The Met Gala last week reminded us why fashion still has the power to stop a scroll. Rihanna showed up in an unreleased bronzer, and yes, we clocked everything else that was going on too, but FROW doesn't do clickbait. This week the industry kept moving: Reformation's most coveted dress is back in white just in time for wedding season, NikeSKIMS launches its softest collection yet tomorrow, and there are some brilliant new beauty drops worth knowing about. The FROW News team, as always, has done the work so you don't have to.

NikeSKIMS' softest collection yet is built for the studio and everything after it🧘🏽‍♀️

NikeSKIMS has always understood that the best activewear doesn't announce itself. It just works. Studio Stretch, launching tomorrow, is the brand's softest collection to date: an 11-piece capsule built around Lycra Adaptiv fabric and Nike's Dri-FIT technology, designed for yoga and Pilates but made for wearing all day. Bras, tops, shorts, leggings and an adjustable scoop-back one-piece in neutral tones, Obsidian, Linen and Dark Roast, with minimal seaming, inclusive sizing from XXS to 4X and that second-skin feel Kim Kardashian describes as "almost like wearing nothing at all." The kind of collection that makes everything else in your activewear wardrobe feel like hard work. Prices from £59.99, available tomorrow (Thursday 14th May) at nike.com and skims.com.

Reformation's Sara Linen Dress is back in white, and this time it has a wedding to go to 🤍

Last summer, Reformation's collaboration with stylist Sara Walker became one of the brand's biggest hits. A fitted linen midi with scalloped trim and a belt-buckle detail that sold out faster than most people saw it coming. This summer it's back in white, because Sara Walker is getting married. The dress itself hasn't changed. 100% linen, column skirt, that same clean silhouette. But the energy around it has shifted entirely. Bridal without being overtly bridal, polished enough for a city wedding, relaxed enough for a summer afternoon. Reformation even curated a guest edit for everyone who won't be the one in white. Their own PR line is "sorry to all your other dresses", and they mean it. £278, available at thereformation.com.

Atelier Ninety Five just landed at Selfridges as its first and only retail partner 🖤

There's something quietly significant about a brand choosing Selfridges as its first and only retail partner. Atelier Ninety Five, the contemporary womenswear label built around structured tailoring and fluid femininity, has done exactly that. Founder Melissa Bell has spoken about shopping at Selfridges with her first pay cheque, and now the brand sits on the floor alongside some of the most established names in fashion. The edit is deliberately restrained: lace co-ords, sculptural draped jersey, satin tanks and linen trousers. Pieces chosen to tell the story of the brand rather than flood the floor. With sales up 52% year-on-year and both the suede bomber and oversized trench selling out on launch day, the brand has more than earned its place there. Prices range from £65-£150, available in-store and at selfridges.com.

Daisy and Away That Day just created the most considered jewellery and swimwear collab of the summer 🌊

Most jewellery and swimwear collaborations amount to a matching set and a press release. The Daisy and Away That Day collection is built around a genuinely smarter idea. The same sculptural motifs that run through the jewellery, drop earrings, hoops, necklaces and rings, all in 18ct gold plate and sterling silver with red jasper, reappear as bespoke hardware on the swimwear itself. The bandeau bikini and the earrings aren't just coordinating, they're speaking the same design language. Swimwear comes in Away That Day's Italian ECONYL fabric in black, espresso and ivory, letting the hardware do the talking. As Daisy founder Ruth Bewsey puts it, these are pieces you go to the beach in, travel in, live in. Prices from £79 to £139, available at daisyjewellery.com and awaythatday.com.

Jones Road Beauty just launched its fullest coverage foundation yet, and it still looks like your skin 💄

Bobbi Brown has built her entire post-Bobbi Brown career around the idea that makeup should look like better skin, not makeup. The new Jones Road Beauty Your Skin Foundation Stick is the fullest coverage product the brand has launched to date, and somehow it still holds true to that philosophy. A creamy, buildable stick packed with ceramides, squalane, shea butter and sodium hyaluronate, it blends effortlessly with fingers or a brush, leaving a smooth, natural finish that never settles into that flat, cakey finish foundation sticks are notorious for. As Bobbi puts it, the goal was coverage that feels like nothing. Available in 30 shades at jonesroadbeauty.com and Liberty London, £36.

Rihanna wore an unreleased Fenty bronzer to the Met Gala, and now it's almost yours 💫

When Rihanna shows up to the Met Gala wearing a product that doesn't exist in shops yet, you pay attention. The Fenty Beauty Sun Stalk'r Souffle Pressed Mousse Cream Bronzer was the centrepiece of her golden, crystal-studded look last week, applied by makeup artist Hector Espinal in thin layers to create a dewy, sculpted complexion that photographed like skin, not makeup. The formula is a pressed mousse. A bouncy, skin-melting texture that blurs and bronzes in one step, waterproof, transfer-resistant and designed to warm skin based on undertone rather than a one-size approach. The full look also featured the Shake N' Play Liquid Blush (£25) and Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter (£32), all worth bookmarking. The bronzer launches on Friday 22nd May, exclusively at Boots and boots.com, £32.

