| Latest News from Vedette | |
| Fashion and Football’ at Fortune Street exhibition was part of the London Design Festival |
Friday, April 25, 2008 |
 The event was hosted by branding agency Fortune Street and featured Vedette as a perfect example of how few areas rely on the power of branding and identity as much as football clubs and fashion houses. It featured examples of the collection and superb life size graphic representations of some of Vedette’s finest pieces. Fortune Street also put together complex web boards which demonstrated how the areas of football and fashion have merged during the last few decades, and how so often now they are inextricably linked in marketing campaigns.The exhibition centred around Vedette’s past collections, and the inspiration behind them, but also explored the increasingly inextricable relationship between identity, branding, football and fashion. The following is an excerpt article from the evening which embodies the message of the evening. Call it a truism, but everyone has a favourite football team or a favourite fashion label. The majority of people probably have both, as football and fashion are so prevalent in our media savvy lives and both have become absolutely crucial statements in defining our identities. Being an ardent Man Utd supporter or unable to put anything on your feet other than a pair of Jimmy’s is a natural state of affairs in the 2000’s.  No wonder therefore that the relationship between fashion and football is determined by a hugely complex web of actual and perceptual relationships in which the idea of brands plays a crucial part. In the old days things used to be much simpler. Footballers played football and did the odd bit of endorsement. Football Clubs had relationships with sponsors. Sportswear brands got in on the act but had very little to do with the etiolated world of high fashion, which was too busy with hemlines and the latest cut to bother about, in their view, slightly tawdry world of sport. How things have changed in the post Premiership world. Couture houses now do deals with sportswear labels, footballers are as ken to be known for their sartorial performance as for their left foot action, and the clubs are big business brands in their own right, often outperforming previous sponsors in the FTSE 100. What are the forces at work that make this such a phenomenon? It’s simply the power of branding. Both football clubs and fashion labels demand and provoke a very clear sense of loyalty among their fans / consumers. They in turn re pleased to demonstrate this loyalty by expressly stating through the clothes they wear that this is the club / fashion label for them, albeit in quite different ways. For football fans, the donning of a garment in the club colours and with the club’s name all over it makes a pretty unequivocal statement. In fashion, the statement is equally unequivocal but executed with varying degrees of subtlety, from the shiny gold interlocked Cs of Chanel to Margiela’s white stitches. In both cases, the deal is a good one for everyone. The club / labels get profile raised and the fan / consumers get to buy into their dream: ether the dream of being a sporting hero on the hallowed turf of Highbury or Stamford Bridge or the dream of belonging to an elite group with a implicitly exclusive and luxurious lifestyle, attainable only to a limited crowd, in the know.  Where the football fashion example becomes really interesting is in the relationships they develop with and inspire in other brands that now clamour to leap on the bandwagon. Imagine if you could inspire the same loyalty and excitement in a razor blade or a bottle of water. Imagine if these products and the choices that determine our adoption of them were as intimately linked to our sense of identity as our choice of football team or favourite label. The increasing association of other brands with football and fashion is creating a fascinatingly complex branded web and which looks set to only increase in its proximity to these alluring sectors. The evening ended with a panel discussion which explored the relationships between football, fashion, identity and brands in more depth. The discussion was introduced by James Purnell, then MP, Minister for the Creative Industries and the panelists were the late Tony Banks, Jimmy Burns, author of ‘When Beckham went to Spain: Power, stardom and Real Madrid’, the fashion journalist, Angela Buttolph, V&A curator Dr Ulrich Lehmann and of course Vedette designer, Katie Walker. |
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| Press release to promote launch | Friday, April 25, 2008 |
| It’s enough to put a man off his game The Premiership season may be drawing to a close, but Vedette, the clothing label for girls who love football but hate polyester, is still pushing for promotion on both sides of the turnstile. Its collection of homegrown talent has been spotted everywhere from Harrods and Selfridges to Isetan in Japan and Podium in Moscow, and this month sees the launch of a brand new website, www.vedette-fashion.com. The beautiful game just got even more beautiful. Football focus Vedette is a small team, but it has made a striking partnership with four of the biggest clubs on the planet – Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Barcelona. The current 20-piece collection (£42-£250) mixes club crests and colours with designer details. By relegating nasty nylon to the touchline and bringing on the finest substitutes, from crystals to cashmere, Vedette has come up with another way of just doing it. Get your kit on ‘The devoted’ dress and T-shirt are a pair of terrace teasers. Decorated with super-cool portraits of club stars, from Walcott and Fabregas to Rooney and Ronaldo, they’re a must for any girl who wears her heart on her sleeve. ‘The ribcager’ is a vest, but it’s not any old vest – decked out in team colours, it features seriously low-slung armholes, plus retro Roy of the Rovers-inspired football imagery on the front and team name on the back, all done out in hand-embroidered sequins. Man on! The gloriously glitzy low-plunge swimsuit features the club name inlaid in crystal. Perfect for a bit of beachside bling or diving off the yacht during this summer’s close season. What the papers say ‘How much do we know about football? Loads. We know, for example, that it involves 22 men and a ball. We also know we wouldn’t be caught dead in one of those ghastly synthetic replica shirts. We were positively elated, therefore, to hear about the new football strips from Vedette.’ Laura Barton, The Guardian ‘Terrace gear is horrid, a slimy sweatshop medley of nylon fire hazards. But this season things are looking up thanks to Katie Walker. The results are cute, high-ticket items that even non-football fans might wear.’ Lisa Armstrong, The Times Next season Other sports in line for a fashion revamp by Vedette include golf and cricket, plus this winter sees the launch of the skiwear collection, so you can look as stylish pisteside as you do pitchside. |
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| Ski Ski Ski | Friday, April 04, 2008 |
| In time for Ski Season 2008/9, Vedette will be launching its own range of ski attire, to look great on the slopes but of course to add some fashion style to the apres ski bar. Fed up with white, black or red layering options, log on to the Vedette web site in the Autumn to see our new range of high fashion ski wear. | |
| Web site launch | Tuesday, March 25, 2008 |
| Vedette is very excited to be launching its own direct to customer web site and internet retail outlet in April 2008. For the first time, football fans and fashionistas will be able to log on, check out latest news and order both from current collections but also pre order from previews of what's coming next! Vedette hope soon to be delivering their unique style all over Europe, Asia and Russia. | |