shopping | Westminster World

Feb142022 by Tanya De, Sub Editor: Ritika BhooraNo Comments

Luxury brands going fur-free – A Timeline

Animal Rights, Business, clothes, Explainers, Fashion, shopping

Dolce and Gabbana and Moncler are amongst the latest luxury fashion brands to bid goodbye to fur! Fashion and fur have a relationship that dates to the 11th century, the journey for luxury moguls to go fur-free has been a bumpy ride. From activists taking over runway shows to vandalising store headquarters and top models posing naked for PETA's “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” campaign that included the biggest models of the time. The industry has seen it all, over the last few years multiple big names have joined the band of being more ethical and sustainable. Image credit: Tanya De The luxury fashion industry has a complicated relationship with the use of fur, it is amongst the worst in the industry for animal welfare for using animal skin such as fur, and leather. While

Is your makeup bag cruelty-free?

Animal Rights, Animals, Blogs, Breaking News, Business, Culture, Data Journalism, economy, Explainers, Fashion, News, shopping, What's Hot, Women, Worldnews

Image by Kloudia Sakowski The EU prohibited the sale of animal tested cosmetic products and ingredients on 11 March 2013 following its ban on animal tested cosmetics just four years earlier. We explored if these regulations are truly practised in the UK. Brands marked with a green star are cruelty-free. Our own research. Walking down the aisles at Boots, you would assume the cosmetics brands you see are vegan and cruelty-free because of this law. Yet upon inspection, we found that the UK has plenty of makeup brands that practice neither. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayyXLmUwkuk Reporter Kloudia Sakowski compares makeup brands and conducts an interview with a Lush employee. Cruelty-free products are products created without the use of animal testing while vegan products

Social media: Millennial’s path to success

Art, Breaking News, Culture, Education, Explainers, Fashion, Instagram, London, Media, News, shopping, Social media

Social media have become a huge part of the lives of millennials. These platforms all started out mostly as post sharing apps and have become successful marketing tools. As of 2020, one billion users per month access the Instagram app. Millions of business accounts are growing on a daily basis. As well as advertising, sponsored posts and the new shopping feature added a few weeks ago, these are all making the app a dominant marketing tool. These platforms are being used as a form of personal expression, sharing experiences - sometimes with financial gain or to build new businesses which in turn is helping thousands of the young people achieve their goals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGh02dWKbb0 We asked Suarvo, a young Londoner who started a business thanks to social med...

Shoppers hit Oxford Street as lockdown lifts

Black Friday, Business, clothes, Covid-19, economy, Fashion, LifeStyle, London, shopping, shopping

Busy store front in Oxford Circus| Photo Credit: Anjali Coronavirus restrictions have had an enormous impact on our daily lives; from jobs to consumer habits and social distancing, businesses and individuals are continuously adapting to survive the lockdown/tier system cycle. The clothing retail market has experienced economic impact across the scale – from businesses increasingly relying on online sales, to some going into administration. The hospitality sector has suffered too, and currently operates under restrictions to support social distancing. Tier 2, the category London is in, does not include restrictions on clothing retailers re-opening since the latest lockdown was lifted last week. Shops like Primark kept some of their branches open through Thursday night.

Dec12020 by Lubna bin ZayyadNo Comments

The issue with holiday deals: fast fashion is not sustainable

Black Friday, Covid-19, Environment, Fashion, LifeStyle, shopping

Shoppers walk around central London. Credit: Lubna bin Zayyad Black Friday and its follow up - Cyber Monday saw retailers markdown products in a bid to get consumers to purchase items leading up to the holiday season. Online retailer Pretty Little Thing caused a commotion over the weekend after introducing their ninety-nine percent off sale. Consumers everywhere expressed their disappointment over missing out on such a huge sale - where clothes were going for as little as fifteen pence. However, many expressed concern over just how sustainable and ethical the major sale was considering the brand is one of many fast fashion retailers on the market. https://youtu.be/Fp1SkkGT5pg Fast Fashion is cheap- but at what cost? In a bid to both create and keep up with demand, bu...