ILIA's new mineral SPF finally solves the problem every mineral sunscreen has been ignoring 🌿

Mineral SPF has always had an image problem, and not without reason. The white cast, the tackiness, the finish that makes makeup pointless before 9am. ILIA's Sun Serum Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 was built specifically to dismantle that reputation. A water-burst gel-to-water texture that absorbs instantly into skin, leaving a naturally blurred, non-greasy finish that sits happily under makeup without pilling or sliding. Extended-spectrum protection covers UVA, UVB, visible and infrared light, with 24-hour hydration and all-day oil control built in. Available in two shades, Light-Medium and Medium-Deep, that actually blend rather than sit on the surface. The SPF that finally makes mineral feel like a genuine choice rather than a compromise. Exclusively at Liberty and iliabeauty.com, £40.

Gisou's new hair perfumes smell like a tropical holiday, and they're doing real work underneath the scent 🍍

There's a particular kind of summer product that earns its place not because it's doing something revolutionary but because it's doing something simple exceptionally well. Gisou's two new Honey Infused Hair Perfumes are exactly that. Pineapple Pop, pineapple, coconut and vanilla, essentially a piña colada for your hair, and Coco-Cacao, coconut, milk chocolate and sandalwood, the golden hour version, are both powered by Mirsalehi Honey. A natural humectant that maintains hair's moisture balance, alongside argan oil for shine. They smell like the holiday you haven't booked yet, and the formula is doing real work underneath the scent. £20 each at gisou.com.

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bareMinerals just launched a cheek and lip product that genuinely earns the multi-use claim 💋

The multi-use beauty product has a credibility problem. Too often it does two things adequately rather than one thing brilliantly. The bareMinerals GEN NUDE Dew-In-One Cheek and Lip Stick makes a compelling case for the exception. A creamy, skincare-infused colour balm with acai palm for hydration and mineral silica for a soft-focus blur, it delivers a buildable dewy flush that works just as naturally swept across cheekbones as it does on lips. Five shades from barely-there to a deeper berry, all dermatologist-tested and suitable for sensitive and acne-prone skin. The product that earns its place by genuinely doing both jobs well, and at £20, it's the kind of discovery that feels disproportionately good value. Available exclusively at Cult Beauty and rolling out to all major retailers from 20th May at bareminerals.co.uk.

The chef who won both MasterChef and Great British Menu just opened her first restaurant 🍽️

Nikita Pathakji is the first chef in history to win both MasterChef: The Professionals and Great British Menu Champion of Champions, and rather than take the obvious route, she's opened Maai on Clapham's Abbeville Road with her mother and sister. The menu is modern British with global influences, built around the dishes that made television audiences stop scrolling, including her now-iconic octopus takoyaki doughnut. Intimate, considered and exactly what a first restaurant from someone with this much to prove should feel like. Bookings open from 20th May at restaurantmaai.com.

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The Frida Kahlo Exhibition on Screen arrives in cinemas from Tuesday 19 May, and it comes with the perfect excuse to go twice 🎨

Everyone knows Frida Kahlo's face. Far fewer know the full story of the woman behind it. Exhibition on Screen's award-winning film returns to UK cinemas from 19th May with new footage from the blockbuster Tate Britain and MFA Houston exhibition, offering an intimate look at her life, work and the symbolism woven through her most personal paintings. The timing is deliberate; the film lands one month before the Tate Britain exhibition opens, meaning you can watch it on screen and then go and stand in front of the real thing. The kind of cultural double bill worth planning for. Check listings and book at exhibitiononscreen.com.

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When OpenAI's then-chief technology officer Mira Murati said "some creative jobs maybe will go away, but maybe they shouldn't have been there in the first place" in a 2024 interview, the backlash was instant. For anyone who's ever dreamed of working in fashion, it stung, and the fear isn't unfounded. AI is already embedded in the industry, from design studios to the moment your order gets packed, and most of us haven't noticed.

Some designers are genuinely excited about what AI can do for their work. Norma Kamali has been using a model trained on years of her own archives, pulling generated images as starting points rather than finished pieces. The results still feel completely like her, which is kind of the point. She's using it the way you might use a mood board, not handing the whole thing over.

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Tommy Hilfiger went in a different direction during Metaverse Fashion Week 2023, letting customers design their own pieces through a prompt-based generator, alongside digital clothes you could actually wear across platforms. Whether virtual fashion ever becomes a normal part of how we dress is still anyone's guess, but it gives you a sense of where the industry thinks things are heading.

Behind the scenes, brands like Nike and Zara are using AI to get much better at predicting what we're actually going to buy. Closer to home, M&S has grown its market share significantly off the back of AI-driven digital transformation, quietly becoming one of the UK's most compelling examples of the technology working in fashion's favour. Less guesswork means fewer pieces sitting unsold, and eventually less ending up in landfill. For anyone who cares about the sheer volume of unwanted clothing the industry produces every year, it's one of the more hopeful things AI has to offer.

The problems are real, though. A lot of AI-generated fashion content is landing badly with the people it’s supposed to impress. When Gucci released AI-generated images to promote its PRIMAVERA show at Milan Fashion Week earlier this year, the response was brutal. “Terrible AI sloppy work. Shame on you,” read one comment. “Why should people pay for a luxury brand that doesn’t even respect itself enough to use real people?” read another. Some think it was a calculated move, controversy as marketing, and by the time Demna sent Kate Moss down the runway the internet had spent four days arguing about Gucci before a single look dropped. Whether it was strategy or a genuine misstep, the anger was real either way. Valentino faced a similar pile-on in December 2025 after posting an AI-generated video for its Garavani DeVain handbag, with shoppers calling it “cheap,” “lazy” and “disturbing.” And they’re far from alone. When you’re already questioning whether a brand actually stands for anything, that feeling matters. There’s something about knowing a campaign was generated rather than made that’s hard to shake.

