Phoebe Philo has previewed its collection C on its webstore phoebephilo.com. The collection will be delivered from mid-year 2025 and will run through to November.

It will be available exclusively online at the label’s own webstore as well as via dedicated shop-in-shops at Galeries LafayetteHaussmann Paris, Dover Street Market London, and through select global wholesale partners.

Categories include ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes and accessories.

Beyond that, there’s no information available, which is no surprise, the company having chosen a very pared-back approach to its launches since the label first appeared in 2023. 

It has avoided the frenzy of catwalk shows as well as taking a very Philo-specific approach to the calendar with alphabetically-named collections and edits rather than straightforward seasons.

In fact, when the label first launched, the work arrived as a series of edits that were revealed and available simultaneously — together forming the first collection. Since October 2024, collections are now revealed in their entirety and in advance of availability, so that’s a small shift towards a more traditional strategy.

It’s a sign of the brand evolving as it has moved from its original online-only approach to adding in availability via very select luxury physical stores.

In November it opened its first shop-in-shop in London at the aforementioned Dover Street Market and only last month opened its first physical store in France, the 50 sq m space in Galeries Lafayette.

UK consumers are happily embracing AI assistants when shopping online (as well as when undertaking other tasks) with a new study showing 69% of British shoppers trust AI assistants to provide accurate information.

That’s according to Adobe Analytics, which ran a consumer survey of 2,000 UK respondents last month.

Some 76% of those surveyed said AI is making life easier and the same number want generative AI agents “to take actions and complete tasks on their behalf – both at home and at work”. That includes ordering products on their behalf.

When shopping, consumers are using AI for product research and to find the best price. The most popular AI use cases in retail are research (46%), sourcing product recommendations (44%), creating shopping lists (38%), gift inspiration (37%) and finding the best prices for products (29%).

Some 35% have used AI assistants when shopping online, while 47% plan to use it this year.  Usage is higher among younger age groups, with 48% of Gen Z and 44% of Millennials using the services.

As many as 89% of users agree that AI improves the shopping experience, 73% said AI was now their main source of product research and 85% said they used AI primarily as the final check on price before purchasing.

And here’s the big point — the most popular retail categories for using AI is clothing at 39%. The health & beauty category is in third place on 31%.

Adobe Analytics also said it recorded a 500% increase in AI-sourced traffic to retail sites from UK consumers between October 2024 and February 2025. Since August 2024, traffic to retail sites from GenAI sources has increased by more than 30% every month.

Importantly too, those shoppers landing on-site having used AI assistants spent 23% longer there than non-AI-sourced traffic. But there’s a sting in the tail as well as those shoppers were 38% less likely to convert. Yet the conversion gap is narrowing — between October and February conversions from AI-sourced traffic increased by 85%. 

Uniqlo has been announced as a parter for contemporary art destination Tate Modern’s 25th anniversary and will be part of the gallery’s Birthday Weekender as well as opening a Uniqlo Tate Shop, dubbed Art For All, that will run throughout the summer.

The Birthday Weekender is intended to be an “unforgettable free festival of music, making and performance”. It runs from 9 May-12 May with headline music acts, performances, talks, workshops, tours and free experiences – from tarot readings to film screenings – alongside food and drink offers and more. Interactive art and live performance will also be at the heart of the programme.

Koji Yanai, group senior executive officer, of Uniqlo’s owner Fast Retailing, said the “deep relationship with one of the world’s greatest museums is an expression of the Uniqlo LifeWear philosophy of Art For All. We look forward to welcoming customers into the first Uniqlo Tate Shop where they can experience an in-store arts programme alongside our LifeWear products”.

Uniqlo and Tate have a long-standing global partnership and the pop-up will run from 5 May to 16 September, featuring popular services as a UTme! personalised T-shirt station and personalised embroidery. It will also offer a limited-edition Tate UTme! T-shirt collection alongside select Uniqlo items. Plus there’ll be a summer-long series of activities, inspired by the Uniqlo LifeWear philosophy and Tate Modern’s arts programme.

The new UTme! Tate T-shirt range pays tribute to the international, modern and contemporary artworks featured in the museum’s collection displays over the years. They feature works by artists such as Louise Bourgeois (the giant bronze spider Maman) and Salvador Dalí (the Lobster Telephone), alongside new additions to Tate’s collection by artists including Ayoung Kim.