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PROENZA SCHOULER FINDS INVESTORS

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Proenza Schouler the company led by designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez said Monday that a new group of private investors have bought back the company in its entirety. That marks an exit for Castanea Partners as well as a group of investors led by financiers John Howard, chief executive officer of Irving Place Capital, and Andrew Rosen, ceo of Theory.

The company said “a significant round of fresh capital has been raised during this process for the purposes of investing in the company’s growth and developmental strategies.”

Proenza Schouler said the money would be used to “enable the brand to expand globally by focusing on its core businesses of luxury ready-to-wear, leather goods and PSWL, as well as continuing to support its existing licensing partners L’Oréal Luxe and Onward Luxury Group SpA.

As part of the shift, ceo Judd Crane and chief financial officer John Paolicelli stepped down Monday and Kay Hong was named ceo. The company said, the designers are thrilled by this opportunity to refocus the company around their original vision and cement the brand as a clear leader in the ever-evolving fashion and retail landscape.

CHANEL IN MOVE

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In a dramatic shift for the company, Chanel Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Chanel Ltd., is transforming its wholesale business into a concession model.

The company plans to operate concession departments in its major accounts, which include Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s. The process began last year with Bloomingdale’s 59th Street location, and this year several others were converted, namely Saks in Greenwich, Conn., and Atlanta and Neiman Marcus in Atlanta. The rest will be phased in over the next year.

“You might be wondering why, after 12 years of relative silence, am I doing a real interview,” said John Galantic, president and chief operating officer of Chanel Inc. “It’s a time of pretty major change here. The old saying is ‘don’t waste a crisis. But I look at it the other way more, which is when the business is very strong and the demand very desirable, there’s much more leverage and leeway to make change. Continue reading →

LOGO OR NOT LOGO

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As recently as a year ago, you didn’t wear logos,” now it’s over. Stars and assorted style-world moguls tricked out in Fendi logo regalia persuaded her otherwise. “Nowadays everything is allowed,”

Fendi is among the latest in a raft of luxury labels to advance the proposition that too much is never enough. Emboldened by the success of logo-ridden skate wear brands like Palace and Supreme, high-end labels including Prada, Balenciaga, Valentino and Chanel have joined the stampede, their monograms stamped on everything from hats to hosiery and, with a nod to the 1990s, the elastic bands of men’s skivvies.

It’s the trend that keeps going and going. This fall, fans of the hypebeast culture can choose from logo-embellished Balenciaga pullovers and embroidered Gucci slippers at Barneys New York, Off-White sweatshirts and camouflage jackets at Saks Fifth Avenue, and Vetements parkas at 10 Corso Como, the newly alighted Milanese purveyor of cooler-than-thou luxury wares in Lower Manhattan. Continue reading →

VICTORIA SWAROVSKI NOT SECRET

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This year’s is one of my all-time favorite looks we’ve done,” mused Monica Mitro, Victoria’s Secret’s executive vice president of brand communication and events, of the coveted 2018 Swarovski Look. Victoria’s Secret Angel Romee Strijd was chosen to strut this year’s Shooting Star Swarovski Look during the Celestial Angel part of the show on Thursday.

The look is collectively adorned with over 125,000 Swarovski crystals — with more than 55,000 on the celestial star wing and 70,000 on the full-body sheer, black bodysuit (worn over a lacy black bra and matching, cheeky briefs). The 3-D mono-wing, which breaks the traditional paired wing concept and was designed by Marian Hose, includes a seven-pointed crystal-encrusted star with circular cutouts and suspended, oversized Chessboard crystals. The look weighs 27 pounds and it took more than 250 hours to apply the Swarovski crystals to the wing alone. Continue reading →

SERGE RUFFIEU OUT AT CARVEN

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Serge Ruffieux confirming his departure from the label via an Instagram post on Monday. The house in a brief statement thanked the designer for his creative input and collaboration. Carven was founded in 1945 by Madame Carven, born Marie-Louise Carmen de Tommaso, a peer of Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain. The famously petite couturier was known for traveling the world with her collections and bringing back a trove of exotic influences.

The house had undergone a renaissance in 2008 under the direction of its then new owner Henri Sebaoun and former artistic director Guillaume Henry, who positioned Carven as a contemporary brand.

After Henry moved to Nina Ricci, Carven initially named Alexis Martial and Adrien Caillaudaud as artistic directors for the women’s collections, and Barnabé Hardy for men’s. Carven then sold a majority stake to Hong Kong-based Bluebell Group in 2016 and suspended the men’s line that year. Continue reading →

ALAIN CHEVALIER DIES AT 87

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Alain Chevalier, co-founder of French luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has died at the age of 87. Chevalier passed away on Thursday at his home in Megève.

In 1987, Chevalier merged his Moët Hennessy group with Henry Racamier Louis Vuitton, forming LVMH. As chairman of the group in 1989, Chevalier found himself at the center of French magnate Bernard Arnault most famous corporate conquest.