What's interesting is that some designers are responding to this not with words but with their actual clothes. On the Fall 2026 runways, Prada showed intentional abrasions, Emilia Wickstead embraced painterly unfinished florals and Ashlyn put raw-edge tailoring with visible stitching front and centre. Designers are quietly pushing back, and it shows in the clothes.

There's also the question of where AI gets its ideas. These tools are trained on existing images, meaning what they produce is built, in some sense, from designs that already exist. In 2023, three independent designers sued Shein, claiming the brand used AI to copy trending pieces. It's the smaller designers who are most vulnerable here, the ones without the money or the lawyers to fight back. The brands that can afford to sit out a legal battle usually do.

And then there's the environmental side, which doesn't get talked about nearly enough. The servers that run AI use huge amounts of energy and water, so while AI might help cut down on unsold stock at one end, it's creating its own environmental costs at the other, and that's before you factor in the electronic waste the industry quietly generates on top.

None of this means AI is simply bad for fashion. Used well, it can give designers better tools, help brands waste less and make the whole industry a bit less chaotic. But right now it's moving faster than anyone is properly reckoning with, and as usual, it's the smaller designers and emerging creatives who are feeling it first, not the big players who can afford to figure it out as they go.

The sequel the fashion world has been waiting twenty years for lands in cinemas the same week Stella McCartney drops at H&M, adaptive swimwear makes high street history and your skincare routine becomes something you can drink. Quite frankly, the industry has shown up this week.

Stella McCartney is back at H&M and the drop you've been waiting for is almost here ⭐♻️

Twenty years after the original sparked what the Guardian called "McCartney mania" on Oxford Street, people pulling pieces from each other's hands. Stella McCartney and H&M are back. This collection reads like a miniature retrospective of 25 years of the McCartney house: the iconic 'Rock Royalty' studded tee sits alongside sharp tailoring, archival bejewelled prints, a sweeping white gown and six bag styles anchored in Falabella chain detailing, all in recycled metal. The campaign stars Reneé Rapp, Angelina Kendall and Adwoa Aboah, with the NYC launch bringing out Janelle Monáe, Lila Moss and Mark Ronson. If 2005 is anything to go by, it will be gone before the week is out.  Prices start from £27.99, available Thursday 7th May in selected H&M stores and at hm.com.

SKIMS' Riviera collection is about to take over your summer feed 🌊

SKIMS knows how to make a summer drop feel like an event and the Riviera Collection is no different. Bold carmine and obsidian swim, refreshed cotton staples and sheer cover-ups designed for wherever the season actually takes you, not just your vision board. The swim pieces are the talking point: clean, considered and built to look as good out of the water as in it. Bikini bottoms from £62, cover-ups from £94, with the sheer mini kaftan at £126.Available at skims.com.

Marella has found its London home on Marylebone High Street 🛍️

If you've ever wanted to dress like you summer in Italy but live in London, Marella, the contemporary brand from the Max Mara Fashion Group has just made that considerably easier. The brand opened its first London boutique at 8 Marylebone High Street last week, and the address is a natural fit: elegant, considered, not shouting about itself. The launch brought out Gigi Vassallo, Cora Corre and Emilia Silberg, all in pieces from the current collection spanning belted cady jackets, ruffle dresses, and a leather trench that will outlast every trend currently in your algorithm soundtracked by a DJ set from Kim Turnbull. Prices from £125, up to £565 for the leather trench. Shop in-store or at gb.marella.com.

& Other Stories' summer collection understands the assignment ☀️

& Other Stories has always understood that summer dressing isn't really about the day, it's about the moment when the day becomes the night and you haven't gone home to change. The Summer 2026 collection is built entirely around that logic: bias-cut satin dresses, fluid silk tops and slip skirts that carry you from afternoon straight through to late night without a second thought. Floral and paisley prints clash deliberately against primary brights and jewel tones, with cross-strap silver heels, red leather woven sandals and statement rhinestone jewellery doing the finishing work. From £57 for the drawstring top up to £139 for the gathered silk mini dress. Available now at stories.com.

Birkenstock has landed at Oliver Bonas and your summer wardrobe is better for it 🥿

Birkenstock at Oliver Bonas makes complete sense the moment you say it out loud, two brands that have always attracted the same kind of person: quality-conscious, slightly anti-trend, quietly confident about it. Oliver Bonas now stocks the Arizona, Boston and Madrid silhouettes in seasonal colourways including soft pink and powder blue suede, metallic finishes, leopard print and classic tan. Same iconic contoured footbed, same quality, now available on a Saturday browse without a specialist trip. Sizes EU 35–45, prices from £85. Available now in Oliver Bonas stores nationwide and at oliverbonas.com.

Benefit's Dream Sheen Brow Glaze is the glazed brow trend sorted ✨

Glazed everything has had its moment, glazed lips, glazed skin, glazed nails and now Benefit, the number one brow brand worldwide, has arrived at the logical conclusion: glazed brows. Dream Sheen Brow Glaze delivers all-day shine via a dual-sided applicator (brush side for even coverage, flat side for extra colour and intensity), with quinoa peptides for gloss and provitamin B5 for conditioning, all in a waterproof, smudge-proof formula with 12-hour wear. It's the kind of product that makes you wonder why it took this long. Available in three shades: Light, Medium and Deep at £26 from benefitcosmetics.com.

