Overview: 12 Must-Read articles from September

Fashion

FashionUnited takes a moment to list its top twelve articles of the month September - in case you may have missed them.

1. Timeline: The Rise of Polish fashion retailer Reserved

Located at 525 Oxford Street, the fast-fashion retailer may not be a household name in the UK yet, but its Autumn-Winter '17 campaign, starring British top model Kate Moss, will have undoubtedly have attracted the public's interest. But where did the brand come from?

2. SoGoodToWear: Reviving the cashmere industry in Nepal

SoGoodToWear is not your average fashion brand. The Dutch, fair trade fashion brand offers the perfect, luxury cashmere basics. But simply making the best possible garments in the best possible way is not enough for founders Fons and Jacqui Burger. In order to help kick start real change within the fashion industry, the duo decided to launch a new initiative which focuses on sustainable manufacturing.

3. The problem with New York Fashion Week

New York Fashion Week is undergoing an identity crisis, and has been for some time. With a mishmash of a schedule and empty rails left by the decamping of its most interesting designers to Europe (Thom Browne, Proenza Schouler, Rodarte, to name but a few) the global start to fashion week kicks off without any critical cohesion.

4. The Life & Career of Manolo Blahnik:'The Boy who made Shoes for Lizards'

Women around the world all recognize the one of kind feeling you get when you put on a pair of Manolo's. Manolo Blahnik, for those less familiar with the footwear designer, has been hailed as the 'King of Shoes' for the past four decades. To mark the launch of the documentary, FashionUnited shares some of the high points from Manolo Blahnik life and career.

5. King & Tuckfield: 'Every time you wear a pair of our jeans, you create your own identity'

Stacey Wood always knew that she wanted to launch her own brand. However, rather than searching for inspiration within the world of fashion, Wood chose to turn a more personal source instead, namely her own family history. The stories of her grandmother; Joan Marion King; and her father; Graham Aubrey Tuckfield, became the cornerstones of her premium denim-drivenbrand: King & Tuckfield. Offering timeless classics with a contemporary twist, the new label has managed to carve out a name for itself within three seasons, thanks in party to its 'Made in the UK' denim and quality driven designs.

6. London Fashion Week: A very fashionable business generating 270 million pounds

The London Fashion Week is traditionally one of the global fashion shows that attracts the greatest deal of interest. No wonder that’s the case as the British fashion spectacle is just second to its sister event in NYC when it comes to both income generated and number of visitors.

7. Timeline: Celebrating 10 years of Cos at LFW

It may be difficult for some to believe, but this year marks ten years since Cos, H&M older and more experimental sister label was launched. In honor of the brand’s anniversary, FashionUnited shares some of the brand’s milestones in the timeline below.

8. Q&A: Heidi Klum discusses her debut Lidl collection

Supermodel Heidi Klum launched her highly-anticipated Esmara collection for budget supermarket Lidl this month and it has already been a massive success story, with the line selling at a rate of 106 products per minute in the UK on the first day.

9. Top 5 presentations from London Fashion Week

While a catwalk show may still be the traditional and most preferred showcase for most designers, more and more are loving the freedom and ability to tell the story of their collection vision by embracing a static presentation, and FashionUnited has rounded up its five favourites from London Fashion Week.

10. Alexa Chung on launching her label: ‘Shit got real pretty quickly’

Most industry insiders argue that it was only a matter of time before Alexa Chung - tv presenter, model and allround British celebrity darling - launched her own fashion label. But for Alexa Chung, the journey from model to tv presenter to designer muse and now creative director was not as smooth as you may think.

11. MFW: Versace pays tribute to Gianni Versace

Donatella Versace for Spring Summer 2018 delivered a collection celebrating the life and work of her brother, Gianni Versace. It has been 20 years since Versace was murdered outside his home in Miami in the summer of 2007, but a tribute collection and show felt entirely relevant and necessary after all this time. The show closed to a rapturous applause when five of the original iconic supermodels appeared all dressed in gold. But more of that later.

12. New blood and old masters keep qipao dressmaking alive

In a quiet workshop in Taipei, three young women meticulously sew and iron under the watchful eye of a master dressmaker with decades of experience in creating the classic "qipao". Lin Chin-te, 74, is among a handful of craftsmen in Taiwan who still specialise in handmaking the high-collar, figure-hugging garment which was once part of many women's daily wardrobes.