Posts with tag catalogs

Although exceedingly skinny -- and probably unhealthy -- models have proven to be an effective strategy for the advertisers, they're not so great for avoiding bad PR and controversy. As Canadian department store La Maison Simons found out last week, there's a growing movement of socially-conscious fashionistas out there ready to send in complaints whenever they see models that look like poster children for a campaign to fight hunger.

Simons released their 36-page fall catalog in stores as well as inserted into newspapers last week. Almost immediately, the Quebec-based retailer got over 200 customer complaints about the emaciated look of the models wearing their Simons TWIK brand. Not exactly the kind of response you want from a fall catalog. Before the public outrage could really boil over, company president Peter Simons made the decision to pull the catalogs, saying that the images are "destructive to a more vulnerable portion of the population which is exposed to anorexia."

Do you think these models are over-the-line?

[via Jezebel]

In light of the Talbot's overhaul, they might want to turn to fellow women's retailer Chadwick's for inspiration. Their clothes are tasteful without being matronly, youthful without being too young, and classic without being boring.

We first encountered Chadwick's on our hunt for a pair of heeled oxfords (we were going through our menswear phase then) and have been keeping up with their collections ever since. It's important for a girl to have a go-to source for a nice dress appropriate for Easter/meeting the parents/ sorority tea/your cousin's wedding, especially bigger girls because we know, WE KNOW how depressing it is to be offered long, shapeless dresses with ridiculously large flowers again and again like so many floral pup tents. Check out the gallery of our favorite selections from the most recent catalog.

Remember back in 2003 when all you had to do to get your spouse in the mood was leave your Abercrombie & Fitch catalog lying around? In theory, the quarterly publication was supposed to feature the company's clothing line -- though you wouldn't have guessed that from all the photos of sexy 20-somethings, who (for the most part) weren't wearing any clothes at all.

Abercrombie's chief executive claimed the reason A&F Quarterly was pulled was that he was "bored" with it. I suspect it had more to do with all the pressure he was under from religious organizations and women's rights groups.

However, the catalog is on its way back, but this time you'll only be able to find it in London, where the company hopes customers will be more open-minded than their US counterparts.

So Londoners, if you're into checking out a little soft-core porn while you shop for relatively bland clothing, you're in luck!

The so-called clicks and mortar stores that combine retail space and a booming catalog or online business are fairly common but now Federated Department Stores will convert a former Lord & Taylor store in Delaware into a showcase for catalog and online retailers that have not had storefronts. The Epicenter Collection will offer 180,000 to 200,000 square feet of retail mall space. Epicenter will be a place for successful online businesses to have their own retail locations. They expect to have up to 60 e-tailers and catalog companies under one roof. Shoppers will also have access to a self-checkout device that will offer onsite purchases and home delivery. The store will be converted to the new format during the next year and open for customers by fall 2008 and more stores will be opened if the pilot program is successful.

Andy Warhol never goes out of style, but with the Factory Girl movie hype machine already in motion, there seems to be a lot more Warhol around than usual. Barney's is in on the trend with their Andy Warhol-themed holiday catalog. In addition to the usual treasures there are special Warhol items such as prints, clothing emblazoned with Warhol portraits and designs and even Warhol-decorated Barney's gift cards.

Simon Doonan has also decorated their store window displays with Warhol themes showing the various periods of Warhol's fabulous life. You can flip through the catalog online for a dose of holiday-themed Warhol fun. Celebrating the Warhol-idays sounds like a lot more fun (and fashionable) than the traditional Christmas but what do you have instead of a tree?