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VIEVE's new Silhouette Stick went viral and for all the right reasons 🎨

Contouring has had a complicated few years, too heavy, too obvious, too much. Jamie Genevieve's VIEVE has quietly solved it with the Silhouette Stick: a creamy, cool-toned contour with a soft-matte finish that melts into skin and sets all day. The cool tone is the whole point, sculpt first, then layer a warmer bronzer over the top for genuine dimension rather than the muddy result you get when both products compete for the same space. It landed on Saffron Hocking last week, applied by makeup artist Nikki Wolf, and immediately started circulating. Six shades, Fair through to Rich at £26 each from vievebeauty.com.

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Kama Ayurveda's first SPF finally makes sunscreen feel like proper skincare 🌿

Most SPFs do one thing and apologise for the rest, white cast, sticky finish, forgotten by 11am. Kama Ayurveda's first launch into sun protection, the Amsuman Daily Sun Shield SPF 50 PA++++, is built on a different premise entirely. A 98% natural-origin base combining Karanja oil (an Ayurvedic botanical with natural UV-shielding properties sourced from Kerala), derm-grade UVA/UVB filters, soybean oil for pollution defence and rice extract to guard against blue light. Invisible on skin, no white cast, and backed by clinical data showing a 90% reduction in skin inflammaging and 100% prevention against visible signs of ageing. The SPF that actually wants to be part of your routine. Available now at kamaayurveda.com, £46.

Floral Street's Bridgerton fragrance is back and in a new format 🌸

The Enchanted Masquerade eau de parfum, Floral Street's bestselling fragrance created for Bridgerton is now available as a perfume mist, and it's worth paying attention to beyond the obvious fandom appeal. The same floral gourmand scent (fresh pear, hazelnut and gardenia over a honeyed rose heart and cedarwood base) but with ActiScent technology, meaning the cabreuva oil actively soothes skin while you spritz. It's also the first fragrance mist in the UK market to use a fully metal-free, recyclable pump. Bridgerton season four has already captivated audiences on Netflix this year, and with season five now in production, the fandom isn't going anywhere. Available now at floralstreet.com, Boots, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis at £24 for 125ml.

Mushus has launched the skincare routine you drink 🫧

Mushus has launched as the UK's first lightly sparkling skincare drink with vegan collagen, and it's already the kind of brand that knows exactly what it is. Founder Bethany Eaton developed the formula after chemotherapy left her skin inflamed and struggling to recover, building her recovery around vegan collagen, probiotics and tremella mushroom. Each can contains 3g of plant-based vegan collagen (claimed to be up to five times more bioavailable than bovine alternatives), clinically studied probiotic HU58, organic tremella mushroom and hyaluronic acid; no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners, under 20 calories per 100ml. Whether you'd call it hydration, elasticity and glow in a can, or simply "giving glass skin" either way, it's working. Available in Raspberry Fizz and Pineapple Fizz, £20 for a six-pack at mushus.co.uk.

Miranda Priestly is back and she hasn't softened 👠

Twenty years after Runway first terrorised Andy Sachs, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is in cinemas and it turns out the wait was worth it. Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci all return, with Andy back at Runway as features editor after her entire newsroom is axed by text at an awards ceremony. Director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna are back too. The film has already grossed $234 million worldwide since opening 1 May, and critics are calling it a sharp, entertaining sequel with more to say about modern media than anyone expected. Lady Gaga and Doechii contribute an original track called Runway. In cinemas now, and yes, it's worth going.

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Forty years of Tracey Emin, all in one place at Tate Modern 🖼️

Tate Modern is currently hosting the largest survey exhibition ever dedicated to Dame Tracey Emin, 40 years of painting, video, textiles, neon, sculpture and installation, including works never previously shown. The exhibition traces her life through her art: from Margate, through personal trauma and surviving cancer, to the expansive paintings that define her practice now. Raw, honest and genuinely moving, this is the kind of exhibition that stays with you long after you've left the building. In partnership with Gucci. Running until 31 August 2026, open daily from 10am with late opening until 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets from £20, ages 12–25 pay £5. Book at tate.org.uk.

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The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is back, gardens, glamour and tickets that never last 🌷

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the one annual event where it's entirely acceptable to spend as much time thinking about your outfit as the garden design and that's exactly why it works. Running from 19 to 23 May at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, this year's edition brings King Charles, Sir David Beckham and Alan Titchmarsh together for The King's Foundation Curious Garden, which alone tells you everything about the kind of occasion this is. Public tickets from Thursday 21 May, from £107 at rhs.org.uk/chelsea, and they will sell out.

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Power dressing took centre stage. The stars returned to London on April 22 for the premiere of the much-anticipated sequel, The Devil Wears Prada 2. Leicester Square was buzzing with anticipation as fans and flashing cameras lined the barriers, eager to catch a glimpse of the A-list icons and, of course, the clothes.

Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway stepped back into the spotlight, reprising their roles, joined by Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt. Their reunion on the red carpet drew some of the loudest reactions of the night, reminding us that the 2006 film helped define modern fashion culture.

Joining them, fashion icon Donatella Versace brought the industry’s legacy to the carpet, reinforcing the premiere’s place within the high fashion space. Rounding out the lineup, rising star Simone Ashley and internet personality Amelia Dimoldenberg brought a fresh energy to the evening.

Naturally, the fashion did not disappoint. Streep leaned fully into Miranda Priestly, dressed head-to-toe in Prada, complete with a striking red coat, while Hathaway stunned in a tuxedo-inspired Versace gown, a subtle evolution from the character audiences first met in the original film. Blunt followed in a custom Balenciaga look in the same iconic red, complemented by Tucci in an impeccably tailored Paul Smith suit.

