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

The Interview: Vollebak co-founder on wearable tech, wholesale ambitions and building clothes for the next century

Vollebak, the experimental clothing company founded by twin brothers Steve and Nick Tidball, has built a global following through products made from space-grade materials, fireproof fabrics and biologically engineered textiles.

The brand currently sells exclusively online, operates on a 12-18-month development cycle for most products, and counts customers working in robotics, AI, physics, engineering and finance among its customer base.

We gained an in-depth insight into the business from Nick, who spoke to TheIndustry.fashion about the brand's origins, its wholesale ambitions, how it continues to push the boundaries of what the future of clothing could look like and where it is heading next.

Read the full interview here.

Camilla Rydzek, Senior News & Features Writer.

Marks & Spencer to make London Fashion Week runway debut with 'see now, buy now' collection

Marks & Spencer is making its London Fashion Week runway debut this autumn, unveiling a shoppable womenswear and menswear collection that customers can buy immediately online, in flagship UK stores and across key international markets.

This move, which follows on from pitlane fashion show at Silverstone earlier this month, further underscores just how far M&S fashion has come in recent years. Which is to say, a very long way. Fashionability, value for money, construction, fabric and fit have all been pored over and improved. Now the retailer feels confident to show at LFW and will be live-streaming the event to include its customers in the excitement.

Not only is this a great move for Marks & Spencer but it's a great thing for London Fashion Week, which had lost some of its sparkle (understandably in some respect given the fall out from Covid). It is most encouraging to see home grown brands support the event and I feel optimistic LFW could be on an upward trajectory again. Both Mulberry and Alexander McQueen are returning too. I hope to see more.

I've said it before but a healthy London Fashion Week benefits us all, and it's certainly going to benefit Marks & Spencer.

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

UK retail footfall falls 3.4% in June as heatwave keeps shoppers indoors

I love a data-led story, so I enjoyed writing about the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium and Sensormatic. Their data showed that UK retail footfall fell 3.4% year-on-year in June, as record high temperatures kept shoppers away from stores.

Having struggled through the June heatwave myself (and now in July too), I was not surprised that the weather influenced shopping behaviour, but it was not something I had immediately considered from a retail perspective. It highlights how factors outside of retailers’ control can have a significant impact on consumer habits.

What stood out was the contrast between different retail destinations. High street footfall dropped 6.2%, while shopping centres and retail parks proved more resilient, suggesting that factors such as air conditioning and destination-led shopping are becoming increasingly important as retailers compete for customer visits.

It will be interesting to see how climate change and ever changing weather patterns continue to reshape when, where and how people choose to shop.

Catherine Rowe-Kosary, Junior Writer.

The Interview: CQP founder Adam Lewenhaupt on trading finance for footwear and following his design dream

It was interesting to hear CQP founder Adam Lewenhaupt’s take on design this week, with a focus on being ‘product first’ and preferring to build a few strong and long-term retail partnerships over quantity.

It was also almost refreshing to hear how the Stockholm-based premium footwear brand, which was founded in 2014, doesn’t chase influencers or brand ambassadors like so many brands do now. Lewenhaupt says that is partly because of the “sometimes questionable cost/benefit ratio”, but also because he doesn’t really think CQP’s products are well suited for it.

He believes their best ambassadors are their customers. With that in mind, they do their best to take “extremely good care of them”. That way they will keep coming back for more.

Last month gave them a fresh reason to take another look at CQP, which takes its time to release what it believes to be standout products rather trying to create volume through far too many styles.

To coincide with the start of the World Cup, CPQ launched its new ‘Stillo’ sneaker, though Lewenhaupt admits that was more coincidental timing than planned! It’s an ultra sleek trainer inspired by the first pair of football boots he got in the late 1980s, before synthetic materials took over and when stitching and other details contributed to the actual performance of a shoe.

So far, he says that those customers who have bought the Stillo “absolutely love it”. Handmade in Portugal from Italian leathers and suedes, it’s easy to see why it could prove to be much more than a World Cup winner. I look forward to seeing more from CQP.

Tom Bottomley, Contributor.

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