The Guardian - UK (2022-04-30)

Saturday 30 April 2022 The Guardian •

National^29

Raising the spirits

World’s hottest fashion

item? Platform boots

Fleur Britten

Y

ou might think th at
the unfeasibly high,
pumped-up platform
boots made by the
London-based brand
Naked Wolfe would
only enjoy niche appeal. They look
like they would be more at home
with cybergoths or Catwoman
wannabes than the mainstream.
On Wednesday it was revealed
that the six-inch “Spice” platforms
are the hottest item in the world,
according to the fashion app Lyst.
Each quarter, Lyst releases a “heat”
index, ranking the fashion products
that have generated the most sales,

searches and views within its app,

as well as social media engagement.

So how does a £300 Y2K-style

Glam Rock boot that isn’t exactly

suitable for the school run or offi ce

drinks hit the hotspot? The answer

may be TikTok. The video-sharing

platform ha d “levelled the playing

fi eld ”, sa id Katy Lubin, Lyst’s VP of

brand and communications.

“What we’ve seen is lots of

smaller niche brands entering the

conversation. The fashion industry

has always had a gatekeeper

community,” Lubin said , recalling

th e “cerulean ” scene in The Devil

Wears Prada, where the editor-

in-chief, Miranda Priestly ( Meryl

Streep), explains the traditional

trend trajectory to her assistant ,

played by Anne Hathaway. The

colour of her “lumpy, loose sweater

... was selected for you by the

people in this room ”, Priestly says.

Trends, she explains, are decreed

by a small circle of fashion editors.

That was until TikTok. “That

linear trajectory has been

upended,” said Lubin.

The new fashion trajectory

starts with a hashtagged TikTok

video ( #nakedwolfe has had

113.6m views). Then the “power of

community” takes over, explain ed

Cassandra Russell, TikTok’s head

of fashion. “ Before you know it,

you have an army of fashionistas

reviewing your product, and it

just catches fi re. ”

In the case of the platform boots,

fashion-forward celebrities have

helped. During Paris fashion week

last month the model Hailey Bieber

teamed chunky black boots with

a pink silky knee-length dress. In

February Kourtney Kardashian

posed in a pair of the boots and a

strapless bodysuit.

Naked Wolfe’s co-founder Bronte

Mance credits the pandemic for

part of its success. “Consumers

started to broaden their horizons

and it gave brands like ours the

opportunity to showcase our

designs .” At one point they sold

more than 5,000 pairs a week, she

said. “I searched the Naked Wolfe

hashtag and we had 1 m views, two

weeks later we were at over 100m .”

It was worth noting, sa id Lubin,

that “not all of these trends

translate into sales”. Many Gen Z

shoppers, making up 60% of

TikTok users, were unable to aff ord

new designer clothing.

With its ability to publish

instantly, combined with its global

reach , could TikTok be the new

glossy fashion magazine for Gen Z?

“ I t ’ s d e fi nitely less rule-bound than

the glossies,” said Russell. “ The

community keeps it fresh in a way

that other platforms can’t.”

 Celebrity fans

of platform

boots include

the model

Hailey Bieber,

who wore hers

with a silky

dress for Paris

fashion week

PHOTOGRAPH: MARC

PIASECKI/GC IMAGES

Child hepatitis

outbreak: 34

more fall ill as

scientists look

for viral link

Hannah Devlin

Science correspondent

The number of children in the UK suf-

fering from severe hepatitis has risen

to 145, as scientists try to fi nd the rea-

son for the mysterious surge in cases.

The UK Health Security Agency

(UKHSA) announced 34 new cases

but said most children had recov-

ered and no ne have died. There has

been no increase from the 10 children

who have needed a liver transplant,

reported on Monday.

Scientists believe there could be a

link to adenovirus infection, which

has been found in most of the cases,

but continu e to investigate whether

a co-infection, including with Covid-

19, or food poisoning, drug or metal

exposure could be playing a role.

“We are also exploring whether

increased susceptibility due to

reduced exposure during the Covid

pandemic could be playing a role,

or if there has been a change in the

genome of the adenovirus,” UKHSA

said in a statement.

Dr Meera Chand, the agency’s

director of clinical and emerging

infections , said: “ The likelihood of

your child developing hepatitis is

extremely low. However, we continue

to remind parents to be alert to the

signs – particularly jaundice, which is

easiest to spot as a yellow tinge in the

whites of the eyes – and contact your

doctor if you are concerned.”

Prof Deirdre Kelly, a paediatric

hepatologist at Birmingham Wom-

en’s and Children’s NHS trust , said

the surge seemed likely to be related

to the pandemic. She said an inves-

tigative group had found a medical

report from 1924 describing a “surge”

in child hepatitis following the 1918

infl uenza pandemic.

Warning to

travellers to be

vigilant amid

surge in online

holiday scams

Zoe Wood

Britons should take extra care book-

ing their summer getaways as new

fi gures show a surge in online holiday

scams, with travellers being cheated

out of thousands of pounds by fake

fl ight and hotel adverts.

The number of scams linked to

holidays was up by a third in the

year to March 2022. Within that,

fraud relating to fl ight bookings was

13% higher than in 2021 with victims,

on average, losing £3,000, based on

cases being reported to Lloyds Bank.

There was an even bigger increase

in the number of scams linked to

hotels, up 18%, with consumers

typically losing £1,200. Fraud linked

to package holidays was also up by

similar amount, with the average loss

put at £2,300.

By far the biggest increase came

from scams linked to caravan stays,

with the number of cases more than

doubling. However, the average

amount lost in each case was much

lower at £374.

The rise in holiday booking fraud

is the latest front in what has been

described as a national “fraud epi-

demic”. The end of Covid travel rules

has seen a dash to book holidays but

Liz Ziegler, Lloyds bank’s fraud pre-

vention director, said consumers

should “not let their guard down”. “If

it looks too good to be true, it almost

certainly is.”

Many of the scams started with

fake ads on search engines or social

media, with victims clicking on a link

that appeared to take them to a genu-

ine site. Fraudsters also lurked on real

accommodation listing sites, encour-

aging victims to transfer cash directly

rather than via the platform. Other

tactics included sending off ers by

email or text, pretending to be from

a real company, the report said.

“Scammers are ready to cash in on

any last-minute surge in bookings,”

said Ziegler. “Book directly with

trusted sites or travel agents, avoid

following links on social media, and

always pay by card for the greatest

protection.”

Travellers were advised to seek out

holiday companies that off ered Abta

or Atol protection. Lloyds said the saf-

est way to pay for a holiday was with

a debit or credit card.

‘I searched

the hashtag

and we had

1 m views,

two weeks

later we

were at

over 100m ’

Bronte Mance

Naked Wolfe

£1,200

The average amount lost by victims

of fl ight booking scams, based on

cases reported to Lloyds Bank

£3,000

The average amount lost by victims

of scams related to hotel bookings,

as logg ed by Lloyds Bank