VALENTINO ASSOCIATION WITH DEVIL
Valentino has linked with Chinese giant Alibaba to give its Candystud collection some pop in Beijing. Maison Valentino is launching two limited-edition Valentino Garavani Candystud bags, four exclusive sneakers styles and a collection of small leather goods to mark the occasion.
The collaboration will help promote the Valentino Garavani Candystud collection at a Valentino pop-up store in Beijing’s Sanlitun neighborhood and on a 3-D virtual store on Tmall Space, where the platform’s Luxury Pavilion hosts pop-up shops.
Jessica Liu, president of fashion and luxury at Tmall, said, “Valentino’s simultaneous running of a physical Candystud Factory pop-up store in Beijing and online with a Pavilion Tmall Space is a perfect illustration of how luxury brands can leverage Alibaba to engage their consumers and take advantage of the New Retail opportunity.” Continue reading
MUA MUA DOLLS RIYAHD 2018
GUCCI MANUFACTURING PLANT
Gucci is the latest luxury brand to christen a new manufacturing plant near Florence.
“This is the biggest industrial investment in the history of Gucci,” said Marco Bizzarri, president and chief executive officer of the Kering-owned brand. To wit, the ceremony drew François-Henri Pinault, chairman and ceo of the French group.
The Gucci factory joins others opened by Hermès International over the last few years and Louis Vuitton revealing plans to open a new workshop in Beaulieu-sur-Layon in early 2019, following one expected to open in July and another in 2020.
The opening of the new industrial hub capped an extraordinary two years for Gucci, which has seen revenues grow from 3.5 billion euros at the end of 2014 to 6.2 billion euros at the end of 2017. Continue reading
SAUDI ARABIA’S FASHION WEEK
Although Roberto Cavalli cancelled at the last minute the first day of Saudi Arabia’s inaugural fashion week, the show went on anyway. Eager to take part in the historic moment, big European names like Roberto Cavalli and Jean Paul Gaultier had agreed to headline Arab Fashion Week in Riyadh.
The fees for their presence has not been communicated.Staged at the city’s Ritz Carlton Hotel, and served as a strong, symbolic step towards a more liberal economy and female empowerment. But Riyadh is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s larger plan dubbed Vision 2030 which is meant to diversify the oil-dependent nation’s economy and nurture new industries.
Often referred to as MBS, bin Salman is known as Saudi’s “millennial prince.” The 32-year-old just completed a world tour to conjure new business for the Saudi Arabian economy. His meetings with Silicon Valley companies like Facebook and Apple, for example, made headlines worldwide.
Inside, the exclusive crowd of Saudi female VIPs and aristocrats were feeling relaxed, socializing without their abayas or niqabs, snacking on pastries and sipping Arab coffee served by veiled, local women carrying elaborate silver carafes. Continue reading
CARTIER SANTOS
This film is a tribute to Alberto Santos-Dumont and it celebrates his intrepid, thrill-seeking spirit and unstoppable quest to go further. A friend of Louis Cartier, this pioneering aviator was devoted to the skies. His life was dominated by his quest to push the boundaries of the possible and make his dream come true. This story of irrepressible ambition is told in 60 seconds that capture the thrill of adventure and his almost mystical pursuit of take-off.
To capture in images this fearless and free-spirited quest to escape the constraints of reality and attain the unknown, Cartier approached Seb Edwards, a British director who trained in New York and is known for his award-winning campaigns. Continue reading
ALAÏA IN BOND STREET
In what’s shaping up to be a major year for Maison Alaïa in the U.K., the house founded by the late Azzedine Alaïa will open a flagship on Tuesday.
This is the Paris-based Alaïa’s first flagship outside the French capital, where it currently operates two stores and sells at shops including Galeries Lafayette, 10 Corso Como and Harrods.
Located at 139 New Bond Street near to IWC and Fendi the 6,000-square-foot London flagship spans three floors. The space was the former home of the vintage jeweler S.J. Phillips. Continue reading
H&M AND MOSCHINO
H&M’s annual November designer collaboration is always big news and it’s and possibly even more of a headline-grabber this year as the company chose a combination of Coachella, Gigi Hadid and Instagram to unveil the name of the designer brand with which it will be working.
Just after midnight. Designer Jeremy Scott, who presided over the star-studded party, his 12th turn at the festival, should have no trouble translating his Moschino designs into less expensive and just as cheerful versions for the Swedish fast-fashion retailer.
Every year, fashion lovers and bargain hunters alike anticipate news of H&M’s latest designer collaboration the way sports fans wait for draft day. It’s hard at this point, after 16 years of the high-low mash-ups the first of which was with Karl Lagerfeld in 2004 to say which collaboration has been the most spot-on. The Moschino effort may just be one of the more popular, judging from the way fans have snapped up Scott’s designs since he took over as creative director in 2013. Continue reading