DRIES VAN NOTEN ACQUIRED BY PUIG
Puig, the family-owned Spanish fragrance and fashion firm, has just been acquired by the Belgian fashion label known for its dignified and elegant designs.
“Puig will be the majority owner alongside Dries, who remains, over the long term, a significant minority shareholder,” the companies said jointly in a statement on Thursday. “Additionally, Dries Van Noten will continue as chief creative officer and chairman of the board.”
Dries, baron Van Noten (born 12 May 1958 in Antwerp) is a Belgian fashion designer and an eponymous fashion brand. In 2005, the New York Times described him as “one of fashion’s most cerebral designers”. His style is said to be “eccentric”, and fell out of favor during the long period of minimalistic fashion in the early 1990s, only to make a comeback towards the mid-2000s,culminating with Van Noten’s winning of the International Award of the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2008. Continue reading
CHARLES JEFFREY LOVERBOY LONDON
RED COLOR FOR LOUBOUTIN
The designer Christian Louboutin claimed an important victory in his ongoing battle to trademark red soles, after the European Court of Justice on Tuesday supported the company’s claim that the use of a specific shade of red on the underside of its shoes constitutes a recognizable characteristic of the brand.
The ruling by the European Union’s highest court comes in the context of a dispute between Louboutin and Dutch high street shoe brand Van Haren dating back to 2012. A Dutch district court in The Hague asked the European Court of Justice to rule on the nature of Louboutin’s trademark before it settles the matter.
Louboutin’s lawyers argued, on the contrary, that the trademark consisted of “the color red (Pantone 18‑1663TP) applied to the sole of a shoe,” regardless of the shape of the sole.
At issue was whether Louboutin’s trademark should be considered a shape trademark or a position trademark an important distinction as European trademark law does not protect signs consisting exclusively of the shape of a product. Continue reading
VIKTOR AND ROLF 2019 RESORT
BASQUIAT, SCHIELE AT FONDATION LOUIS VUITTON
This Fall, Egon Schiele and Jean-Michel Basquiat will be both the subject of two separate monographic exhibitions at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. We will celebrate this year the anniversaries of their deaths — both died at 28, in 1918 and 1988, respectively and offers an opportunity to confront the old (Europe at the beginning of the 20th century) and the new (the U.S. in the Eighties) with a focus on lines, through mostly drawings for Schiele and paintings for Basquiat. Many works by the latter have never been shown to the public before as they are drawn from Bernard Arnault’s personal collection. Continue reading
VERSACE RESORT 2019
LIPAULT A GOOD TRIP
Lipault is the latest brand looking to capitalize on the luggage fever sweeping the industry, with a collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier set to launch in August. Following the success of Rimova, a brand of LVMH, that is a good Idea indeed.
Following a line codesigned with Inès de La Fressange last year, the capsule, which will be distributed in Lipault stores and on the brand’s e-shop as well as in select retailers internationally, marks the second hook-up for the French luggage brand since being acquired by Samsonite Group in 2014.
The Gaultier capsule — a first for the couturier, who did bags for his now-shuttered ready-to-wear line but has never before dabbled in luggage — is based around a soft suitcase available in three formats that plays on the house’s masculine/feminine and innerwear/outerwear codes. It has a sober patchwork of pin-striped wool and nylon on the outside and, on the inside, a contrasting pink satin corset to hold items in place. The line includes a range of leather goods and small accessories. Prices range from 69 euros for a toiletry bag to 269 euros for the large suitcase. Continue reading