It was enlightening to hear from Gianluca Pavanello, CEO of Italian sportswear brand Macron, this week on just how much the brand is growing and what a big player it has become in the UK – now seriously taking on the likes of Nike and Adidas in the sports kit market.

It seems to have gone slightly under the radar, despite Macron sponsoring and providing football kit for clubs including Blackburn Rovers, Stoke City, West Brom, Sheffield Wednesday and Bolton Wanderers – among many others, as well as a growing base of amateur teams across the country.

Last month’s exposure as the sponsor and kit supplier of Crystal Palace, who defeated Manchester City in the FA Cup final, must have been substantial. The FA Cup is the oldest football tournament in the world, and the final is broadcast globally. Macron took centre stage – on the pitch and on the terraces with fans wearing Palace shirts too.

Macron also sponsors and provides kit for half of the Six Nations teams; Italy, Wales and Scotland, as well as a raft of high profile rugby clubs – the most recently added to its roster being Gloucester, joining the likes of Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks, Ospreys and Glasgow Warriors.

Such deals – and the knock-on sales generated from such exposure - have seen the UK become Macron’s number one market, representing 21% of its overall sales with a UK turnover of £41 million (as of 2024).

Now Macron is entering the fashion world with its new Clubhouse sports lifestyle line. The first season’s collection was launched on its website this spring, and season 03 for SS26 has been shown to buyers at Pitti Uomo this week. It will be interesting to see if Macron can hit the highs of its sports kit business with an offer designed to wear off the pitch. The bar has been set pretty high.

On my to do list this weekend is a visit at the Post Office to drop off my e-commerce returns. To be fair, this is rare for me as I keep most of what I buy as I, generally, only buy from a few brands and I know my size and I know what I like. So hopefully I shall not be blacklisted.

Not all ASOS customers can say the same. The e-commerce giant is back in the news this week for closing the accounts of serial returners causing consternation on social media.

I am sure a data-driven business like ASOS will have assessed these accounts and has worked out whether those it has now banished were acting fairly or not. If customers are ordering a lot but also keeping a lot (for instance sending back the sizes and colours they don't want) then that's the normal price of doing business online. Equally new customers finding their way with a brand can take a while to be valuable and loyal. Again, I am sure ASOS knows this.

Of course the risk with this policy is you are going to, inadvertently, upset some people who perhaps feel they do act fairly, but at the same time do send a lot of stuff back (and let's remember, it's not the customer's fault if items arrive and fail to live up to expectations). In those cases, you would hope there is a process in place for the retailer and customer to have an honest conversation and fix it.

I can't blame ASOS, however, for cutting off those who buy heaps of clothes, wear them once on social media (or worse on a night out) and then return them. Or those who return items they have damaged themselves and claim it's an issue with the brand. Or maybe even those who keep buying items they can't afford and sending them back.

Whatever the reasons, I am sure these accounts have been properly analysed. If ASOS can "train" consumers to buy more mindfully then the whole market will benefit.

Back in March, I was invited to swing by Minka Dink's pop-up. After meeting Minnie Royden, the brand's founder, and trying on their extremely well-fitting wardrobe staples with an edge, I needed to know more about the brand that somehow became a Gen Z cult label seemingly over night.

Born in the early days of lockdown with nothing more than a sewing machine, a few zips and two metres of fabric, Minka Dink began life as a passion project for then-university student Royden. The brand started with handmade bags and tops sold online, gaining early traction thanks to a crafty mix of TikTok virality and word-of-mouth buzz.

Fast forward to 2025, and Minka Dink has become one of the UK’s most exciting fashion start-ups, known not just for its versatile, well-fitting staples but for the way it has blended digital-native beginnings with experiential retail.

With a three-month pop-up at 81 King’s Road, which launched this week, and plans for a permanent retail space on the horizon, Minka Dink is proving that physical retail isn’t just alive - it’s thriving when done differently. From 'sip and shop' events to customer supper clubs, Royden is redefining what it means to connect with a fashion audience IRL, and the brand’s rapid growth (revenues were up by 436% last year) is making the industry take notice.

Read the full interview here.