Kat Walker

Would you like lavender with that?

As far as product diversification goes, this one's a little on the nose. Worn and weary buyers at Fashion Exposed were pleased to see that packaging experts New Directions, which create branded shopping bags for the likes of Sass & Bide and David Lawrence, brought the other half of their business along to the trade fair. Fragrant essential oils and aromatherapy products. Yep, with masseurs, consultants and oxygen booths to boot.

A typical buyer:exhibitor exchange went something along the lines of, "Thanks for the freshly brewed green tea – this hand massage is to die for too. Did you say that was lavender oil? Do you think you could apply a coat to my spring/summer swing tags? Too much? Perhaps ylang ylang?"

Line after line

Project Runway casting directors take note: Kreitals Consulting's Mary Gualtieri came out with some pearlers during judging for the Debut awards at Fashion Exposed. Who needs four judges when you've got one that cuts to the chase? Top calls included: "That fringing was so elementary ? a primary school student could have done that"; "You can't give them encouragement when it's not due"; "I suppose it photographs well" and the golden "Ok, I think maybe I've been watching too much Project Runway".

Project pop

While we're on the subject of Project Runway, let's "pop" with one of the reality television show's judges Sarah Gale. Gale, a respected industry buyer who now runs her own consultancy business, was on hand to present a seminar at Fashion Exposed on trading through tough times. It seems the words of the season are not "inventory management" or "cost cutting" or "redundancies, redundancies, redundancies". Sales woes can be cured with a bit of "pop". "Customers have the classics - what they want is items that make their wardrobes pop". Hold your guffaws. Country Road took on that strategy and look at their profits. Now that's a top pop.