Randy Brits stock up on sex toys during lockdown.

Adults, Breaking News, Covid-19, dating, Health, LifeStyle, London, shopping, Video, Women

People turned to sex toys as restrictions keep couples apart. Photo: Anna Shvets Coronavirus restrictions have sent sales of sex toys soaring, as Brits stock up during lockdown. With nowhere to go, and not much to do, Brits have turned to sex toys to satisfy their sexual urges. In the first two weeks of the March lockdown, sex toys sales increased by 25 per cent, according to the Daily Mirror. The trend has again been repeated during the current lockdown; Zuleika Philips, owner of Pleasure Drum, an online wellness and sex toy shop aimed at women of African heritage, told Westminster World: “Over the Covid period we have definitely seen an increase of about 30% pickup of toys.” In addition, Ms Philips mentioned that they’ve also received a lot more interest from men. C

Food delivering robots: will this be the new normal?

shopping, Tech, Technology

The future of food delivery has arrived. Starship Technologies, a robotics company have expanded their autonomous delivery robots to another town in the UK. Partnering with Co-op, Starship has been delivering food items to residents in Northampton. Photo credit: Ami Gill The small 100 pound electric robots travel up to four miles to deliver food, working around the customers’ schedule. They are quite a sight to see when you are out and about. It’s as though you are in a futuristic world where robots and humans walk side by side. Ordering food with Starship is very simple. Customers download the Starship Technologies app and then shop in the local store. Delivery times vary from 30 - 70 minutes, depending on what you order. Not only can you get small food orders, but Starshi

The fall of the high street outlets: Is it the coronavirus effect?

Black Friday, Breaking News, clothes, Covid-19, Fashion, shopping, shopping, Worldnews

Arcadia Group faces downfall due to the pandemic which brings an end to the empire. Photo credits by Rashi Agarwal Sir Philip Green is the owner of the retail empire Arcadia group that owns high-street brands like Topshop, Topman, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, and Miss Selfridge. Amidst the lockdown, the stores saw a significant drop in footfall while putting 13,000 jobs at risk. Is COVID-19 the only reason for the fall of this huge empire? Why didn't the Arcadia group invest in digital marketing like other brands? Even before Coronavirus took over the world, Arcadia group was struggling against the new online-only fashion retailers like Asos, Boohoo, and Pretty Little Thing. Sir Philip Green didn't invest in the digital business just like rival Zara and so failed to kee...

Silver surfers during COVID-19: standing outside the digital-centered world

Adults, Covid-19, International, London, shopping, Technology, UK news

In UK, more than half of people aged 65 and above (54%) had to turn to online shopping. During lockdown, digital technology set up a lifeline connecting people with the outside world. Online shopping, video calls, and virtual payments greatly support their daily living and well-being at home. However, for a large number of senior citizens, it is the bottomless digital divide opposite conveniences. Photo credited by The People's Daily/ edited by Ningjing Fan A report by the Office for National Statistics indicates 2.5 million over-75s still had never used the internet in 2019. Under the influence of the epidemic, with more than half of people aged 65 and above (54%) had to turn to online shopping. In fact, the milestone development of this generation

Retail workers feel supported as more UK employers pay real living wage

Business, Food, shopping, UK news

Retail workers across UK will enjoy a wallet boost as “real living wage” is increased. The lowest paid staff working in retail and hospitality, care, security etc, will have their minimum hourly pay increased to £10.85 in London and to £9.50 across the rest of the UK. The rises were announced by the Living Wage Foundation to mark Living Wage Week, which fell between 9-15 November this year. More than 250,000 employees at nearly seven thousand accredited firms will benefit from an extra £1,500 a year from this increase. The real living wage is paid by employers voluntarily and is based on the amount of cash people require to cover their day-to-day needs. Announcing the rise, Laura Gardiner, Director, Living Wage Foundation said: "It’s an