ALBERTA IN RIMINI
A message was spelled out on blue T-shirts the designer and 32 volunteers who helped assist the Emilia-Romagna region, which was recently hit by widespread floods, wore to close the show. Continue reading
RODEO DRIVE SAYS NO TO LVMH
There is no longer any suspense surrounding the multimillion-dollar LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton luxury hotel project on Rodeo Drive. LVMH issued a statement acknowledging the defeat of its Rodeo Drive Cheval Blanc hotel project shortly after a special election showed a slim majority against it.
CHANEL THE HEROES OF MONEY
With revenues growing 17 percent last year to $17.22 billion, Chanel’s operating profits grew 5.8 percent to $5.78 billion, closing in on luxury’s ultra-exclusive $20 billion threshold.
Announcing double-digit growth across all product lines, the French fashion house said retail teams cultivated local clienteles during pandemic restrictions, alluding to China’s lockdowns last year that hurt luxury sales.
After adjusting for currency fluctuations and changes in company structure, Asia Pacific revenues increased 14.3 percent to $8.65 billion. In Europe, revenues increased 29.6% to $4.72 billion, while in the Americas, revenues increased 9.5 percent to $3.86 billion.
Chanel unveiled its cruise 2023 collection in Monte-Carlo last year, then repeated the show in Miami later in the year, along with its lavish ready-to-wear and haute couture displays in Paris. In the Senegalese capital of Dakar, the brand unveiled its Métiers d’Art collection, making history as the first European luxury brand to do so.
VUITTON 2023
The assets of Bernard Arnault, who holds a little more than 40% of LVMH shares, have thus melted by 11.2 billion dollars. The reason is not the latest Vuitton Cruise collection, but the German banks believe that “it is time to be more selective” in its investment choices. Continue reading
DIOR RETURN IN 1949
Saturday night, during the rise of the steps of the actress Natalie Portman in a dress from the archives of the house Dior. Between reinterpretation and iconic creation, we reveal the underside of this mythical dress.
And for good reason! This unique piece is a reinterpretation of a Dior model from the fall-winter 1949 Haute Couture collection.
This strapless dress, reworked for the occasion by the workshops of the house of Dior, is composed of tulle fully embroidered with sequins shaded. Here is all the creativity of the Italian, take a vacation in Mexico and make a dress from the archives.
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THE CUCARACHA YA NO PUEDE CAMINAR
Dior’s unbridled conquest of fashion is breathtaking and emulates that of the conquistadors. Here is signora Chiuri playing Hernán Cortés at the conquest of Moctezuma, and the Gran Tenochtitlan (the current Mexico City) located on the salt lake Texcoco, foundation of the city of “Aztecs”.
MYSTERY HAS ALWAYS SURROUNDED CONSUMERS
There has always been a mystery surrounding consumers.In the $20 trillion U.S. economy, personal consumption expenditures account for 70.8 percent.Due to inflation rates, bank failures, and other factors, consumers are skittish right now.Retail’s leaders are left guessing where shoppers are and where they’re going.
Now is a great time to be a merchant. Consumers are spending more on food and consumables, which saw sales increase in the low double digits, while general merchandise sales declined in the mid-single digits.
Consumer shifts show just how fast retail is changing right now as consumers are changing dramatically.The good news here is that new shoppers seem to be sticking at least for the time being but the less good news is that their activity is mostly confined to staples and necessities.
There is a widespread sense that a tougher consumer environment is on the way. Even Johann Rupert, chairman of Cartier-parent Compagnie Financière Richemont, is looking for a volatile year ahead in the U.S. and described the Fed’s sudden move to higher interest rates as “reckless.”
“The United States will not be as buoyant as a year ago,” Rupert said last week. “Will it return?Consumers are spending more, but they may not be getting more, since inflation is at generational highs and eroding purchasing power.With luxury continuing to thrive while economic concerns push more shoppers to the value channel, the space in between has only gotten trickier, with brands really having to stand out. Continue reading
CANNES IN VENISE WITH BVLGARI
Here Bulgari unveiled its latest high jewelry collection, Mediterranea, a tribute to the company’s origins, inspired by founder Sotirio Bulgari’s journey from Greece to Italy. During a conversation at Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel, a hidden gem in Venice, a private building dating back to the 15th century, where Bulgari set up a showroom to show off is collection.
This inclusivity was reflected by the brand ambassadors who attended the show for press and American clients on Tuesday evening, held at the city’s Palazzo Ducale, including Lisa of Blackpink, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Crystal Liu, Hikari Mori, Yang Yang and Lashana Lynch.
