FROW News #140: NikeSKIMS Goes Retro, KIKO Raids the Pencil Case & the Fugees Open the Line 👀✨
Party dressing is gathering pace, but there’s a very persuasive fleece waiting in the wings. This week, UNIQLO gets cosy, NikeSKIMS reaches into the archives and a stationery favourite finds its way into the make-up bag.
Elsewhere, there’s a skincare first, familiar voices on a different kind of phone line and someone questioning whether getting older really needs to be another self-improvement project. There’s plenty to catch up on. Let’s get into it. ⬇️
Cecilie Bahnsen Gives UNIQLO’s Fleece a Floral Turn 🌸
Cecilie Bahnsen’s romantic dresses have made the Danish designer a favourite with women who like a little volume. Her second UNIQLO collaboration brings that sensibility somewhere considerably cosier, with fleece jackets, vests and a ruched skirt arriving on 26th November.
Small embroidered flowers soften black, navy, heather grey and pale pink, while adjustable details let you change the shape of the jackets and vests. It’s a way into Bahnsen’s world that can sit quite happily over jeans, rather than requiring an occasion. Women’s jackets cost £39.90, vests £34.90 and the skirt £34.90, with a girls’ collection alongside them. The full UNIQLO and Cecilie Bahnsen collection will be online and in selected UK stores.
NikeSKIMS Steps Into the Seventies 👟
NikeSKIMS is reaching into Nike’s archive for its next trainer. The Waffle Racer (£109.99) brings a slim seventies running shape into the line-up, with a nylon upper, suede and leather overlays and the distinctive waffle-pattern sole that gave the original its name.
The three two-tone colourways bring brown, blue and cream with red into the mix. There’s a wardrobe to go with them, too. The accompanying Retro Sport collection introduces heavyweight French terry fleece with relaxed shapes and vintage-style graphics, alongside lace-up and contrast-trim additions to the Matte range. The Waffle Racer launches on 10th November, followed by the Retro Sport collection on 17th November, through Nike and SKIMS.
Converse Clocks In for the Long Shift 🖤
Long shifts, busy kitchens and barely a moment to sit down. If you work in hospitality, Converse has been thinking about your feet. Its new At Your Service collection gives the familiar Chuck Taylor some practical changes for life on the job.
There’s a slip-resistant diamond-pattern sole and CX cushioning underfoot, with water- and oil-repellent canvas or easier-to-clean leather uppers. High-tops, low-tops and slip-ons all come in black, keeping the recognisable shape while making room for the demands of a working day. Prices run from £60 for the canvas slip-on to £75 for the canvas high-top. The collection lands on 13th November at 9am.
Maebe Has Plans After Seven 🌙
Maebe is taking its pared-back wardrobe out for the evening. The new Evening Edit moves through black, burgundy and taupe, with fitted shapes, tailoring and suede-effect finishes giving the collection a dressier direction.
The £80 Latehour maxi skirt and £60 Power Fitted Bodysuit offer separates for anyone who prefers building an outfit to buying a party dress. Elsewhere, the £120 Sorin tailored mini keeps things shorter and sharper, while the £100 Alba jumpsuit adds a scarf tie to an otherwise simple black silhouette.
Burgundy leather-effect pieces and pinstripe tailoring widen the options beyond black. The Evening Edit is available now, with UK sizes 4-20 listed across the collection.
H&M Studio Dresses for a Grand Entrance 🎭
A full taffeta skirt has a way of making an entrance before you’ve said a word. H&M Studio’s forthcoming Holiday collection pairs one with a scoop-neck jersey top in chocolate brown, bringing a little theatricality to the party-dress search.
Early twentieth-century Parisian opera houses inspired the collection, but there are several ways to interpret the dress code. A scarlet gown has an open back and flared skirt, while a black tuxedo blazer offers an alternative to a dress. Even the outerwear gets its moment, with a sweeping wool coat finished with dark blue satin cuffs and draping at the back.
Accessories include swan-shaped earrings, a bag with a velvet-rope handle and satin ballet flats lined with faux fur. The collection launches on 19th November in selected stores and online.
Chloé Takes Its Romance Out After Dark ✨
Chloé’s festive wardrobe makes a case for keeping the softness in party dressing. Claudia Schiffer wears the new collection in looks that move between lace-edged slips, sparkling black separates and a cloud of pink pleats, with tailoring offering a sharper change of pace.
A flowing dress makes room for a proper occasion, while denim worn with gold jewellery offers a more relaxed way into the evening. The collection gives anyone whose December diary involves more than one kind of invitation something to consider.
