Some new London finds through Farfetch’s Discover App
Shoreditch – a part of London covered rather well by Farfetch
My friends and I are at an age now where fast fashion doesn’t quite cut it anymore. We’re all at a level in our careers where we’re able to be a bit more discerning about what we buy and where we get it from rather than desperately hoping that skirt has come down from £25 to £10 in the sales. As someone who now appreciates their hemlines staying firmly sewn on and no random threads showing, I consider this quite an adult point in life (among the obvious many other adult points).
This time last year a good friend of mine introduced me to Farfetch, a website that sources its products from boutiques around the world and gives them a portal to sell their wares online without having to compete with huge companies that have the budget to throw at building a great presence on the web. We were impressed mostly with their business model, but I also admired the range of places they were featuring, the simple layout of the site and the fact that there are things in there for a range of budgets (though I will admit, much of it still slightly out of my reach). I kept it on the backburner as a website to follow and come back to when I had a bit more available in my wallet but have enjoyed watching them expand.
The boutiques they source from are mostly in Europe and North America, but they have been expanding to Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Japan and India. I’m sure we’ll also eventually see them collaborating with boutiques in the rest of Asia and Australasia at some point too.
However, that is a bit of a ramble from me. I was recently invited to review their Farfetch Discover App which they launched earlier this month.
This isn’t your usual app created by a fashion company for you to buy clothes on your mobile; it has been designed as a travel app with input from the designers and boutiques they work with along with itineraries by fashion insiders such as New Yorker Leandra, the blogging goddess behind Man Repeller and London-based menswear designer Martine Rose. This isn’t just about finding the boutiques they source their goods from, but about cool little places the travel guides don’t always tell you about. I like that in London they’ve included places to suit a variety of tastes and budgets.
Somewhere I had no idea existed and now want to visit~
Featured in here are some great finds – like uber chic Ace Hotel which recently opened in Shoreditch (I had breakfast there recently but forgot any form of camera including my phone so didn’t blog about it, but their pancakes with honeycomb butter were sure-fire winners), The Counter Cafe in Hackney, Claridges, The Hunterian Museum, Serpentine Gallery, Sunday Up-Market, Columbia Flower Market, Dukes Bar, Drink, Shop & Do – all places that I am a huge fan of and adore. They’ve even included Denis Servers House which is still on my London list as it’s apparently amazing. Martine Rose’s itinerary pays special attention to Brixton and I now feel the need to get down there and discover it properly.
It uses Google Maps to navigate for you and though the app’s design is simple, attention to detail isn’t spared, hence why my paragraph above barely scratches the surface of the places they’ve featured.
I went to look at what’s around me and came out very impressed with even more to discover in the East End.
The app covers nine cities at the moment and from what I’ve seen so far I’m quite impressed. I’d love to see them do Singapore, Mumbai, Melbourne and Hong Kong as I think city guides made by local fashion and blogging insiders living there in the tone of Farfetch would be fascinating. It has got me intrigued to go back to Paris and New York to see these cities through their eyes and keen to discover Lisbon (home of Farfetch founder Jose Neves) too.
So far so good Farfetch. This is an app that I hope keeps getting updated by city insiders – one to recommend for an upcoming city break (to any of the cities below) or just to rediscover parts of your own city.
Some awesome guides to some awesome cities. Well done Farfetch.
This post was brought to you by Farfetch – however, all opinions on this are my own and I only collaborate with brands I love and respect. The Farfetch Discover App is free to download on iTunes.
