Uterque.com

Yesterday, the Spanish retail giant Inditex, owner of Zara, launched international e-stores for all of their brands– Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and Uterqüe. I guess this means the launch of Zara a few months back has been quite a success.

Zara aside, my favourite of the Inditex brands is Uterqüe. I have actually been saying for a while how they should really open shops in the UK because people would go bonkers for it. If Massimo Dutti was Zara's older sister, Uterqüe is the stylish classic cousin. Their price range is higher but can't be called expensive. What I love most about it is that, unlike other stores, they take inspiration from the catwalk and create trendy pieces. But they do this with good quality materials and in quite a timeless way.

My sister, who just turned 20, is a big fan –he loves the bags and small accessories. They also have quite a nice range of ready-to-wear, which is also comparatively more expensive but quite chic, jewellery and sunglasses.

Take a look here.

Lanvin x H&M: What we'll see and what we want

Giulia and I were quite excited last night when we read that Vogue.com was giving us a first look at Lanvin's collaboration with H&M that comes out on November 23rd. As exciting as this beautiful picture (shot by David Sims) can be, the truth is we haven't found out any more than we al ready knew. The line will include lots of black and, at least, one of Lanvin's famous one-shoulder dresses.

At soVIPzone we have looked back at some of Alber Elbaz's most popular collections to try and figure out what is it that we will see based on Lanvin's past hits and the released picture. But we have also tried to guess which unreleased pieces will be filling H&M rails in a few weeks.


And we couldn't forget jewellery, of course. The picture released today makes it evident that we will see pearl necklaces and bracelets with bulky emerald green and pale pink flowers attached to them. But we wonder whether some of Lanvin's chunkier pieces and their famous ribbon necklaces will also make an appearance. That would make a round collection.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com, Net-a-Porter]

e-Zara

Apparently today is all about high street news. I can't say this overshadows the Lanvin x H&M collaboration but it's definitely neck to neck with it battling it out as biggest news of the new month. Zara's online shop officially went up and started business today in the UK, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and Italy.

The new site is simple yet rather chic and quite user-friendly. Everything, from the garment categories to the checkout and any other aspect you can think of have been taken care of to be as straight forward as possible. There is nothing difficult about buying Zara online. Payment is also simple as they take both credit cards (Visa, MasterCard and American Express) and debit cards (Visa Electron) as well as PayPal.

The best part about Zara selling online is their delivery. You can choose a Zara store for pickup, in which case delivery (from three to five days) is free of charge. An absolutely awesome option because you still kind of get the 'physical' shop experience. Or you can stick to the old school method and get it delivered home. With the same delivery time, you can choose between standard home delivery (£3.95) or  express home shipping (£9.95), which will get your fashion to you within a maximum of 48 hours. And the environmentally-friendly package customised they use for each delivery is simply the cherry on top.

I'm off.

Oasis FW10 preview

A few weeks ago Giulia and I attended the press day for the Oasis FW10 collection. We arrived to a lovely country-side like room where we had a delicious chicken and terracotta sauce before we headed into the two floors of showrooms. It was all about chunky versatile knits and a load of black with splashes of red, lace and camel (the colour of the season). We decided to try something new and make videos instead of taking pictures and this is the result. Enjoy! And happy May Day.

I'm off.

[Video and editing by Giulia and moi]

when you're not Carine

One thing Giulia and I noticed when we went to the New Look SS10 preview back in December —and what makes their SS10 collection great— is how they have extracted the essence of the main trends of the season and transferred them onto high street clothing versions. Here are some of our favourites that will be hitting the stores soon. What do you think?

[Picture credits: Style.com and New Look]

I'm off.

Update: The SS10 collection will be out in stores starting at the end of this month! And get ready for the opening of their flagship store in London!