The festive collection is arriving in boutiques and online. Among the pieces in Chloé’s festive edit is a long silk lamé and lace dress (£3,615), currently available to pre-order, with delivery depending on the size selected.
Gap’s Knitwear Finds Its Way Into the Bag 🧶
Your jumper isn’t the only thing getting the cable-knit treatment at Gap. The new holiday collection takes CashSoft, the brand’s brushed cotton-blend knit, into bags, with totes and smaller pouches joining its familiar jumpers and cardigans.
The CashSoft tote (£50) comes in beige cable knit or stripes, with shoulder straps, a snap fastening and space for a laptop up to 13 inches. For something smaller, the pouch bags (£30) include cable-knit versions in grey, beige and red, alongside a cream Fair Isle design.
The wider festive collection brings back Fair Isle patterns, striped knitwear and mix-and-match family pyjamas. There’s another kind of giving behind its Christmas campaign, “Give Your Gift”, which celebrates the talents people can share with others. A Cappella Academy, Tonality and Sainted lend theirs through a joint performance of the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There”.
LINZI Joins the M&S Shoe Line-Up 👠
M&S isn’t slowing down as Christmas approaches. LINZI is the latest name to join its online line-up, bringing heels, flats and boots, including wide-fit options.
From a family-run stall at Romford Market in the 1980s to your M&S basket, it’s covered some ground. The brand says 150 styles are coming to the site, with everyday flats sharing space with heels and knee-high boots.
Among those already available are ballet flats (£34), wide-fit pointed courts (£40) and wide-fit knee-high boots (£62). You'll find the collection online only, so this addition won’t require a detour through the food hall.
Katie Piper Wants More Choice in Your Period Drawer 🩲
Period underwear has become easier to find, but choosing the style you actually want is another matter. Katie Piper’s new brand, Piper, puts that choice at the centre, with lace, mesh and seamless designs alongside bamboo styles.
The range runs through thongs, Brazilian cuts, bikinis, high-waisted pants and boxers, with different absorbency options to suit different days. There’s a separate teen collection too. There’s colour in the mix, with The Bare in Tangerine (£13.99), while The Sheer in Black (£21.99) keeps things classic. The debut collection is available online.
KIKO’s New Lip Tint Belongs in the Pencil Case 🖍️
KIKO and STABILO wasn’t a collaboration we saw coming, but here we are, looking at a highlighter for our lips. The familiar chunky marker has acquired an entirely different assignment, becoming a lip tint with a narrow edge for outlining and a broader side for filling in.
The Lip Mark(er) (£12.99) leaves a buildable matte tint, with five shades running from brown and mauve to orange, red and fuchsia. The stationery reference is unmistakable, but the useful part is being able to switch between definition and fuller coverage with the same tip.
Fine Print is the brown, Afterthought the mauve and Pink(er) the fuchsia. The limited-edition collection has already sold out online, just two days after launch, but you can look for it in KIKO stores across the UK, Italy, France, Spain and Germany. Check with your nearest branch for stock before making the trip.
Sophie & Songest Gives Lip Balm a Refill 💋
A lip balm pot doesn’t usually get a second life once you’ve reached the bottom. New British beauty brand Sophie & Songest makes that part of the plan, launching with two vegan balms in refillable glass pots.
Day Drench (£35) is the lighter daytime option, with peppermint and a dewy finish that can be worn alone or over lip colour. Dream Seal (£35) is the richer overnight formula, scented with grapefruit, acai and vanilla. Both combine botanical oils and vitamin E with peptides, giving the day and night products different textures rather than simply different names.
Founders Emma Sutherland and Louise Turk developed the range after struggling to find the lasting comfort they wanted from lip care. Refills cost £25 each, £10 less than replacing the complete pot, with the collection available online.
Sweet Bee Takes the Mushroom Route With PDRN 🍄
Sweet Bee Organics says it’s bringing a world first to skincare. Its new Deep Hydration Mist (£29.99 for 100ml) uses what the brand describes as the first-ever Tremella mushroom-derived PDRN, offering a different source from the salmon-derived ingredient often associated with the skincare trend.
The formula combines it with rose water and organic aloe vera juice, with dry, tight-feeling skin in mind. It brings a mushroom-derived option to a category usually associated with fish, in a mist you can add to your skincare routine. It’s available online.
There’s also a chance of getting your money back. Until 30th November, the brand is refunding every seventh eligible order, up to £1,000, with no code needed. You keep the products, too. The Black November offer has the full details and eligibility terms.
