Swatch will start selling sunglasses, an eco-friendly clothing collection from Marks & Spencer, Nike becomes the official apparel provider for the NBA, and other fashion news that made headlines this week.

• The “New for Now” exhibition opening in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam today showcases over 300 costume and fashion prints.
• Nike becomes the official apparel provider for the NBA. This is also the first time an apparel partner has negotiated the right to feature its logo on the uniforms in the history of the NBA.
• Sarah Jessica Parker becomes the new face of the popular ’80s denim brand Jordache Jeans.
• As the watch industry faces one of its most challenging years, Swatch is diversifying and plans to start selling sunglasses.
• Inès de la Fressange returns to retail with a 2,150-square-foot store in Paris.
• Marks & Spencer has launched a street style-inspired line of womenswear made with recycled cotton and recycled polyester fabrics.
• Yoox Group has teamed up with Italian film institution Cineteca di Bologna to restore Federico Fellini’s legendary movie “Amarcord”.

Fun Fashion Fact

Did you know that in the 18th century Birmingham was an important centre for button manufacturers. An enormous diversity of buttons was produced in this city in the West Midlands, from silk covered, brass, stamped and embossed to gilt metal, silver, cut-steel, and mother-of-pearl. In fact, it is said that underneath the town hall there are “thousands of tons of mollusc shells, the waste from workshops which used mother-of-pearl.”

This ensemble was inspired by a street style look that combines white and light grey with animal print. I love how fresh, light and bold the combination looks for both Spring and Summer. We can’t see the wearer’s choice of footwear, but black shoes would perfectly bookend her look.

Think of all sorts of ways to combine white and grey with animal print in one outfit. I kept the animal print in the footwear and bag, but feel free to wear an animal print top instead.

Here are three combinations across three dress codes to get you started.

White Jeans, Grey Top & Animal Print Bag 

This smart casual rendition is most like the inspiration picture. Combine white jeans with a light grey T-shirt or knitted top and either black, white or metallic shoes. Finish off the look with a white or light grey scarf and an animal print bag. The scarf is optional. By all means add a belt if you prefer to partially tuck your top. 

Grey Bottoms, White Blouse & Animal Print Shoes

This look is fab for business casual. Combine a light grey skirt with a white blouse or shirt and finish off the look with animal print pumps. I chose a peplum white top because it looks fresh and flirty, but choose any dressy white top that tickles your fancy. Substitute the skirt with light grey ankle pants or full-length trousers if that’s more your cup of tea. Add a grey, metallic, black, or cognac bag. 

Joggers, White Tee & Animal Print Shoes

This option is the most casual. Combine upscale trackpants or joggers with a semi-stucked white tee and add comfy soft footbed animal print sandals or slip-on sneakers. Add jewellery, watch and eyewear as desired. 

You could also combine a white dress with a grey topper and leopard print shoes. Or grey jeans with a white tee, metallic slip-on sneakers and an animal print tote. And of course, you can substitute the cat prints with snake, cow, giraffe and zebra patterns.

A growing number of customers are looking for personalized shopping experiences at lower prices and a curated selection specifically tailored to their individual needs. This has both traditional retailers and startups sitting up and taking note.

Harvard Business Review spoke with Katrina Lake, the founder of Stitch Fix, an online service that provides personal styling at affordable prices, about the principles that guide the company’s approach to mass customization.

George Zimmer, the founder of Men’s Wearhouse, has launched zTailors — an on-demand service that brings tailors to the customer’s door. He hopes that “by making tailors more accessible and affordable to consumers, more people will want to invest in well-fitted clothes, and stop thinking about clothes as short-term, expendable products.”

With the Chic Sketch app you can turn your favourite outfit into a customized colour sketch hand-drawn by fashion illustrator Emily Brickel.

New Balance is following in the footsteps of Nike and Adidas with the launch of a customizable collection of the 998 sneakers, which are now also available in women’s sizes.

Fab Links from Our Members

With all the talk recently about Summer shoes, Karie found this article on how to keep feet from sweating in shoes interesting. Antiperspirant and powder, sure, but cedar trees? Karie never would have thought of doing that one.

Laurinda reports that, at age 56, the iconic Barbie doll will finally be able to wear flat shoes.

Gardenchick found a great article on BuzzFeed about the challenges of bra fitting, which hit close to home for her.

We had a great day with Inge and forum member Approprio in Amsterdam. We deliberately stayed off the high street, shopping up a storm in all sorts of smaller boutiques and specialized stores. Inge bought two amazing ink and white striped tops and a gorgeous necklace. Approprio bought a fun necklace too. I got a brilliant fitted denim jacket in the lightest of blues with white metal buttons.

I bust out my favourite blue jeans of all time — the infamous jodhpur jeans — and combined them with a white cotton jumper, white loafers, sea foam leather jacket and turquoise bag. 

For lunch we had one of my favourites:  patat friet with sweet Dutch mayonnaise. Delicious.