Structured silhouettes and monochrome statements dominated the carpet, subtly evoking the film’s legacy while still feeling modern. The fashion brief was clear: sharp power dressing, defined by a refined, contemporary edge.

The message was just as clear nearly two decades on, The Devil Wears Prada still knows exactly how to set the tone.

Just be in the room sounds simple until you factor in childcare, cost, and the realities that shape what’s actually possible for many women.

There is a version of the “work-life balance” conversation that gets repeated so often it almost starts to sound like fact. Be visible. Be present. Show up in the room. If you want to progress, you need to be seen. It’s advice that continues to come up across podcasts, panels, and interviews, particularly as conversations around flexible working, remote roles, and career progression evolve.

In some ways, it makes sense. Proximity has always played a role in opportunity. Being physically present can influence perception, access, and ultimately decision-making. But as more women navigate careers alongside caregiving responsibilities, particularly in a post-pandemic working world, that conversation is starting to feel incomplete. Because what is often framed as a question of commitment or ambition is, for many, something far more practical. Affordability.

This isn’t a new issue. For years, reports from organisations like Coram Family and Childcare have shown that childcare costs in the UK remain among the highest in Europe, with full-time nursery places taking up a significant share of household income. The conversation has been there. The numbers have been there. What hasn’t fully caught up is how often that reality is reflected in the advice women are given about how to progress.

High-profile founders and business leaders, including Emma Grede, have spoken openly about the importance of visibility, presence, and what it takes to move forward. And these perspectives are not without value. They are rooted in experience at the highest levels of business, where being in the room can directly influence opportunity. But it’s in these moments, particularly around work-life balance and being “in the room”, that a wider gap begins to show.

Because when we talk about women working, progressing, and positioning themselves for opportunity, childcare is often treated as a logistical detail rather than what it actually is for many: a barrier. There is a version of this conversation that sounds simple on the surface. Be present. Be visible. Be in the office. Put yourself in the room where decisions are being made. In certain environments, that advice isn’t incorrect. Visibility can matter. Proximity can influence opportunity. Being physically present can shift how you are perceived and, in some industries, how quickly you progress. But for many women, particularly in the UK, childcare is not a minor consideration. It is a financial decision that can shape whether working more, progressing further, or even staying in employment feels viable at all.

Full-time childcare costs can rival rent or mortgage payments. For some, they exceed it. And when the cost of showing up in the way you are being advised to show up outweighs the financial return of working, the conversation changes entirely. It is no longer about ambition. It is about feasibility.

This is where the tension sits. When advice is given from a place of high-level experience, global business, executive leadership, and access to support systems, it can flatten the reality of those operating at a completely different level. Not deliberately, but because lived experience shifts. Acknowledging that difference is not an attack on success. It is not about discrediting the work, the strategy, or the discipline it takes to build at that level. It is about recognising that the path is not experienced equally and that advice, no matter how well-intentioned, lands differently depending on where you’re standing.

There are women who want to be in the room, who understand the value of visibility, who are willing to do the work, but are also quietly calculating whether the cost of childcare makes that level of participation sustainable. Whether being present is something they can realistically afford. Whether the system they are operating within actually supports the version of success they are being encouraged to pursue. That is the conversation we are still not having properly. Not in a way that bridges the gap between aspiration and access. Not in a way that reflects the reality of women outside of executive-level environments. And not in a way that challenges the assumption that the same strategies apply equally across every stage of the journey.

Because the truth is, two things can be true at once. Being in the room can matter, and not everyone has equal access to that room. The question is not whether women should show up. The question is whether the structures around them make that possible. And until that is addressed more directly, conversations around ambition, visibility, and progression will continue to feel just slightly out of reach for the women trying to follow them.

This isn’t about rewriting anyone’s story. It’s about recognising where the reality doesn’t match the advice.

A Greater Manchester school’s reported removal of more than 130 books is not just a row over one title. It is a wider warning about who gets to decide what young people are allowed to read and what happens when fear, bias, and overreach take over.

A new report from Index on Censorship has put a far more serious spotlight on school book removals in the UK, and it goes well beyond one title being quietly taken off a shelf. According to its investigation, a secondary school in Greater Manchester removed or targeted more than 130 books from its library in late 2025, with nearly 200 affected if individual graphic novel issues are counted. Among the titles listed were Girl, Woman, Other, We Should All Be Feminists, Men Who Hate Women and Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race.

That alone would be alarming. What makes the story more troubling is the reported treatment of the librarian at the centre of it. Speaking anonymously, she said she was threatened with disciplinary action, labelled a safeguarding risk and ultimately resigned under severe stress. According to the report, the situation began after the headteacher objected to Men Who Hate Women, which had been ordered for older students following safeguarding training on incel culture. From there, the issue appears to have escalated into a much wider removal of books across the library.

This is where the story shifts. It stops looking like a disagreement over age-appropriate reading and starts looking far more uncontrolled. Index reports that books were removed under vague criteria, including whether they were “not written for children”, had themes that “could be upsetting”, or were considered “inappropriate or a safeguarding risk”, with no clear definition of what “inappropriate” actually meant. That left everything from identity-led titles to biographies, classics and graphic novels open to removal.

One title, Twilight, was reportedly flagged for “mature romantic themes, sexual tension, and violence involving vampires and werewolves”, a detail that would almost be laughable if the wider implications were not so serious.