ARMAF Adds Spice to Club de Nuit 🕰️
If your fragrance shelf is starting to resemble a dessert menu, ARMAF has something spicier to consider. The Dubai-born brand’s new Club de Nuit Timeless (£42 for 105ml) opens with black pepper and nutmeg before moving into cinnamon, frankincense and rose, with woods, tobacco and leather adding warmth underneath.
The sage-grey bottle takes the name quite literally, with clockface details and Roman numerals beneath a champagne-gold cap. It joins the Club de Nuit range as a unisex eau de parfum and is available online.
Soho’s Beauty History Gets a Walking Tour 💄
Twiggy’s lashes, punk’s disregard for neatness and Amy Winehouse’s eyeliner didn’t emerge in isolation. A new Beauty Tour from Fashion Sounds LDN follows the relationship between London’s music scenes and the make-up and hair that helped define them.
Founder Rachel Bishop leads the two-hour walk through Soho, moving from the 1960s to the 2000s and bringing the people behind the looks into the story. Along the way, the references stretch from Mod and glam rock to punk and Britpop, tracing how beauty became part of each scene’s identity. Tours cost £60 per person, with groups of up to five meeting at Tottenham Court Road station. Departures are scheduled for 10am and 2pm daily, with bookings available online.
Cynthia Erivo Takes the Stand in Prima Facie 🎬
Content note: sexual assault.
Tessa Ensler knows how to win in court. Played by Cynthia Erivo in Prima Facie, the successful defence barrister has built a career on testing evidence and finding the gaps in other people’s accounts. Then a sexual assault by a colleague forces her to turn to the very system she’s so skilled at navigating.
Adapted from Suzie Miller’s play, the film follows a woman who has worked her way into a profession that once seemed out of reach, only to discover how differently it looks when she needs its protection. If you know Tessa through Jodie Comer’s stage performance, Erivo now brings her own interpretation to the role. Prima Facie reaches cinemas on 13th November, with listings at Cineworld, Showcase and Vue.
Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean Want You to Pick Up ☎️
Usually, hearing new music involves opening a streaming app. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean would like you to pick up the phone. Their FUGEES HOPELINE lets you hear personal messages from the pair and a 60-second preview of a previously unreleased, 20-minute Fugees medley.
Thirty years after The Score, there’s room for your voice, too. You can leave your own message about hope, contributing to a collection of recordings capturing life in 2026. Arts organisation CIRCA is behind the project, which also includes three collage prints, with stamp-signed editions (£200 each) available until 31st December and larger editions hand-signed by both artists (£1,000 each).
If you’re outside the US, you can listen and leave your message through WhatsApp for free. If you’re in the US, call +1 (424) 738-4337.
Jo Brand Has Other Ideas About Ageing 📚
If getting older is starting to feel like another thing you’re supposed to be good at, Jo Brand has a different approach. Her new memoir, Decline and Falling Over (£22, hardback), leaves the pursuit of eternal youth to someone else.
The comedian takes on the aches, indignities and expectations that come with age, alongside the pressure to look as though none of it is happening. There are slippers and dressing gowns in this version of later life, with little enthusiasm for turning it into a programme of self-improvement. For anyone tired of being told to become their best self, it sounds like a welcome change of company. The book is available online in hardback and ebook.
Shygirl Lets Love In on SWALLOW! 🎶
Falling in love has given Shygirl something new to write about. On her second studio album, SWALLOW!, the London singer, rapper and DJ turns towards romance and the things you learn about yourself when you let someone else in.
Following her 2022 debut Nymph, she brings more indie-pop songwriting into her electronic world, making room for guitars and piano. Shygirl has spoken about feeling more confident asking for those sounds, with the album taking shape as she entered her thirties and found herself in love.
The 11-track album includes “Lucky (Hymn)”, “Luvli” and closing track “Eternal”. SWALLOW! is out now, with listening links and digital, CD and vinyl editions available through her website. She’s also taking it on the road with SWALLOW! LIVE, with UK and international dates.
Black Doves Returns With More Dangerous Company 🕵️♀️
Helen and Sam are back, which is reassuring only if you’re watching from the sofa. The second season of Black Doves is now on Netflix, reuniting Keira Knightley’s spy with Ben Whishaw’s hitman.
Helen’s husband is preparing to become prime minister, making the secrets she passes to the Black Doves more dangerous still. Meanwhile, a plot against her handler, played by Sarah Lancashire, pulls Helen and Sam into another test of loyalty. One Day’s Ambika Mod joins as fellow agent Laila, with Neve Campbell also among the new arrivals. If the first series left you wanting more of Helen and Sam’s friendship alongside the espionage, your next watch is ready. The new season is streaming on Netflix.
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