Racamier, the leader of the Vuitton family at the time, had enlisted Arnault help in 1988 to ward off raiders of the LVMH leather goods, Champagne, cognac and perfume group, which was publicly traded but controlled by a jumble of bickering families.

At Racamier behest, Arnault took a minority stake. But when Racamier added new conditions to the terms of their deal, Arnault turned on him and pitted family member against family member, launching what became one of the nastiest hostile takeover bids in French history. Continue reading →

HERMÈS IN ZURICH

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Imagine an universe of artistic possibilities full of silk and music, where you can enjoy musical evenings and even become DJ… Yes, I am talking about the Hermès Silk Mix Pop Up store that opened in Zurich the 26th October and will last until November 3rd. I was invited to the press presentation and VIP cocktail held on the 25th October at the Nadja Brykina Gallery.

It’s totally inspired by a record shop where silk square scarfs for men illustrate disc’s sleeves and ties dress the tapes. Each disc is associated to a soundtrack’s extract of the fashion shows from the last eight years. During the event, I had the pleasure to meet and discuss with Christophe Goineau, men’s silk Creative Director. Continue reading →

CHANEL WILLIAMS

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Pharrell Williams arrived at Chanel’s first show in Bangkok on Wednesday night wearing a yellow hoodie festooned with sparkly CC and Coco logos a wink to a new Chaneland Pharrell ready-to-wear and accessories capsule he did for spring 2019.

Chanel said the collection would debut exclusively on March 29, at its new Seoul flagship boutique, followed by select Chanel boutiques around the world from April 4.

Williams has appeared in campaigns for Chanel, composed a song for an original film by Karl Lagerfeld in tandem with its Paris-Salzburg show, and collaborated on Adidassneakers for a Chanel installation at Colette in Paris last year. Continue reading →

LUXURY FLAGSHOP

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Real estate company Hines has bought Colette’s former digs on Rue Saint-Honoré, the hottest street in the property market in Paris, adding the future Yves Saint Laurent flagship to its growing list of high-profile transactions.

The Texas-based real estate firm said its fund behind the deal is an open-ended investment vehicle created in 2006 to buy and manage assets in key European cities and is the fourth acquisition in the past year following other transactions in Dublin, Amsterdam and Edinburgh. Continue reading →

ALIBABA DEAL WITH RICHEMONT

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Richemont said Friday it has joined with Alibaba Group in a strategic partnership to bring the retail offerings of Yoox Net-a-porter Group to Chinese consumers.

YNAP and Alibaba will establish a venture to launch two mobile apps for Net and Mr Porter, with Alibaba providing technology infrastructure, marketing, payments, logistics and other technology support to the JV.
In addition, Net and Mr Porter will open online stores on Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion. The JV will focus on serving consumers in China and extend to Chinese consumers traveling abroad.

“Chinese customers at home and abroad are an increasingly important customer base for Richemont and for the broader luxury industry said Johann Rupert, chairman of Richemont. Continue reading →

COLOR BY KENZO TAKADA

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Never perfumes will have been so ugly. A globally recognised leader in direct selling of beauty and related products Avon, today launch Life Colour, its second fragrance collaboration with world-famous designer Kenzo Takada.

“We’re incredibly excited about the potential of this new fragrance and the opportunities that it will bring to Avon and our Representatives around the world,” said Jonathan Myers, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Avon. “With marketing activation across 50+ markets, this collaboration will be one of the Avon’s biggest launches of the next 12 months. Continue reading →

FUCKING FABULOUS FOR TOM

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Tom Ford, who released “Fucking Fabulous,” an eau de parfum, during his spring 2018 runway show during New York Fashion Week last year.

What was intended as a gimmicky, limited-edition scent went viral. A projected $400,000 in sales turned into $25 million, and the eau de parfum is now permanently part of the brand’s Private Blend collection of fragrances.

“First of all, Tom Ford Beauty owner Estée Lauder Cos. didn’t even want to launch it. I kept calling it Fucking Fabulous and I’d get it back with an asterisk. I was like ‘No no, we’re going to spell it out on the bottle.’ They had such a hard time understanding that. They said ‘You can’t put it online, we can’t sell it in Neiman Marcus … Can you call it ‘F-in Fabulous?’” Continue reading →

PROHIBITED GIVENCHY

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The Verdict: Givenchy’s first new fragrance, meant as a Millennial answer “to Very Irrésistible”, failed to fully impress our panel of journalist. While the scent was immediately recognized for its luxurious blend of ingredients or, as canal-luxe said, for smelling “like money” and a few found it “elegant” and “delicate” the general consensus was that L’INTERDIT is a bit of a snooze. Despite the criticism, at least one journalist realized the house of LVMH ambitions with the fragrance, calling it “an ode…to ladies who still lunch;

A boring, fruity floral like so many since the Nineties.” When you spray the perfume, you have an immediate feeling of a very rich fragrance…but then it becomes too heavy. There is a lack of clarity and distinction certainly extremely quality raw materials, but not mixing well together. Continue reading →

WHO IS LOUISE TROTTER?

