26 April 2011

A Royal Affair.

The Party season has arrived, with Prince William and Kate Middleton’s marriage kick starting the wedding season in spectacular style… While the hype still surrounds probably one of the most serious topics of the Royal Wedding: “What will Kate Middleton’s wedding dress look like?”. We think it’s about time our own formal wardrobe was paid a bit of attention as we prepare for this season’s upcoming social events: Royal Ascot, Cartier Polo & Henley Regatta.

For such events formal dress codes need to be adhered to and this season we are delighted to present you with a great collection of outfits which tick all the right boxes but will also allow you to feel chic and feminine. Paule Ka’s range of beautifully tailored dress/jacket suits are available in deliciously silky fabrics and classic tones of champagne,  rose and taupe. Alternatively look to the master of sharp tailoring, immaculate attention to detail and print, Paul Smith, who’s SS11 collection has been favourite amongst John Goodwin’s customers so far.

Hugo Boss, Diane von Furstenberg and Theory are just a few more designer names who upped the ante in formal wear for this season. Our choice is vast and with help on hand you’ll be able to find a fabulous outfit to cover the events of your social calendar this summer.

Speak to you soon.

Vicki x

Vicki Tomkinson

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12 April 2011

Complete for me is a good pair of Shoes.

I personally find that whatever I wear, whether tailored or casual, if I don’t finish my outfit with a great pair of shoes it’s just not complete. Now let me present to you John Goodwin’s Spring Summer 2011 shoe selection… if you need some footwear for work, wedding or even smart casual it has to be something from our Chapter IV range; made for us by Joseph Cheaney. (Cheaney has to be one of the best, not to mention, one of the oldest shoes makers in the UK and the quality is second to none.) I have many shoes from Chapter IV which I wear every day to the shop with one of my Corneliani suits or even for an evening out with some smart jeans, shirt and jacket… they are just a great all rounder. (6 styles available)

Next, I have to tell you about Pantofola d’Oro which has got to be the best find for a while. Dan and I took a trip to Pitti (a trade show in Florence) about two years ago and spotted this brand in the middle of a busy exhibition floor whilst half way up a escalator… We both could not believe the styling and the workmanship but you expect no less from a shoe maker who have been going sense 1886. This smart casual trainer, who’s Italian name translates as the ‘Golden Slipper’, does what it says on the packet – it really is the most comfortable, well made trainer I have ever had the pleasure of owning. Please don’t take my word for it, come and try for yourself. (5 styles available)

They say,  ’Save the best for last’… and for us it has got to be our Belstaff offer. Not only has their outerwear been a massive success story but their footwear, which we have only offered since Autumn Winter 2010, is proving the same. In Autumn Winter 2010 we gave you a workman’s boot which are made by a factory in Italy who only make footwear for Belstaff and the Italian police… shoes built for pounding the pavement. For Spring Summer 2011 we have turned full circle and brought you a trainer which is perfect for any casual daytime event. (4 styles available)

Fondly,

Al

Jason Brewster

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• Author: vanessa@johngoodwin.biz
• Categories: John Goodwin, Menswear

23 March 2011

A Toast to our Mother’s.

As spring finally starts to grace us with sunny skies, lighter evenings and the first bloom of flowers we are allowing ourselves to feel excited for the new season Spring-Summer 2011.

The Ladieswear Department at John Goodwin has transformed itself over the last 3 weeks as we get rid of the old and in with the new stock. Without doubt this season has proved to be one of the best with each of our collections portraying strong looks and a great colour palette.

We are also pleased to announce the introduction of three new collections to our current list of international designer brands: Fabiana Filippi, Paule Ka and Lucca della Lama Hats. All of them available in the shop and the first of Paule Ka is already online.

The first real date in our diaries which marks the beginning of Spring is none other than Mother’s Day. This year I would like to cordially invite you and your Mother and/or daughter to join us for a drinks reception on Friday 1st April between 1pm-6pm at our Windsor store. A small dose of luxury pampering is what every Mum deserves and we think spending the afternoon viewing our beautiful premium designer collections and sipping a glass of bubbly is quite simply the perfect way to start your “Mother’s Day” weekend… you may even find some indulgence in a bit of retail therapy where myself, Sarah and Sandra will be more than happy to help you find something special if you so wish.

I hope to see you all soon and look forward to sharing an enjoyable “Frizzante Friday” with you on April 1st.

Best wishes,

Vicki xx

Vicki Tomkinson

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15 March 2011

Well Styled, Well Made & Value for Money

The sale has come to a close and the new window has gone in signalling the start of the new season. As I write this, new stock is being unboxed in readiness to be uploaded to the website and merchandised on the shop floors. Spring/ Summer 2011 has arrived and to the new stock (so far) is looking great. Phew…

In our quest to bring new and inspiring product to our customers it feels that we have worked even harder than ever to select a focused offer from the world’s leading Fashion Houses, Brands and Factories.

