Monday, April 20, 2026

Victoria Beckham ties up with Gap as retailer hopes luxe push will drive comeback

Ex-Mattel boss behind Barbiemania pivots retailer towards more premium fashion after reopening UK stores

From the 80s through to the early noughties it was the go-to high street store for casual hoodies and jeans, before falling out of favour. Now almost 30 years after its heyday, Gap is hoping to turn things around. Key to its comeback strategy? A pivot to more premium fashion.

On Thursday the retailer will unveil a collection with the luxury fashion designer Victoria Beckham. The collaboration is the next step in the luxification of Gap being led by Richard Dickson, who joined Gap Inc as its president and chief executive from Mattel, the US toymaker, in 2023.

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Friday, April 17, 2026

Luxury to high street jeans: can you tell the difference?

Resurgence of 90s minimalism has caused an explosion in the popularity of denim, but can a pair ever be worth £800?

Denim mania is surging across the fashion spectrum. At one end is the luxury brand Alaia with an Aegean blue, comfortable yet flattering £800 pair. At the other is JW Anderson’s collaboration with the high street brand Uniqlo and a £34.90 price tag. Both are proving wildly popular.

Alaia’s line has only just launched, so there are no sales figures yet, but demand for its Japanese denim is such that customers are advised to reserve certain styles in store or call ahead before visiting. At Uniqlo, the straight cut are said to be the most popular, on the front row of the most recent fashion weeks, and routinely sell out online. Blame the resurgence of 90s minimalism.

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‘The antidote to Brat’ – why pointelle is having a moment

Once the preserve of childhood underwear, the patterned knit is now bringing nostalgia and comfort to adults in a fast-changing, unpredictable world

In this very on-brand April, where sun and showers jostle for supremacy and a chill wind is making 16C feel like 9C, you might have spotted pointelle popping up everywhere. On her recent world tour, Rosalía appeared on stage in Paris wearing a pointelle bodysuit. Then Sabrina Carpenter appeared on the cover of Perfect magazine hanging backwards off a bed wearing cyan eyeshadow and a pointelle underwear set. It’s peeping out from underneath shirts and jumpers in air-conditioned offices and on buses. For spring, the heritage knitwear brand Herd is offering “featherlight yet warm” jumpers in its signature pointelle. John Lewis, which said yesterday that online searches for pointelle were up 60% week on week, is selling bandana-scarves and pyjamas made of the same material.

The fabric, more associated with girls’ vests, thermal-wear and underwear, is, according to Merriam-Webster, “an openwork design (as in knitted fabric) typically in the shape of chevrons”. Sometimes peppered with hearts, florals, diamonds or zigzags instead, you probably had a pair of pointelle ankle socks, possibly with a little cotton ruffle. Or maybe you remember that era in the 00s when Whistles churned out lacey pointelle camisoles that grazed bellybuttons inches above Juicy Couture track bottoms.

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Thursday, April 16, 2026

True blue: what to wear with classic straight leg jeans

Got denim overwhelm? Go back to basics with a simple pair of straight leg jeans

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Shares in Allbirds surge after maker of wool sneakers announces pivot to AI

Rebrand as NewBird AI sent shares up 582% in bizarre and rapid turnaround for firm that had fallen on hard times

Allbirds, the maker of minimalist wool sneakers beloved by Silicon Valley, announced on Wednesday that it is leaving shoes behind and pivoting to artificial intelligence. The new focus and rebrand as “NewBird AI” sent the company’s stock up 582% as of mid-day during a flurry of trading.

The surging stock price and new direction is a bizarre, rapid turnaround for a company that had fallen into disrepair in recent years. Once valued at $4bn, Allbirds’ shares had lost 99% of their worth since 2021 and earlier this month the company announced plans for a $39m sale to brand management firm American Exchange Company.

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