Harrods Set to be Europe’s Number One Destination for Luxury Accessories

This autumn Harrods sees the expansion of its accessories department, which will cover over 40,000 square feet of retail space and extend from four to eight rooms. The Luxury and Designer Accessories rooms at Harrods signify a new chapter for the store, and are set to dominate both the Lower Ground and Ground Floors – creating one of the largest accessory offerings in Europe.

The Ground Floor Luxury Accessories rooms will be dedicated to large mono-brand boutiques from leading international brands. These rooms will be home to handbags, scarves, jewellery, watches, technology cases, wallets and more, alongside a large selection of exclusive designs and services, including Ferragamo’s made-to-order offerings and Louis Vuitton’s monogramming.

Every boutique is a true reflection of the brand, represented with shopfits that allow the customer to become totally immersed in each label.

Luxury Accessories 1 houses Chanel and Louis Vuitton flagships; Luxury Accessories 2 houses Gucci, Prada and Bottega Veneta and Luxury Accessories 3, due to be completed in November, will have the first global Tom Ford accessories boutique, alongside Hermès and Dior. Luxury Accessories 4 (Egyptian Room) and 5 house the leading international labels, while on the Lower Ground Floor, Luxury Accessories 6 (Egyptian Room) will play host to Harrods’ exotic offering with unique designs from Zagliani, Lana Marks, Analeena, Maia N and Ethan K, alongside luxury contemporary brands including Victoria Beckham, Pucci, Christian Louboutin and Reed Krakoff. Additionally, Coach will open in October with an exclusive line of exotic pieces and bespoke services.

New brands to Luxury Accessories for AW12 include Stella McCartney, Coach, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Pierre Hardy and Rochas. On the Lower Ground Floor two new rooms, dedicated to designer accessories, will open. These will champion contemporary labels, diffusion lines and independent designers and will feature handbag, jewellery, watch and smaller accessory brands. New labels include Acne, Jerome Dreyfuss, MCM, Pierre Balmain, Pauric by Pauric Sweeny and Tila March, while DVF, McQ, Tory Burch and See by Chloé open their very first dedicated accessory boutiques.

A bespoke belt bar will also be available from Elliot Rhodes, where customers can choose from an array of leathers and exotics with buckles of varying styles to customise design a unique purchase.

Simon Longland, GMM Accessories at Harrods, comments: “The launch of the new accessory rooms at Harrods addresses the ever-increasing demand from our customers for an even greater offering of unique and luxurious, investment pieces.Quite simply, this significant investment heralds Harrods as the number one destination for luxury accessories.”

In celebration of the opening of the Designer Accessories rooms at Harrods, leading contemporary labels have created exclusive styles for Harrods.

BRAND LISTS:

LUXURY ACCESSORIES: 3.1 Phillip Lim, Alexander McQueen, Analeena, Anya Hindmarch, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Céline, Chanel, Chloé, Christian Louboutin, Coach, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Ethan K, Fendi, Givenchy, Gucci, Hermès, Jimmy Choo, Lana Marks, Lanvin, Loewe, Louis Vuitton, Maia N, Marc Jacobs, MCL, Miu Miu, Mulberry, Nancy Gonzalez, Pierre Hardy, Prada, Pucci, Reed Krakoff, Rochas, Salvatore Ferragamo, Stella McCartney, Tod’s, Tom Ford, Valentino, Victoria Beckham, Zagliani
New for SS13: Proenza Schouler.

DESIGNER ACCESSORIES: Acne, Aspinal, Bracher Emden, Cambridge Satchel Co, DKNY, DVF, Elliot Rhodes, Jerome Dreyfuss, Longchamp, Lulu Guinness, Maison du Posh, Marc By Marc Jacobs, MCM, McQ, Michael Kors, Michael by Michael Kors, Love Moschino, Pauric by Pauric Sweeny, Pierre Balmain, See by Chloé, Tila March, Tory Burch, Vivienne Westwood.
New for SS13: Paul Smith, Rebecca Minkoff, Sophie Hulme.

LUXURY JEWELLERY & WATCH BRANDS: Alexis Bittar, Bex Rox, Burberry, CK Calvin Klein, Deepa Gurnani, DKNY, Emporio Armani, Fendi, Gc, Holy 8, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Miquella, Tory Burch, Toy Watch, Versus for Versace, Vivienne Westwood.

Re-birth of the Cool by Jewellery Designer Gaby Gassner at Artisan Gallery NW10

Gaby Gassner Jewellery Maker

Up-and-coming jewellery designer Gaby Gassner is showcasing some of her fabulous designs in London this month. Gaby Gassner’s successful start as a jewellery maker developed more by default than design. When a beloved French vintage necklace clasp broke, she set about mending it and before she knew it, she was also hooked.

Gaby Gassner at Artisan along with Christa and Wolfgang Haack

Gaby will be displaying her works as a guest exhibitor alongside, acrylic abstract painter Christa Haack and her photographer husband Wolfgang Haack at the Artisan Gallery, 80 Harlesden Road, London NW10 2BE from 7th – 29th September 2012; Wed – Sat 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM.

Gaby Gassner worked on ‘Birth of The Cool’ by David Bailey

German-born Gaby studied in Stuttgart before her career took off in London working with renowned printer Roy Snell before joining Metro Art’s team of specialist printers.  Gaby was asked by the legendary photographer David Bailey and art historian Martin Harrison to work on Bailey’s retrospective 60’s exhibition “Birth of the Cool” which kicked of at the Barbican in London and then travelled for 5 years.

As most of her clients switched from film to digital, Gaby swapped the photographic darkroom for a daylight job in a fast-paced Queen’s Park agency producing photo shoots for top fashion photographers in the UK and Paris.  “Although I enjoyed pulling together shoots I missed being creative,” says Gaby. “My approach is modern, sleek and feminine with a preference for a restrained colour palette reflecting simplicity and harmony, which must be a hangover from my printing days as specialist B&W printer.

We love the look of these B&W-inspired Inky Black, Soft White & Antique Gold by jeweller Gaby Gassner

“All my jewellery is handmade by me with great care and attention to detail. I use various weaving and wire wrapping techniques and my favourite one is the right angle weave. It’s seriously intricate work with 2 needles – from both ends – using a specialist – super durable and thin thread. It takes hours just to make one piece and a lot of patience but I love it never the less. Swarovski, Czech glass beads and semi-precious stones are the perfect partners for this technique.“

Gaby Gassner’s stylish handmade earrings, bracelets and necklaces are also now on sale at the following gift stockists:

Edwards and Todd 25A Museum Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1A 1JU
The Cherry Tree 172 High Road East Finchley, London N2 9AS.
Angela Rose 124 Fortis Green Road Muswell Hill, London N10 3DU.
Or purchase online at http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheJewelleryFactory

Join Gaby’s Facebook page: http://tinyurl.com/

For further information or for special commissioned pieces, email gabygassner@btinternet.com