Twice a year the buyers from Austique head over the pond to the Big Apple , to source many of the beautiful labels that you all know and love at Austique. From fashion lines Alice + Olivia, Haute Hippie, Mara Hoffman and Goldsign to great accessories from Rebecca Minkoff, Lauren Merkin and Chan Luu.
Two days of sifting through thousands of brands plus researching the coolest New York shopping haunts make the trip a serious test of endurance, but our buyers will stop at nothing to bring you the very best the fashion world has to offer.
The first day at Coterie is always the craziest. Suffering from jet-lag and bolstered by many coffees (and an entire basket of patisseries), we trot down to Jacobs Javits centre for 9am decked out in our finest to face a packed schedule of back to back appointments with our favourite brands. And as if the pressure of keeping our cool in the presence of all those head-spinningly divine dresses wasn’t enough, we also have to pretend to be nonchalant when seeing our fashion heroine: Ashley Olsen at Elizabeth and James. Swoon!
And the acid test of what’s going to do well next season?? Always the pieces we love so much we have to order them for ourselves. Here’s a sneak peak at the pieces that will be making it into our wardrobes for SS12:
Rebecca Minkoff Ostrich Skin Bag, Kara Ross NY cuffs, CC Skye Suede clutch, Camilla and Marc SS12, Rebecca Minkoff basket weave pumps.
Fit for a queen?
The Huffington Post’s Yvonne Yorke announced this morning that our beautiful Queen-in-waiting has chosen our long time favourite occasionwear designer, Sophie Cranston of Libelula, to design her wedding dress. After months of speculation over which high end fashion house is behind the design of Catherine Middleton’s wedding dress, Yvonne, who has claimed to know the identity of the true designer all along, spilled the beans over the weekend.
At Austique, we think that trying to guess the designer of Catherine’s wedding dress will spoil the surprise on the big day (which we just can’t wait for!) and respect the bride’s wishes to keep the identity of the designer secret. But wouldn’t it be lovely to think that our future queen shared our love of Sophie Cranston and the fabulous Libelula collections!
Pictured left wearing Libelula’s elegant velvet dress coat to a friend’s wedding in January, Catherine looks absolutely stunning in Libelula’s timelessly elegant designs.
Click Here to see this season’s most beautiful Libelula pieces.
Libelula's Long Poppy Dress
We love to see celebrities out and about in our favourite new labels, so we were totally over-excited to find this picture of Hilary Duff wearing our trusted, old-favourite accessories label Love Quotes Scarves along with our exciting brand new jewellery brand, Isharya:
We can’t get enough of Isharya’s Indian influenced jewellery designs and are beside ourselves with excitement about the delivery which is due this week. Watch this space for more news on the collection.
She’s dazzled us all in the recent Versace campaign, and is fast becoming our bench-mark for sartorial elegance. So we’re delighted to see January Jones sporting this stunning piece from Alice + Olivia’s Pre Spring Collection. Who better to pull off the tricky white dress/red lips combination with class?!
The Alice + Olivia collection is available in store now. Call 0207 376 4555 for details.
Image courtest if the fashionparadiseblogspot.com
Here’s our very favourite Saturday night tv presenter dressed in Camilla and Marc’s Rhy Frock last week on the Strictly Come Dancing results show. We think she looks every inch the shining superstar!!
We’re used to seeing a few famous faces in our gorgeous collections at Austique, but it’s rare even for us to have a bona fide Supermodel spotted in one of our dresses. So imagine our excitement to see the heavenly Claudia Schiffer in Markus Lupfer’s leopard print knit dress. We think we’re in love!!
Being fashionable doesn’t always mean being fancy! Young Hollywood is drooling over KAIN Tees and we know why! The silk/modal tees combine comfort with style, and work perfectly for winter layered together or under cashmere knits. Audrina Partridge, Kim Kardashian and Lo Bosworth all look fabulous in theirs. What will you be wearing with yours?
(Images courtesy of celebrityinspirations.com)
A winter hat is a very personal thing. Some people abhor the obligatory winter hat, only wearing theirs in the most spine tingling, below zero circumstances. Others, like me, will look for any excuse to don their beanie, even if it is still twenty degrees outside.
Madeleine Thompson’s cashmere collection is the reason for my hat obsession. Ever since I first came across the slouchy, loose knit Maddy Beanie I have been hooked and wear it everywhere I go in winter, in every possible circumstance. Whether shopping in town or out in the country, it’s my instant bad hair day saviour and always makes me feel better about the rest of my clothes that day!
But you don’t just have to take my word for it. Madeleine Thompson’s beanies have a devoted celeb following; from London’s hottest home-grown super models, Poppy Delevigne and Agyness Deyn to Sienna Miller and Jared Leto. These hats are hot property!
This season we’ve brought you an even wider selection to choose from including sequin encrusted disco beanies, for those winter days when you need an extra sparkle.
Of course, it only seems natural that Nicole Richie would proudly be sporting her Autumn Winter collection around town at the moment. And, let’s face it, who better to model her gorgeous designs than Nicole herself?
Our favourite is the Jasmine Fringed Bolero Jacket, although that may just be that we prefer her sexy brown bed-head. The Anais Dress in Stretch Lace looks pretty hot too! What do you think?
Kourtney Kardashian as see in Alice + Olivia’s Marie Tulip Skirt Dress.
The Marie Tulip Skirt Dress is available in store now or on 0207 376 4555 for £375.