As always, we have done this whilst considering a couple of key values: the garments have to be well styled, well made and offer great value for money. I still see many shop’s buying into a ‘brand’ because it is a ‘brand’. This buying philosophy grates me. I am happy to state this and to let everyone know that I can personally assure you that this is and never will be one John Goodwin’s directives; chasing brands that typically have big marketing budgets is not what John Goodwin is about. Beautiful, well made product that offers value for money is.

Anyhow, what have we found for…

Well, we have found a new shirt house to bolster our Chapter IV shirt offer. The shirts are made in Europe and the fabrics are Italian. These guys also manufacture for some of the most respected Fashion Houses in Italy and the UK but as with all Chapter IV products, as we are able to bypass the royalty that these Fashion Houses take, we can therefore offer you a fantastic value for money shirt.

We are also delighted to announce that John Goodwin is working with Orlebar Brown for SS11. Orlebar Brown is a very well made swim short. Its unique selling point is that it is a swim short that looks like a tailored short. For example, you could wear it with just a shirt and have no trouble strolling into a Portofino restaurant  if you so wished. We are of course still working with Vilebrequin and Polo Ralph Lauren swimwear also and I am happy to say that Vilebrequin’s invisible turtle is back in the collection after a five year absence. We have also bought the large Polo Pony swim short from Ralph Lauren.

Anyhow, I could gush about the new product lines for hours so I better stop. I’ll leave you with a picture of Bruce and I getting to grip with some Corneliani shirts.

Dan

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11 February 2011

2011…

What a busy first few months it’s been – John Goodwin’s long established high street shop is now accompanied by the new www.johngoodwin-online.com. The website is just a few months old and already the two are proving to be a formidable team. We at John Goodwin see many new opportunitues in 2011 as both the high street and online shops work together to bring the best to you.

Before highlighting some of our 2011 plans, a quick look back at 2010 and our Autumn reception; this was a superb evening and a great opportunity for our customers to come together and see up close the Corneliani Made-to-Measure Service and the introduction to Zanacco shoes. Thank you to all that took part and we hope that everyone had a great time at this event.

2011 is already proving to be a busy year and so it should be. We plan to see the website develop, offering you more and more of our collection online. We aim to double our online catalogue, bringing you the very best of the Spring Summer 2011, quicker and earlier.

To keep our aim of product display being a highly dynamic place we are introducing a new aspect to the photography which will present the clothes in a new ways and even more detail than we saw in AW10. Watch this space.

Picture Gallery, launched in Windsor in 2002, feels right at home online. It is a perfect place to browse the gallery and find some of the most iconic faces and places from the 20th Century. Like Menswear and Ladieswear, Picture Gallery will enjoy ’seasons’ of its own in 2011. More details will come later but expect new addtions to the gallery broadening the choice available.

Finally, Loyalty has really taken off in 2010 and we are pleased to see so many enjoying this new part of our service. We have promised our Loyalty members to make it the best reward scheme there is. Already this year we have made plans for to enhance Loyalty which will bring improvements and broaden the service. Expect a blog later on which will bring you the details however for now may i thank all our customers  for being a part of John Goodwin at this time and I look forward to speak to you all again soon.

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• Author: Alexander
• Categories: John Goodwin, Ladieswear, Menswear, Picture Gallery

08 December 2010

New Designers, Menswear AW10.

Autumn Winter 2010 has seen the introduction of a number of new designers at John Goodwin Menswear: Zanacco, Pantofola d’Oro, Franko Bassi, Bagutta and more.

Zanacco bolsters our formal shoe selection and superbly compliments our established collection from Chapter IV. Zanacco’s slogan, ‘Truly Made in Italy’ refers to the company’s philosophy of sourcing all its raw materials from Italy. These shoes are hand made to very high standards whilst also using environmentally friendly practices – these are truly a 21st Century shoe.

Pantofola d’Oro is another well made hybrid shoe/ trainer. Like Zanacco, the quality is unquestionable and the value for money is fantastic. Pantafola d’Oro’s intriguing heritage in football and wrestling is subtly considered in its design.

Both Zanacco and Pantofola d’Oro are as beautiful now as we remember, when we ordered way back in January – (like the rest of the fashion industry we work many months in advance and this is when the Autumn Winter selections are made).

