you wear one of my scarves and I’ll let you know how I feel about a bit of love from the star!

Or is it just good old fashioned global warming………?

Four key designers for the next Spring Summer season have all gone for an underworld of watery glamour. From huge water worlds being created for a catwalk set for Chanel to the obvious starfish and shell motifs from Versace. Even McQueen’s creative forces came up with inspired barnacle and coral creations through to Givenchy’s mermaid like designs and fabrics. My view! They all had the same apocalyptic dream? Who knows! But it’s quite interesting that all four should embrace this H20 heaven. Or maybe they have all joined Greenpeace? NOT! I can’t really see Mr Riccardo Tisci kissing dolphins and hugging trees, can you?

So when we get e-mails like the one I got this morning it makes me quite sad.

Ms X e-mail read like this, ‘what is it with all you eco-friendly bunch. Your women’s clothes finish at a size 16 – are larger women not allowed to wear lady like ethically made clothes? ‘

So I e-mailed Ms X and said ‘I totally agree with you. I’m not a twig and I have a rather amble bottom. So in answer to your question yes I would dearly love to be able to offer a plethora of sizes on my website, from both ends of the scale. We get equally annoyed shoppers screaming at us for petite sizes too!!!

So why the hell aren’t you listening I hear your say! It’s complex! We are a small start-up business and the units we place at the factories we use in Leicester are small. We just about make the factory minimums and we pay a hefty surcharge for the privilege. This means that we are only able to do a small scale size set.  It’s a Catch 22 situation. I cannot grow my size scale with the factory until my orders double with them. That means I have to generate more sales which means I have to sell more to my lovely customers. And there is the conundrum folks, we are not sizeist, we are just growing and evolving as we go. I hope that explain a little better why small independent brands like ours only have narrow sizing for their clothes…..

Washcare Labels

If in doubt all ways check the wash care label. Here you will find a breakdown of the components of the garment and any real fur should be listed as ‘Animal Fur’. However there is no real legislation forcing retailers to accurately list components and sometimes labels can still be miss leading.

Check the backing

Where possible always check the backing of the fur, if it’s fake you will see a woven effect on the back, if it’s real your will see skin (a little like suede) However if the garment is lined this isn’t always possible.

The Burn Test

The fool proof test and my favourite! If you just can’t tell the difference pull a few fibres from the fur. Only a pinch of hair is needed. Then very carefully (please don’t burn yourself or do this in the shop, I take mine home) burn the fibres with a match. If they splutter and burn very quickly and leave a hard black ball its fake. If it sizzles and leaves an ash that stinks of burn hair (come on girls we’ve’ all caught our hair in a hairdryer once or twice) then it’s real.

Whilst on holiday in Cornwall we stumbled across this fantastic book making extravaganza. We made some beautiful note books and looked at some of Christopher John’s brilliant and intriguing creative works of art that our his personal ponderings and observations on everyday life all bound up into handmade and gorgeous little books………

http://thelivingroomseries.wordpress.com/number-2/

We are very happy to announce that Frank & Faith are finalists in this year’s RSPCA Good Business Awards. We get to sip Champagne and chomp on Canapés at a reception on Wednesday 5th October at One Marylebone, London, where the winners will be announced. Wish us luck guys and we will keep you posted but either way making it this far is just brilliant news for us.

What do you think?

On line and in stores from September

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We understand just how hard it is running your own independent business in a recession without this disgraceful and shameful looting and theft going on right in our own communities.

Please get in touch with us so we can help you out and show these criminals that we are made of sterner stuff.

They are a voluntary animal welfare group promoting compassionate living – particularly for the benefit of farm animals – through local fundraising events and global creative projects. Their main aim is to help end factory farming by empowering consumers to make a difference for animals, people and our planet – simply through their food shopping choices.

They are also the local supporter group for our favourite charity Compassion in World Farming which was founded in 1967 by a concerned farmer on a mission to improve the lives of farm animals.

So if you are about to embark on a festival this summer and want to wear a fabulous snazzy T-shirt then BUY YOUR TEES HERE and help us stop factory farming,one tee at a time!!!