Last Friday I decided to do the unthinkable. I turned off my Blackberry, stepped away from my Macbook and treated myself to an afternoon at Bicester Village. With emails about fashion week coming in thick and fast, now felt like the perfect time, if not the only chance left, to sneak in a bit of retail therapy before the September madness begins.
Over the last year or so I've been lucky enough to visit several times for various events but this time I was on a mission and decided to go by myself and allow the whole afternoon to browse through the rails at leisure, have lunch out in the sun at Carluccio's and on multiple occasions, refrain myself from depleting my savings on one handbag or another.
Finding the perfect bikini is like buying a faithful pair of jeans; you can spend your whole life searching for them. Luckily, swimwear designer Heidi Klein has partnered with Bicester Village to help you on your search.
For those of you unfamiliar with Klein's designs, her collections are pretty much the crème de la crème of swimwear. Unlike many other swimwear brands, Klein really does cater for women for all body types so whether you're curvy and want a style that shows that off whilst giving your bust support or you're on the straight-side, she has you covered. The great thing about her pop-up shop collaboration with the retail outlet is that you can bag her pieces for a fraction of the price. The only problem is that it's only open for a limited time and will sadly close its doors on July 10th.
At the opening of the store earlier on this month, Klein revealed that she has a full accessories line in the works so expect everything from iPad covers to beach bags and all of those essential accessories that you need to see you through your holiday.
Earlier on this week the British Fashion Council played host to the third British Designer's Collective pop-up shop at Bicester Village and just about every journalist in London was there to celebrate. As we reported, Alexa Chung replaced Thandie Newton this year to open the shop in line with her new role as the BFC's Style Ambassador.
'I am proud to support Value Retail on their British Designers' Collective pop up store at Bicester Village,' she said. 'The initiative opens up a whole new market to the participating designers that they might not otherwise have access to at this stage in their career. I look forward to choosing some key pieces from their collections for myself.' Starting from this week, great British brands like Nicholas Kirkwood, Jonathan Saunders and Holly Fulton will be available for up to 60% percent off but for a limited time only so don't waste time. Get down there soon.
Yesterday saw the second opening of the British Designers Collective pop up shop in Bicester Village. The event marked the second time the British Fashion Council and the discount retail outlet have collaborated to bring the best of Britain's new designers under one roof. A/W2010 pieces were made available at the event for a select group of press and industry before the carefully selected pieces will be made available for the wider public today.
The collaboration is all in aid of pushing awareness of British brands to an international market. In the welcome speech, a representative from the shopping village explained that their loyal customers are usually from the Middle East and Russia, making the partnership the perfect idea to propel the designers brands globally. 21 designers have participated this year including Jonathan Saunders, Todd Lynn, Felder Felder, Marios Schwab and Fash Pack favourite, Holly Fulton. Accessories were also available from Georgina Goodman, Jane Carr, Fiona Paxton and Lara Bohnic.
