A Braille smartwatch, H&M launching a new venture, and other news from the style trenches in March.
- H&M is launching an eighth fashion brand, ARKET, that will offer clothes for men, women and children and household products, which will be more upscale than H&M.
- Comfort shoe brand Birkenstock is venturing into skincare.
- For its next designer collaboration, Uniqlo is partnering with J.W. Anderson.
- Wal-Mart has bought online clothing retailer ModCloth.
- The new Dot Braille smartwatch lets users feel time, texts and GPS directions.
- Lingerie brand Lively has created the Busty Bralette, a style made specifically for sizes 34D to 38DDD.
- A new exhibition at the Antwerp Modemuseum, “Margiela: The Hermès Years“, showcases the Belgian designer’s work for the iconic French house.
Fun Fashion Fact
Did you know that Rootstein mannequins with their extremely lifelike features — they even had facial pores — were long considered the Rolls Royce of fashion dummies. South African-born Adel Rootstein started making mannequins in the kitchen of her basement flat in Earls Court in 1956, and over the years the mannequins would be modelled on real-life people like Pat Cleveland, a young Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon and Joan Collins during her days of playing Alexis Colby in Dynasty.