Because this is the real issue, once broad, undefined standards start driving decisions, almost anything can be framed as unsuitable. Books about racism become a problem because they discuss race, while books that reflect different identities become suspect simply for acknowledging lived realities. At that point, it stops being safeguarding and starts becoming censorship dressed up in school language.

The report also raises a concerning point about how some of these decisions were made. In one document seen by Index, the school reportedly admitted that certain book categorisations had been generated using AI and then treated as “broadly accurate”. That should give pause. Librarians are trained to think carefully about context, readership and access, and replacing that judgement with automated categorisation is not just a shortcut; it risks removing nuance entirely.

What also stands out is who is affected first. Not the people making the decisions, but the students who rely on the library. According to the librarian’s account, many of those students were neurodivergent and LGBTQ+, using the space as somewhere consistent and supportive. When the library was temporarily closed as a “safeguarding measure”, that space was removed from them.

The inclusion of Girl, Woman, Other is especially telling. This is a Booker Prize-winning novel by Bernardine Evaristo, one of Britain’s most respected authors, which shows just how wide the net was cast. At that point, the question is no longer whether books are being reviewed carefully, but what perspective is driving those decisions.

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Index on Censorship has described the case as an unprecedented attack on the freedom to read in a UK school setting. Based on what has been reported, that concern is difficult to dismiss. The issue is not just what has happened in one school, but what could follow if this becomes normalised. Librarians may begin to self-censor, schools without clear policies may default to risk avoidance, and students will not stop seeking information; they will simply find it elsewhere, often without context or guidance. That is where the real concern sits, not just in what has happened, but in what it signals going forward.

Restricting access to books does not remove difficult topics from young people’s lives. It removes structured, thoughtful ways for them to understand them, and the world does not become safer because a library becomes emptier; it just becomes less honest.

Looking at the books being removed, a pattern begins to emerge, and it’s not random. Titles like Girl, Woman, Other, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race and Men Who Hate Women don’t just tell stories; they question systems, name inequality, and centre lived experience in a way that is direct rather than softened.

The issue isn’t simply that books are being removed. It’s which voices are being labelled as “too much”. Women writing with clarity about race, identity and power are more likely to be framed as inappropriate, not because their work lacks value, but because it challenges comfort. Once that line starts to blur, safeguarding risks becomes a catch-all, one that can quietly filter out the very perspectives young people may need most.

If a book keeps being challenged, it’s usually not because it lacks value. It’s because it says something people aren’t comfortable hearing. That alone makes it worth paying attention to and worth reading for yourself.

Explore these titles and more through the FROW Book Club on Bookshop.org, and decide for yourself what they have to say.

A new sex-based public harassment offence is now in force in England and Wales, with offenders facing up to two years in prison. But for women who have spent years navigating this behaviour, the real question is whether anything meaningfully shifts. Public sexual harassment isn’t new. The law recognising it more clearly is.

For years, it has existed in that space between being widely experienced and quietly dismissed, reduced to something women are expected to tolerate, work around or ignore. The comments, the following, the blocking of paths, the invasion of space, and the moments that force women to calculate risk in real time and adjust accordingly. This is behaviour that many women have adapted their lives around long before it was clearly recognised in law.

From 1 April 2026, a new offence has come into force in England and Wales targeting harassment carried out because of a person’s sex or presumed sex. Introduced through the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023, it inserts a new section into the Public Order Act 1986, allowing for stronger charges and a potential sentence of up to two years in prison. This is not a completely new category of behaviour being criminalised. It is behaviour that has always existed, now being more clearly defined, and that distinction matters.

The offence applies to intentional conduct that causes harassment, alarm or distress in public spaces, including streets, public transport, shops and venues, and in some cases, online environments where the behaviour meets the same threshold. It also moves beyond the narrow way these conversations are often framed. This is not just about isolated comments shouted in passing. It includes persistent sexual remarks or gestures, obstructing someone’s movement, deliberately invading personal space, unwanted touching, and behaviour that creates a sense of threat.

What actually counts as public sexual harassment?

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For many women, none of this will feel unfamiliar. Data continues to show that women, particularly younger women, are disproportionately affected by sexual harassment, much of it taking place in public. The behaviour this law addresses is not exceptional. It is routine, and that is exactly why this change carries weight. Not because it suddenly solves the issue, but because it removes some of the ambiguity that has allowed it to be minimised for so long. It creates a clearer route for police and prosecutors to recognise sex-based harassment as a serious offence, rather than something that sits just below the threshold of action.

There are, however, realities that sit alongside that progress. The offence still requires proof. It must be shown that the behaviour was intentional, that it caused distress, and that it was driven by the victim’s sex or presumed sex. The impact on the victim is central, not assumed, which means enforcement will define everything. How police interpret the law, how consistently cases are handled, whether victims feel believed, and whether reports lead to action will determine whether this change has any real-world effect.

Guidance suggests victims should be referred to support services quickly and that officers should take a more joined-up approach when handling cases. On paper, that is progress. In practice, it will depend entirely on whether those standards are met. The offence also sits within a wider legal framework, meaning other charges such as stalking or harassment may still apply depending on the circumstances. The system has not been simplified. It has been extended.

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For organisations like Our Streets Now, this moment has been years in the making. The campaign group has spent the past seven years pushing for public sexual harassment to be recognised in law, building momentum through petitions, public pressure and sustained advocacy. Their work has consistently focused on the everyday reality of harassment in public spaces and the impact it has on how women and girls move through the world. This change is not sudden. It is the result of that pressure finally being acknowledged.

