Editors' Top Reads: News from Derek Rose, Uniqlo and more...

Here are some of this week’s news and features highlights handpicked by TheIndustry.fashion team.

The Eric Musgrave Interview: Derek Rose CEO Sacha Rose 'I think of end users, not customers'

British sleep and leisurewear brand Derek Rose celebrates a centenary in the fashion business this year and this deserves due recognition. So few brands make it beyond a decade, let alone a century. And not many remain in private ownership either. Derek Rose, now run by CEO Sacha Rose, offers many lessons in longevity for us all in this in-depth interview with our esteemed contributor Eric Musgrave.

A deep understanding of your customer and what they do in your clothes is vital. Often brands focus on quality, which is clearly no bad thing, but the team at Derek Rose always consider what a wearer might be doing while wearing their clothes, and how they would want them to feel while doing it. This mindset informs all the details in the garments and it's smart. It started with Sacha's father, the late Derek Rose, recognising that having horizontal button holes on pyjamas allows the garment a bit of movement while wearers wriggle around in their sleep, and now extends to Sacha Rose adding pockets on trousers for AirPods, as he was always losing his.

Also of huge importance is considered expansion. Just because your brand doesn't have a certain category in its line-up, doesn't mean that it should. That said, Derek Rose has just ventured into denim, but in a very limited way. Derek Rose denim is the jeans equivalent of a soft white t-shirt. Nothing in the wardrobe is cheap, but it's likely to become a firm favourite with the wearer and that's the aim.

Another key takeaway is that sometimes you have to scale something back to grow it again. Sacha Rose took the tough decision to cut back its manufacturing base in Congleton a few years ago; it was a move that was necessary to save the brand as a whole. Now it has built it back up again to 50 people who work on sampling, product development, personalisation, and the manufacturing of silk and woven cashmere garments. Had it persisted with full garment manufacturing in the UK, the brand may not be here now. And we're very glad it is.

Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.

Uniqlo reimagines returned clothing in scalable upcycling initiative

Uniqlo's new scalable upcycling initiative is truly exciting. The key here is that the new collection is not a one-off trial or pilot programme. It was designed with scalability in mind, while retaining creativity and the central ethos of the Uniqlo brand - quality and accessibility.

Called Everyday Re.Imagined, the new collection was created in collaboration with graduates from the BA Fashion course at Central Saint Martins, who created the blueprint designs for each of the upcycled design pieces.

The core idea is to take the most returned types of items, including some that may be damaged, and give them to expert seamstresses working across the brand's 15 Re.Uniqlo Studios in the UK and Europe to re-imagine them. While each piece will retain its unique character - no two designs will be exactly the same - the general pattern of the garment will be the same. Most importantly, each item is designed to be crafted in-store in less than an hour.

For me this is one of the first, and really exciting, milestones that shows how circular design can be applied in real-life. Price points remain accessible (prices range from £29.90 to £89.90), because Uniqlo is building and optimising on its existing infrastructure. While for now limited pieces will be available in 15 locations, technically the initiative could be expanded into the 70 stores that already have a Re.Uniqlo Studio - in 23 markets.

Speaking at an event on Tuesday, Uniqlo Europe's Head of Sustainability, Maria Samoto le Dous, noted that the upcycled collection forms part of Uniqlo's long-term sustainability strategy and that the brand has plans to scale the project, potentially evolving designs seasonally.

I am really, really excited about this project and can't wait to see how it will develop and what kind of impact it will have.

Camilla Rydzek, Senior News & Features Writer. 

Shoppers ‘making 1.7bn high street visits per year driven by social media’

I love a good data story, so this new research from American Express caught my attention this week. The study finds that social media is driving an estimated 1.7 billion visits to UK high streets every year - the equivalent of ov 30 million visits a week. In fact, 63% of UK adults have visited a shop, restaurant or other hospitality venue in the past year after being influenced by content they saw on social media.

Among Gen Z consumers aged 18-8, that figure rises to 88%! As someone within this group, I can definitely relate - I’m constantly saving social media recommendations and building a list of cute high streets and hidden gems to check out.

The positive news for retailers is that this influence doesn’t stop at a single visit. More than four in five people (82%) return to a business after a socially influenced first experience, rising to an impressive 96% among Gen Z.

Even more importantly, these visitors often become advocates. Nearly four-fifths (79%) say they go on to share their experience - whether by recommending the business to friends, posting on social media or leaving an online review.

As American Express puts it: "For merchants, particularly those looking to attract younger consumers, the ability to turn online hype into memorable in-person experiences has never been more important."

Sophie Smith, News Editor & Senior Writer.