What’s HOT In London Fashion?! By Patrick. H. Hoy |

Patrick Hoy Here – and it’s great to be back with another Fashion Blog for all of you!

As many of you know, I’m originally from New York – but I moved to London 16 years ago. I LOVE this city! The museums, the food (yep – believe it or not, the food is FANTASTIC here now!), the theatre, the history – and especially the fashion!!!

Something you might not know is that almost every fashion design team in the world takes seasonal trips to the big cities like Milan, New York, Paris – and London – throughout the year to see what the fashion trends are. It’s a good way to gage what trends are HOT for the upcoming seasons – and the entire year.

Our wonderful Quacker Factory design team – headed up by Susan & Leslie – recently called me and asked me to spend a few days walking around London and spotting what the trends are – and what better way to do that then to do a little window shopping – and who doesn’t LOVE to window shop?!

So out I ventured to some of the most famous stores – and streets – in the world – right here in London. I had so much fun, that I just HAD to share it with all of you!!!

So, sit back, relax – and enjoy this trip around London – and see the trends that I spotted on my fashion journey!!

One of my first stops was to Oxford Street. There are so many great department stores and boutiques along this long avenue – including Selfridge’s!

One of the very first trends I spotted in almost EVERY window, was that embroidery work is hot, hot, HOT!! Whether it’s on jeans, jackets, dresses – and even shoes! It was EVERYWHERE!! And I know that Jeanne Bice must be smiling down from heaven, because as we all know, when it comes to embroidery work – I don’t think anyone can match what our team does at Quacker Factory! Here are some of the beautiful items I saw in the windows here in London!

I even saw embroidery work on children’s clothes – how adorable is this?!

I was really happy to see also that the embroidery work was being done mostly with floral motifs. We do a LOT of that with Quacker Factory – and have been for years. And guess what?! You are definitely going to be seeing more of that!

And did you notice that a lot of the embroidery work is being done on denim?! Denim continues to be HOT – so for all of you who love our Quacker Factory DreamJeannes – you will certainly be looking European Chic when you slip on a pair! I loved this window featuring denim jeans! (Notice the pair with embroidery work on the leg?!)

And if you like Crochet – then this next window will bring a smile to your face! (Did you see our new top Angel showed during our TSV day last Friday that has a type of crochet design around the neckline?!)

I then made my way over to Liberty of London – this is one of my absolute FAVORITE stores in London. The building itself is a registered landmark – because it’s one of the surviving Tudor Style buildings still intact in central London. How beautiful is this?!

As I walked around this area, I noticed another BIG trend this year – STRIPES!!! And we’re talking stripes in ALL sizes, colors and widths. If you added our recent striped Weekend Wardrober to your personal Quacker collection – then you are on trend this year! Check out all of these different striped items I found!

I particularly loved how they are mixing stripes with other geometric shapes – as in this store window I saw:

Right behind Liberty Department Store is the world famous Carnaby Street. Back in the 1960’s this is where all of the rock & rollers used to shop for clothes – including the Rolling Stones! It’s even where Mary Quant unveiled the mini-skirt for the first time! You should see this street every year at Christmas – because I think they have the best Christmas decorations in all of London!!!

I found one store on Carnaby Street that even had a window display of what’s hot in terms of nail colors this year:

I then made my way up to Selfridge’s – another one of my favorite department stores in London – and the entire world! Perhaps you’ve seen the TV show Mr. Selfridge?!

One my way there, I spotted another HUGE trend happening this year – cut-outs & scallops – and also lace! We’ve been using these design elements for years at Quacker Factory – I’m sure many of you have some or our skorts or DreamJeannes with the cut-outs!

Perhaps one of the biggest trends I saw – was COLOR – and LOTS of color being used this year!! The last two years, we noticed in London and Europe that the designers had moved away from using bright colors – instead they chose greys, taupe’s and beiges – well, not this year – because 2017 is ALL about the color – and I – personally thing that’s a Quack-Tastic thing – because I know all of our Quackers love color as much as I do!!

Selfridge’s doesn’t just sell clothes – they also sell food in their Food Hall – and it’s one of my favourites in London. So, I just HAD to stop and get some Quack-A-Licious cupcakes!!! The one of the right is a chocolate salted caramel – and the one of the left was called Posh Peanut Butter. And before you ask – they were BOTH good!!!

And it wouldn’t be a fashion walk in London without heading over to the ritzy area of Knightsbridge – home of the world-famous Harrods Department Store!

Harrods has EVERTHING!! In fact, in the old days, if you wanted an elephant or a peacock – they would get it for you – seriously!!! Nowadays, they are known for their exquisite gowns and high-end fashion. Here are some of the beautiful top-of-the-line dresses I saw:

Notice the details?? Lace work, prints, lengths, waistlines, drapes, necklines – there’s a little something for everyone in these beauties!

Even the shoes are pretty upscale in this part of town!!

Remember that I said Flowers are in?! The designers are even putting them on your feet – as you can see in this next picture!

And check out the work detail on these next dresses – WOW!!!

Of course, it’s the gowns that always impress me at Harrods – and they certainly didn’t disappoint me this year!

My FAVORITE gown was from our own Dennis Basso – and it was featured in the main window of Harrods! I think you would feel like a Fairy Princess in this one!