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Lacoste, without artistic director since the departure of Felipe Olivera Baptista in spring 2018, has announced the appointment of the British designer Louise Trotter. She is taking over as the new creative director of Lacoste, the sports and leisurewear brand famous for its green crocodile logo.

Trotter, 49, who left the British label Joseph in July after leading it for nearly a decade, replaces the Portuguese designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista who parted company with Lacoste in May.

In her twenties, Trotter worked in Italy and Paris. She then moved to New York, and worked for Calvin Klein, Gap and then Tommy Hilfiger. Continue reading →

HER CARA

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Cara Delevingne may have taken a step away from a full-time modeling career, but she always has time for Burberry, where it all started for her. Her latest project for the British label is the campaign for the brand’s new fragrance, Her.

"I wouldn’t be where I am today without Burberry. They gave me my first leg up into modeling, and once a brand gives you a chance, others start to take notice," Delevingne said. "We very quickly became like family, and I really support what they do in terms of promoting equal rights for the LGBTQ community, and animal rights. They are moving ahead and spreading a good message.

The message of the brand’s latest campaign centers on London, Delevingne’s hometown, and also brings together the old and new Burberry. Riccardo Tisci, the brand’s new chief creative officer, showed his first collection last month, filled with new patterns, textures and shapes and a fresh take on men’s tailoring. Continue reading →

DIEGO SAYS NO WAY

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On Tuesday, at the 2018 Milano Fashion Global Summit, Della Valle, Tod’s chairman and chief executive officer, stated : “We are buyers, not sellers”. It was clearly announced. Tod’s brand is not for sale.

As reported in February, the Italian luxury group is overturning its business model and launching a new project called Tod’s Factory, in a reference to Andy Warhol. Employing a system mirroring the streetwear drop, the company is to release a mix of capsules and limited editions in collaboration with different designers and friends of the house. Last month in Paris, Tod’s unveiled a capsule collection with Alessandro Dell’Acqua, which will hit stores in mid-November. Continue reading →

LVMH DRAWS CROWDS IN PARIS

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The long queues in front of leading luxury stores in Paris this weekend might suggest they were holding the high-end equivalent of a Black Friday sale.

But the crowds gathered outside Dior headquarters on Avenue Montaigne, the Guerlain flagship on Avenue des Champs-Elysées or the Chaumet salons on Place Vendôme weren’t looking to part with any cash  just to catch a glimpse behind the scenes of some of the 70 brands that form LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

The event is the brainchild of Antoine Arnault, head of communication and image of LVMH, who launched the biennial initiative in 2011 to counter a perception that the group was only interested in making money.

Antoine Arnault launched the event with a cocktail party on Thursday at the group’s headquarters in front of the new building “the Good Samaritan” where he posed with his father the lord of Luxury, LVMH chairman and chief executive officer Bernard the Great. Continue reading →

FASHION PRE-FALL NEWS

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Donatella Versace will hold her Versace pre-fall collection in New York on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. The date has a special meaning for the designer, as it is her late brother Gianni’s birthday. Details about the location are being kept under wraps.

The decision to show in New York was made before the acquisition of the company last month by Michael Kors Holdings Ltd.. In a $2.1 billion deal, Versace joined the Kors and Jimmy Choo brands under the Michael Kors Holdings umbrella, which is renaming itself Capri Holdings to reflect the growing and changing group.

The first week of December is shaping up as quite a fashionable one, as Chanel has scheduled its Métiers d’Art collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Dec. 4, as reported.

Other brands are bringing their pre-fall collections outside national borders. As reported, Valentino will hold a runway show in Tokyo on Nov. 27 to present its men’s and women’s pre-fall 2019 collection together for the first time, and Dior plans to stage its first men’s pre-fall runway show with a collection designed by Kim Jones scheduled to bow in Tokyo on Nov. 30.

SOPHIE BROCART AT PATOU

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Louis Vuitton has named Sophie Brocart, chief executive officer of Jean Patou, signaling its commitment to reviving the dormant fashion house under the creative direction of Guillaume Henry.

Sidney Toledano, chairman and ceo of LVMH Fashion Group, welcomed her appointment, which confirms the group’s commitment to promoting talents from within its own ranks. “With Guillaume Henry, a talented designer, Sophie is charged with reviving this iconic house, which marked the history of fashion and fragrance. I wish her great success,” he said in a statement.

Brocart has been a key behind-the-scenes talent scout at LVMH, where she has mentored the winners of the annual LVMH Prize for Young Designers. She has also held positions at the group’s headquarters, and at brands including Louis Vuitton and Celine. Continue reading →