Franko Bassi and Bagutta are two new clothing brands (Tie’s and Shirt’s respectively) introduced at John Goodwin for AW10. They are specialists in their industry and relatively unknown of in the UK. They offer our customers something different and not readily accessible. Both offer a degree of exclusivity in a market place that is increasingly repetitive, something which is unusual whilst most definitely wearable.

The reason for all these new clothing and shoe brands? It has come about through our customers’ request to see newness, even more value for money and most importantly their desire to have something that is unique. Yes, the stalwarts still form an important part of John Goodwin’s repertoire; Ralph Lauren, Armani Jeans, Corneliani and Belstaff are all still here but our customers’ needs are also broadening and we are now beginning to offer new brands to meet these new requests.

Autumn Winter 2010 is proving to be an exciting season for us and paves the way for a highly anticipated 2011. Zanacco can be found on johngoodwin-online.com whilst Pantofola d’Oro,  Franko Bassi and Bagutta will be going online for SS11 – in the mean time they are available at John Goodwin in Windsor.

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• Author: Dan
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27 October 2010

Make way for the ladies…

So, here we are with Autumn Winter 2010 in full swing and what better way to showcase some of this season’s best pieces than on our brand new website. Through a lot of hard work and dedication this website now brings you all the latest collections, from our specially selected designer brands, at the click of a button.

The fashion shows of AW10 drew attention on some key trends gracing us with luxurious knitwear; silk shirts; pretty florals and faux fur. Colours presented a rich palette with classic neutrals, whilst experimenting with textures was key. You can find our current on-line collection on the Ladieswear homepage, where fresh new lines will be regularly added. We also warmly invite you to come visit us at our Windsor store where you will discover plenty more!

I would also like to take this opportunity to share with you the introduction of two new brands to our Ladieswear department for AW10: Bamford and Citizens of Humanity. Both brands have been carefully selected to offer you fresh designs whilst still keeping in sync with our current brand mix.

Ultra luxurious and exclusive brand Bamford is one of kind with the collection providing ethically driven fashion collections and beauty essentials. The product and design is absolutely stunning where fabrics are the integral ingredient of the company’s huge success in its industry. Recognised for their original approach to provide you with a Bamford way of life everything about this brand is sumptuous and addicting! Especially their bath and body collection, which the ladies department at John Goodwin absolutely love. The organic hand and body creams are softly fragrant and light on the skin without feeling greasy or sticky . This introduction of lifestyle items is a new concept for John Goodwin but we reckon women always need a good dose of pampering and with Christmas drawing closer these Bamford smellies are a real treat!

Citizens of Humanity has completed our long anticipated launch of a new denim house in the department. This brand truly defines the concept of quality denim and style. The brand has already been a huge hit amongst our customers this seasons with re-orders already taken place. The super skinny Avedon Slick, although a bit daunting on first sight is what people are describing as “a second skin” yet very flattering. The jegging like Jean has all the functions and weight of a classic denim Jean but moulds to your shape. This brand is here to stay and ladies I must say you will never regret the purchase of this amazing skinny Jean! Be prepared for next years Summer version!

I hope you enjoy browsing our collections and more importantly enjoy our specially tailored on-line shopping experience.

Speak to you soon.

Vicki x

Vicki Tomkinson

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06 October 2010

Holy Moly Brilliant

johngoodwin-online.com has launched and our friends have been asking us the question… “Are we happy with how it has started?” Now this is a difficult question to answer.

In my eyes it started in earnest over 18 months ago and then perhaps some. I have never been involved in a project that has required so much time, manpower and money, which all came about from the loose question “do you think we should have a transactional website?” I am pleased to say i am very impressed and happy with the site and most importantly I am delighted that all the John Goodwin team are still talking to one another!

I have to take my hat off to Big Al (the person who has managed this project and who is also my brother) and to all the John Goodwin team – they did not know what was in store for them in August ‘08 when work started on this project in earnest. A big pat on back. I also want to thank all the other suppliers and contributors that have helped too: chiefly Brilliant UK (the web designers) and Davidson Richards (stock control and John Goodwin Loyalty) but also to the photographers, the integrators, the bank and so many more!

I am not sure if it is time to crack open the champagne, it has indeed only just started. I suppose it could be an opportunity to sit back and say to ourselves ‘job done’ but I know that isn’t our philosophy and despite having just started we have already a list of things that we have identified for improvement that we want to address.

I do hope you too like the site and of course it would be great to get your feedback and hope that you may perhaps find the time to comment on this blog or supply feedback on the site in general.

And to anyone who is thinking about launching a site… fellow retailers, competitors even, I would say to you to get involved. However, before you start give it plenty of thought and then be prepared to use many expletives, work many hours and be prepared to double your budget. Finally, once you have launched expect all this hard work to continue.

Holy Moly.

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• Author: Dan
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