15.02.2026 | 100% chance of rain | Low Tide 10:20am
With the New Year comes a fresh buying season - although January and February are quieter down here in the South West, Roo and I have been busy on the buying trail, sourcing collections from brands new and old for AW26.
Paris is a trip that always comes with great anticipation (and excitement!) - a melting pot of fashion heads, photographers, buyers and designers descend on a small area of the city for a week. Our trip this time round consisted of 3 days and 19 brands - a full back-to-back schedule of mostly Menswear and a sprinkle of new Women’s brands.
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Day 1 got off to a flying start - with a visit to a showroom that is always inspiring, Frizmworks. Utilitarian cuts, brushed yarns and distressed fabrics made up the core of this collection. One of the things I always love about Frizmworks is their use of colour, never a half measure!
A small stroll to view a couple of new brands (soz you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled for those…) left us with an afternoon stop at Gramicci. This collection was heavily inspired by the brands archive and “vintage” Gramicci pieces - an ode to their roots let’s say.
Day 2 followed with even more nice stuff! Beams Boy, Pilgrim Surf Supply and Girls of Dust being the highlights (personal favourites of ours if we’re being totally honest).
There’s something about these particular brands for Roo and I, that when you put something of their’s on, you just feel good. It’s an attention to fit and detail that can set them apart.
Our final day was wall to wall sunshine - perfect for jumping on the lime bikes and meandering our way through the city ticking off the last handful of showroom visits from the list. An annual pilgrimage for us is a visit to “Merci" - a brilliant concept store located on the main Boulevard Beaumarchais. It’s safe to safe it’s become a bit of an institution with shoppers flocking from around the world - serving something up for everyone.
Although it’s a busy time - we also make the most of Parisian food and drink scene when we can. Upon recommendation from Service Works head honcho, Tom - we managed to snag a table at a beautiful restaurant nestled in the heart of the Marai, “Parcelles". If you’re ever in Paris - it’s a must visit! "The Cambridge” - a free-house inspired Cocktail bar was dangerously located just around the corner from where we were staying - safe to say that got a couple of visits too….
Straight back onto the shop floor for a couple days,
our next stop was London.
A wide mix of Women’s, Men’s and Homeware brands were on this itinerary. Nobody’s Child and Indi and Cold started things over - both brands offering up a different style and approach to Womenswear. Nobody’s Child is a brand we’ve become increasingly fond off over the past two seasons - offering up fashion forward pieces with a very competitive price point to boot. Indi’s AW knitwear edit’s always hit the mark - beautiful yarns and a really nice colour palette certainly ticked a box for us…
Day two lead us over to Lambs Conduit Street for maybe, the best Universal Works AW collection we’ve ever had the pleasure of viewing! The mix of fabric, textures and colour had Roo and I itching to piece an order together immediately.
YMC is a brand that is going from strength to strength since appointing their newest creative director, Sage Toda Nation. For AW26 it was no different - flawless was our first thought. The very clever use of materials and shapes actually got us excited for next Winter - which is odd as there’s nothing I’d like more right now that 25’c heat and sun!
To summarise what we've seen in a few words ?
Preppy
Playful
Layers
Earthy
This is a (very) brief overview of AW26!
Nice to see so many brands boldly using colours again!
Firmly with our feet now back on the ground - we’re excited to get stuck into the Spring Summer season.
With a whole host of new brands joining the roster and guaranteed sunshine for the next 5 months (fingers crossed and all that) there’s lots to look forward to….
Until next time for buying diaries :)
Joe
Joe takes over R.Journal
15.02.2026 | 100% chance of rain | Low Tide 10:20am
With the New Year comes a fresh buying season - although January and February are quieter down here in the South West, Roo and I have been busy on the buying trail, sourcing collections from brands new and old for AW26.
Paris is a trip that always comes with great anticipation (and excitement!) - a melting pot of fashion heads, photographers, buyers and designers descend on a small area of the city for a week. Our trip this time round consisted of 3 days and 19 brands - a full back-to-back schedule of mostly Menswear and a sprinkle of new Women’s brands.
Day 1 got off to a flying start - with a visit to a showroom that is always inspiring, Frizmworks. Utilitarian cuts, brushed yarns and distressed fabrics made up the core of this collection. One of the things I always love about Frizmworks is their use of colour, never a half measure!
A small stroll to view a couple of new brands (soz you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled for those…) left us with an afternoon stop at Gramicci. This collection was heavily inspired by the brands archive and “vintage” Gramicci pieces - an ode to their roots let’s say.
Day 2 followed with even more nice stuff! Beams Boy, Pilgrim Surf Supply and Girls of Dust being the highlights (personal favourites of ours if we’re being totally honest).
Our final day was wall to wall sunshine - perfect for jumping on the lime bikes and meandering our way through the city ticking off the last handful of showroom visits from the list. An annual pilgrimage for us is a visit to “Merci" - a brilliant concept store located on the main Boulevard Beaumarchais. It’s safe to safe it’s become a bit of an institution with shoppers flocking from around the world - serving something up for everyone.
Although it’s a busy time - we also make the most of Parisian food and drink scene when we can. Upon recommendation from Service Works head honcho, Tom - we managed to snag a table at a beautiful restaurant nestled in the heart of the Marai, “Parcelles". If you’re ever in Paris - it’s a must visit! "The Cambridge” - a free-house inspired Cocktail bar was dangerously located just around the corner from where we were staying - safe to say that got a couple of visits too….
Straight back onto the shop floor for a couple days,
our next stop was London.
A wide mix of Women’s, Men’s and Homeware brands were on this itinerary. Nobody’s Child and Indi and Cold started things over - both brands offering up a different style and approach to Womenswear. Nobody’s Child is a brand we’ve become increasingly fond off over the past two seasons - offering up fashion forward pieces with a very competitive price point to boot. Indi’s AW knitwear edit’s always hit the mark - beautiful yarns and a really nice colour palette certainly ticked a box for us…
Day two lead us over to Lambs Conduit Street for maybe, the best Universal Works AW collection we’ve ever had the pleasure of viewing! The mix of fabric, textures and colour had Roo and I itching to piece an order together immediately.
YMC is a brand that is going from strength to strength since appointing their newest creative director, Sage Toda Nation. For AW26 it was no different - flawless was our first thought. The very clever use of materials and shapes actually got us excited for next Winter - which is odd as there’s nothing I’d like more right now that 25’c heat and sun!
To summarise what we've seen in a few words ?
Preppy
Playful
Layers
Earthy
This is a (very) brief overview of AW26!
Nice to see so many brands boldly using colours again!
Firmly with our feet now back on the ground - we’re excited to get stuck into the Spring Summer season.
With a whole host of new brands joining the roster and guaranteed sunshine for the next 5 months (fingers crossed and all that) there’s lots to look forward to….
Until next time for buying diaries :)
Joe