VAWK Collection

“The Woodstock of the mind” is how Bill Clinton described the Guardian Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, one of the most prestigious book festivals in the world. Set inside a maze of white tents in Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, authors and artists share their latest work to inspire dialogue and renew our sense of wonder. The 2010 lineup included novelist Ian McEwan, Pakinstani President Pervez Musharraf, New Yorker Editor David Remnick and VAWK partner Ben Barry.

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In his sold-out talk, Ben took to the Hay Festival Oxfam stage to share his PhD research. He argued that we are undergoing a cultural shift in the Western female consumer mindset. Based on his research with over 3,000 women in Canada, US and UK, Ben found that women increase purchases for a fashion product when they see a model that reflects their age and size in the advertisement because they are savvy and skeptical of the beauty ideal.

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However, the women in Ben’s research still desire the artistry and glamour of fashion; what they want is to see it on a shape and age that is attainable to them. He concluded: “ My research does not suggest the end of size zero; it suggests the start of body diversity”.

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Walking through Western history juxtaposed with the latest, cutting edge design gave our eyes no time to rest. We began with a visit to the 800-year Cambridge University where Ben is completing his PhD in business and Sunny was on the search for Harry Potter.

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After a two days in Cambridge, a three-hour train ride away is Hay-on-Wye in Wales. While only home to 1,900 residents, the town is a mecca for book lovers with over thirty bookshops, many specializing in second-hand books, and two Norman castles.

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A visit to London’s Victoria and Albert dwarfs any other museum and can fill over a week with inspiration and discovery. It is the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects in 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5000 years of art, from ancient times to present day, in virtually every medium. For fashion fanatics like us, be sure to visit the costume collection containing over 14,000 outfits plus accessories, including the dresses from the last collection designed by Alexander McQueen, and the jewellery collection with over 6,000 items, including bracelets once belonging to Marie Antoinette and the finest pieces from the West, Africa, India, and Asia.

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The city’s luxury retailers boast fashions direct from the catwalk and diffusion lines from the most established names, and a strong selection of the newest labels in the business. Most well known is Harrods, the largest department store in England with over one million square feet of selling space in over 330 departments. Its motto “Omnia Omnibus Ubique” – All Things for All People, Everything – sums up the huge and diverse offering.

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Selfridges, owned by Canada’s Galen Weston and the second largest UK department store, is renowned for its bold window displays as much as for its range in price-points from high street brands Top Shop and Uniqlo to luxury powerhouses Lavin and Louis Vuitton.

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Harvey Nichols is unique among the three for its more intimate and carefully curated selection of luxury items. Yet for those who consider fresh air to be the must have shopping accessory, Bond Street offers the world’s leading designer label flagship stores while Savile Row provides the first and most coveted bespoke tailoring in the world.

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