In 2023, Bulgari held its event in Venice, as the crossroads of Mediterranean influences, “where the Roman Byzantine Empire fused with the Roman Western Empire to give rise to inclusive and unrivaled arts and architecture.”
VALENTINO RETURNS TO ITALY
Dubbed Valentino The Narratives, the show will take place on June 16 at 2 p.m. at the Università degli Studi di Milano Statale. The event will kick off Milan Fashion Week, which runs through June 20.
While the women’s and couture collections are traditionally unveiled in Paris, this is actually a return to the roots, since founder Valentino Garavani presented his first men’s show in Milan in January 1985. No more Paris and its traffic jams.
In 2022, the house launched Valentino House Essentials, a selection of timeless but ever-changing staples that serve as codes for Piccioli’s creative vision, and the project will continue this year.
Other luxury brands, from Gucci to Versace to Givenchy to Moschino, have moved away from the mixed-use format, where women’s clothing often distracts from men’s clothing. It’s likely to move away from Paris Fashion week as well.
CHANEL IN HOLLYWOOD
Coco Chanel was invited by Samuel Goldwyn to add glamour to the flagging film industry by creating costumes for his United Artists studio.
LUXURY CRITIC, WHERE ARE YOU?
They are called the “Employees of Fear” and it is the lord of the Arnault family who sets the tone with the man from Toledo and his Marand who takes the “Edict of Nantes” for an English woman. But, can we criticize luxury today? Are there still critics in this profession? Because the luxury industries frame journalists and influencers by putting them under a drip of money, paying a salary to these “Dubaï-Brother”,
For my part, I only met tireless scribblers who lived off the brands, fake talents metaphorizing sclerotic words, never speaking with reflection but always with interest. Brands are content with little, because for them it is better to have a good jack who can be bent over and over again, than a dodgy smelling chief who might drop a truth in a moment’s lapse.
If you criticize these groups, and even if this criticism is constructive, they systematically blacklist you to relegate you to the bottom of their cesspool, a sort of luxury purgatory where you have to get down on your knees to show your allegiance before reaching paradise, a compulsory four-legged as a sign of submission.
CHANEL MUSE BARBIE
On Tuesday night, Paris Hilton attended the Chanel 2024 collection fashion show in Los Angeles. She wore an openwork mesh dress and matching cardigan from the French brand. Chanel paired her Barbie-inspired pink ensemble with a matching tweed bag, cream patent leather heels and layered pearl necklaces.
Her blonde hair was styled with a pink bow. Hilton’s makeup included white eyeshadow, pink glossy lips and a touch of chanel blush of course. At the after party, Hilton showed off her DJ skills. She shared videos of the event on her Instagram story, dancing with actress and Chanel muse Marion Cotillard.
She and husband Carter Reum welcomed their first child via surrogate in January. An heir for the hotel group. Hilton released her third book in March. “Paris: The Memoir” became a New York Times bestseller. This confirms that Americans have no culture!
In Los Angeles, where the Writers Guild of America is on strike, Chanel held its fashion show at Paramount Studios. Designed by creative director Virginie Viard, the event featured Sofia Richie, Lil Nas X, Margot Robbie and Elle Fanning, to name a few.
DIOR CRUISE IN MEXICO
After its pre-fall show in Mumbai in March, the French fashion house revealed that it will unveil its 2024 cruise collection in Mexico City on May 20. Probably the house had not yet used all its carbon tax.
Maria Grazia will therefore continue its tradition of collaborating with and copying local artisans.Through this exciting dialogue, the artistic director will highlight the art and some emblematic figures of this country dear to the heart of Dior since the beginnings of the house in 1947, said the brand in a statement. Jacquemus’ big hat popularized by Pancho Villa. Immersion in the heart of the mythical couple Frida & Diego who formed in the 1930s, the most iconic couple in the history of Mexican art.
But also Porfirio Diaz, former head of state, who built many buildings and reorganized the city into neighborhoods. It is in the one of the “Roma” that he impels real changes with a very innovative architecture for the time and the Roman will take us there.For a Fashion the Ruins of Calakmul a must in perspective.
Pancho Villa était connu comme l’un des meilleurs cavaliers de son temps. On l’appelait pour cette raison « Le Centaure du Nord ». Maria aura lu le “CentDior du Nord “.
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BEST-DRESS AT THE CORONATION
The three best-dressed guests at the coronation of King Charles III.Parisian chic was infused into the coronation by Brigitte Macron, who attended with her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron. A pastel pink midi dress and matching Louis Vuitton coat completed her look.
Pippa Middleton, the younger sister of the Princess of Wales, chose a pastel yellow coat dress by British brand Claire Mischevani. She paired it with a matching hat.