Public sexual harassment has never been only a legal issue. It is a cultural one. It exists in what is dismissed as harmless, what is excused as normal, and what people are told not to make a fuss about. It exists in the gap between what women experience and what others are willing to acknowledge. This change begins to close that gap legally. It does not close it socially.

That reality has not changed overnight. The law has changed. Whether behaviour follows will decide whether this is progress, or simply recognition that came years too late.

In partnership with KIKO MILANO.

Beauty counters come and go in Birmingham, but when a brand chooses to reinvest, it usually means something has shifted. That’s exactly what KIKO MILANO is doing, reopening its Bullring store on the 26th March following a full refresh.

It’s not just about the space, though. The reopening arrives with something new in tow: Love Fusion, the brand’s latest complexion range and a clear move towards formulas that prioritise skin just as much as coverage. Performance-led makeup that doesn’t sit heavily or mask what’s underneath.

Fronted by Emily Ratajkowski, the collection leans into hydration, longevity and that “put together without trying too hard” finish. At the centre of it is the Love Fusion 24H Moisture Radiant Foundation (£21.99), designed to deliver 24-hour hydration and skin barrier protection, with up to 16-hour wear in a lightweight, breathable formula.

With 49 shades available, the range leans into inclusivity in a way that finally feels expected, not exceptional. The formula itself is powered by KIKO’s LOVE COMPLEX, combining hyaluronic acid, rose extract and organic barley water to support hydration while helping to maintain the skin barrier. The finish sits in that sweet spot: coverage where you want it but still letting real skin come through more “your skin, but better” than full glam.

Alongside the foundation, the collection includes a matching concealer and highlighter. The Love Fusion 24H Moisture Radiant Concealer (£11.49) focuses on brightening and hydration, with 24 shades available, while the Love Fusion Gleam Dream Highlighter (£11.49) delivers a soft-focus glow with a cushion-like texture that melts into the skin rather than sitting on top of it. Together, they form a routine designed to carry you from morning through to evening without needing constant touch-ups.

The updated Birmingham store will house the full collection alongside KIKO’s wider offering, giving customers the chance to explore everything in a redesigned space. For a brand known for combining Italian beauty trends with accessible pricing, this feels less like a simple reopening and more like a reset.

And if opening day needed any more incentive, the first 100 customers through the doors will receive an exclusive prize. KIKO MILANO Birmingham Bullring, Ground Floor, Moor Street Queensway, Birmingham B5 4BU. Reopening: 26th March 2026 at 11am. For Birmingham beauty fans, it’s one to arrive early for.

The manosphere isn’t just digital noise, it’s shaping how women are spoken about, understood and treated in real life.

The internet has always had its corners, spaces where ideas grow, evolve and sometimes spiral. But right now, one corner is getting louder and harder to ignore. Louis Theroux’s Inside the Manosphere pulls that space into focus, not as a niche subculture sitting on the fringes, but as something far more embedded in everyday online life. Through conversations with creators and communities within this world, the documentary shows how these ideas are being packaged, shared and crucially normalised.

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What presents itself as a response to changing gender dynamics, shifting roles, evolving expectations and a sense of frustration quickly becomes something more fixed. Conversations around masculinity, dating and power are often framed in absolutes, leaving little room for nuance and even less for growth. And for women, the impact isn’t theoretical. Much of the language explored centres around how women are defined, reduced to ideas of value, desirability and usefulness. Not in isolated forums, but across platforms designed to amplify and distribute. What was once contained is now circulating widely, shaping how women are discussed in real time.

This content doesn’t always present as extreme. It’s often conversational, entertaining and easy to engage with, which is exactly why it travels. What’s positioned as advice in one space can land as judgement in another, and women are left navigating both. At the same time, the documentary doesn’t flatten everything into one narrative. There are moments of vulnerability, confusion and men trying to make sense of identity, belonging and expectation. That complexity matters, but it exists alongside ideologies that feel increasingly rigid and, at times, deeply reductive.

At the same time, not everyone watching the documentary is walking away with the same conclusion. Across social media, some viewers have pushed the conversation further, pointing to what sits underneath the surface. In one response, creator @yourmoneymatesarah highlights the vulnerability shown by some of the men featured, but questions whether the frustration being directed at women is misplaced. Instead, she frames it as a reaction to wider systems, capitalism, patriarchy and the pressure to perform, provide and succeed within them. It’s a perspective that shifts the focus entirely. Because if that’s the case, what’s playing out online isn’t just about gender, it’s about displacement. Frustration that doesn’t quite know where to land, and ends up being directed at the most visible target. That doesn’t excuse the rhetoric. But it does complicate it.

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The tension sits in how those realities coexist. As these conversations grow, so does the gap between how they are experienced. What feels like guidance or self-improvement in one context can feel like criticism or dismissal in another, and that disconnect doesn’t stay online. It shows up in dating, in workplaces and in everyday interactions.

Fashion, beauty and media don’t exist in isolation. They reflect what’s happening beneath the surface. The way women are spoken about online inevitably shapes how they are represented, marketed to and engaged with across industries. It influences narratives around confidence, identity and worth, often subtly but with lasting impact. The industry doesn’t sit outside culture. It mirrors it, sometimes more than it challenges it.

The conversation isn’t new. The difference now is how widely it’s being seen, and how normalised it’s becoming. The question isn’t just what these spaces are saying, but what happens in response. From platforms deciding what they amplify, to brands considering where they align, to audiences choosing what they engage with, the next phase of this conversation will be shaped by action, not just awareness.

