Fashion Trends for Fall 2007 & Winter 2008
NEXT DIRECTORY 25 Years in Fashion
By Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.com
NEXT DIRECTORY Fall 2007 & Winter 2008
NEXT Silver Anniversary of 25 Years in Fashion
In 2007 NEXT celebrated 25 years in the modern fashion
business.
In 1981 Hepworth bought a chain of shops
in the UK called Kendall & Sons. The intention was to develop these long established UK gentleman's tailors into shops called NEXT,
which would stock modern womenswear. By 1982 the first NEXT store specialising in womenswear opened
in mid February. 70 more opened by the end of
July. In 1984 the new 'NEXT for Men' launched 52
shops. By 1985 NEXT Interiors had developed, and soon there were
department stores selling both women's and men's clothing, and also interior furnishings. NEXT children's wear launched in 1987.
It was the legendary George Davies who was instrumental in the development and design of NEXT products. George Davies has always known his
market, a trick he learnt early. Long after he departed from NEXT, George continued to influence what women wear,
especially with his involvement with the Marks and Spencer Per Una range.
Whatever retail clothing venture he is involved in, each week he checks the sales
figures for very item of stock. From that he keeps his finger on
the pulse, and George knows what is selling well and what women like.
It was this strategy that led to the early success of NEXT.
George had a brainwave to arrange the clothes at NEXT in colour order, and it worked brilliantly. NEXT soon became
a leading retailer within the UK.
By 1986 Hepworth had changed its name to NEXT Plc.
It
also acquired the mail order company Grattan PLC. This was an
important move since NEXT now had a recognised and workable mail order system in place.
The stage then was set for the 'NEXT Directory' launch in January 1988.
The next significant move came in 1999 when NEXT Directory started its internet shopping site at
www.next.co.uk. By 2000
any order placed at NEXT Directory before 5pm would be delivered the following day.
I recall clearly the launch of the NEXT chain of shops.
The clothes were totally in tune with the working woman of the
1980s. In this era, a 'Working Woman' needed to look good for her job.
She had money to spend on herself, and what's more, her busy
working day meant she needed to be able to shop quickly.
The
1980s was an era when coordination in clothing was important. Match matchy was alive and well, and
NEXT satisfied its customers quickly by providing coordinated
goods, which mixed and matched whilst having a contemporary
fashion edge. In store, clothes were presented in design
led fitments. Garments were easy to see, although
sizes were limited for those carrying spare body fat. Size
16 was often the largest size on the rack, and the few 18s
available soon sold out. Now
NEXT sells garments up to size 20 and is a global brand.
I feel NEXT initially lost direction at the start of the C21st
. What happened was that other shops like Zara began to stock trend driven garments
within weeks of catwalk shows. NEXT for a time lagged behind,
since the catalogue nature of NEXT DIRECTORY stock had to be
much more pre-planned and therefore was much safer. BUT now with the immediacy of the internet, it can update items
quickly and is suddenly producing far more trend driven items,
which customers can access quickly.
The
two garments, shown opposite, were part of the Autumn Winter NEXT 07/08 Directory.
You may have read my page on
gold
metallic fashion looks, so let's begin with these gold
jeans. They fitted well with metallic
looks of fall 2007 and were great value for money.
Like many aspects of NEXT supplies attention has been paid to
a range of fits. These jeans were made in 3 leg lengths
from leg 29 to 33. Details - NEXT Gold Coated Jeans £38
-
99% cotton 1% elastane.
Regular - to fit inside leg 29"/74cm.
Long - inside leg 31"/79cm.
Extra Long - inside leg 33"/84cm. You may still find a
similar item at the online site today.
You
may well have seen NEXT's silver anniversary celebration TV advertisement and noticed
this dress being modelled. It was well in line with the sequin
tunic dresses I featured on my
silver
sequins dress page. Silver Sequin Dress £80 in 100% nylon.
Length 36"/91.5cm. These
two garments shown here were all part of the Autumn Winter NEXT
07/08 Directory.
There are many just as attractive wearable and affordable
fashion trends in the current NEXT DIRECTORY online, or in their department stores.
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In 1981 Hepworth bought a chain of shops
in the UK called Kendall & Sons. The intention was to develop these long established UK gentleman's tailors into shops called NEXT,
which would stock modern womenswear. By 1982 the first NEXT store specialising in womenswear opened
in mid February. 70 more opened by the end of
July. In 1984 the new 'NEXT for Men' launched 52
shops. By 1985 NEXT Interiors had developed, and soon there were
department stores selling both women's and men's clothing, and also interior furnishings. NEXT children's wear launched in 1987. 
By 1986 Hepworth had changed its name to NEXT Plc.
It
also acquired the mail order company Grattan PLC. This was an
important move since NEXT now had a recognised and workable mail order system in place.
I feel NEXT initially lost direction at the start of the C21st
. What happened was that other shops like Zara began to stock trend driven garments
within weeks of catwalk shows. NEXT for a time lagged behind,
since the catalogue nature of NEXT DIRECTORY stock had to be
much more pre-planned and therefore was much safer. BUT now with the immediacy of the internet, it can update items
quickly and is suddenly producing far more trend driven items,
which customers can access quickly.