Theroux’s documentary doesn’t offer neat answers, and it doesn’t try to. What it does is open up a conversation that feels increasingly difficult to ignore. It asks viewers to sit with what they’re seeing, question what’s being presented and recognise how quickly these narratives are evolving. Because the manosphere isn’t just about men. It’s about how gender, power and perception are being renegotiated in real time, and who gets to define the terms.

Fashion month has once again reignited debate around size inclusivity on the runway. While conversations about representation have grown louder in recent years, the presence of curve models on catwalks still appears to fluctuate from season to season.

Every fashion month promises a glimpse into the future of style. Designers unveil their latest collections, creative directions emerge and the runway offers a snapshot of where fashion believes it’s heading next. But alongside the excitement of the shows, a familiar question keeps returning: where are the plus-size models?

It’s a conversation that has followed fashion month for years. Despite ongoing industry discussions about inclusivity and representation, the visibility of curve models on the runway still appears inconsistent, rising in some seasons and falling in others.

Recent tracking from model and inclusivity advocate Felicity Hayward has added further context to the discussion. Through her ongoing #IncludingTheCurve Report, Hayward has been monitoring the presence of plus-size models across the major fashion weeks including New York, London, Milan and Paris, offering a clearer picture of how representation shifts from season to season.

Her latest observations around London Fashion Week suggest that while the number of curve models was slightly lower than the previous season, the overall figures remained relatively close to last year’s totals. The data highlights how even small shifts in casting across a schedule of dozens of shows can noticeably affect representation across the wider fashion month landscape.

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Her findings suggest that while there have been moments of progress, the trajectory hasn’t been linear. Instead, representation often moves in waves, improving in one season, only to decline again in the next.

Representation shouldn’t be a trend that comes and goes with the seasons.

When Inclusivity Is Part Of The Vision

Despite the wider fluctuations seen across fashion month, some designers have demonstrated that consistent size-inclusive casting is entirely possible when it is embedded into the creative vision of a brand.

Christian Siriano has long been recognised for presenting a diverse range of body types on his runway. Curve models regularly appear in his shows as part of the overall narrative of the collection rather than as symbolic additions. The result is a runway that feels natural and considered, where different body shapes are presented as part of fashion’s landscape rather than treated as exceptions.

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A similar approach can be seen in the work of London-based designer Karoline Vitto, whose label has built a reputation for celebrating a range of body shapes on the runway. Rather than adapting traditional designs for different bodies, Vitto’s collections are developed with those bodies in mind from the outset. Her shows consistently feature models across a broad size spectrum, presenting garments designed to move with, and celebrate those forms.

In these moments, representation feels intentional rather than performative.

The Industry’s Ongoing Tension

Fashion has always reflected the wider cultural conversations happening beyond the runway. As body positivity and inclusivity became more prominent in mainstream culture, the industry began responding with more diverse campaigns and casting. But maintaining that momentum has proven more complex.

The runway remains one of fashion’s most visible stages. It signals which bodies the industry chooses to centre, celebrate and present as part of its vision of beauty and style. When representation appears one season and fades the next, it raises questions about whether inclusivity is being treated as a long-term shift or a temporary response to cultural pressure.

That doesn’t mean progress hasn’t happened. Compared to previous decades, the presence of curve models on runways has undeniably improved. Yet the fluctuations from season to season show that the conversation is far from settled.

While the industry has made visible strides in recent years, critics often point out that representation on the runway still lags behind the diversity seen in the real world. Fashion campaigns, social media and e-commerce platforms have increasingly embraced a wider range of body types, yet the runway, often considered the industry’s most influential stage, continues to reflect a narrower vision of beauty. For many observers, this disconnect highlights the gap between fashion’s public messaging around inclusivity and the pace of structural change within the industry itself.

Designers like Siriano and Vitto demonstrate that size-inclusive casting can feel authentic and integrated into the creative direction of a show. The question now is whether that approach will become standard across the industry or remain the exception.

Until then, the debate around representation on the runway is likely to return every fashion month. After all, the future of fashion isn’t only about what appears on the runway, it’s also about who gets to walk it.

Primark has launched its first capsule denim collection made using reclaimed materials, with each piece containing at least 20% recycled denim. It’s a small range, just five pieces across womenswear and menswear but it signals a shift in how the brand is approaching sustainability at a price point most people can actually afford.

Because let’s be honest, sustainable fashion often comes with a price tag that pushes people out. Primark is clearly trying to close that gap, with this collection sitting between £18 and £24 while still tapping into circular design. That means less stretch, fewer mixed materials, and trims that can actually be recycled, all things most shoppers wouldn’t usually think about, but that matter when it comes to what happens after you’re done wearing something.

The denim itself is made using discarded textiles that have been broken down and turned back into cotton fibre, combined with cotton sourced through Primark’s own supply programme. In simple terms, it’s about reusing what already exists instead of constantly producing new.

What’s interesting is that this isn’t being positioned as a one-off “sustainable drop.” It ties into a wider push from Primark to keep clothes in use for longer, from durability testing to in-store repair workshops that show customers how to fix pieces instead of throwing them away.

Whether shoppers are thinking about circular fashion or just looking for a decent pair of jeans under £25, this sits in a space that feels more realistic than aspirational. It’s not perfect, and it’s not pretending to be but it’s a step that feels accessible, which is where most high street brands struggle. Available now in selected stores and through Click & Collect.