Clare Waight Keller is to dedicate the Givenchy Fall 2018 couture show in Paris on July 1 to house founder Hubert de Givenchy, who died in March at age 91.
Givenchy said the collection would be “an homage to his iconic creations, technique and personal lexicon” and a “celebration of his timeless elegance and grace, imbued with Waight Keller’s fresh take on the Givenchy spirit.” Continue reading
For his latest Milan tour, Alessandro Sartori at sunset on Friday led the fashion crowd to the Palazzo Mondadori, a monumental Oscar Niemeyer-designed structure rising out of a flat landscape and framed by a series of concrete arches.
Set in a nature reserve on the edge of the Idroscalo Lake, the spectacular waterside building combining concrete and stone was commissioned in 1968, the same year in which Zegna’s ready-to-wear line was launched. And Sartori saw it as the perfect architectural incarnation of the design principles of his spring collection: “graphic and voluminous, but without weight.”
In his quest for weightlessness, Alessandro Sartori in his development of an athletic sartorial journey experimented with performance fabrics to the lightest of nylons
A bridge stretching across the water, with schools of small fish darting through, had been transformed into a mirrored catwalk bordered with benches, giving guests the feeling of walking on water as they took to their seats. Continue reading
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
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
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
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
Franck Sorbier, in his constant conceptual research on the future of Haute Couture and luxury, maintains his strategy in a post-apocalyptic area. By himself, he maintains the whole values of Haute Couture in this world, to keep the fundaments than others try to erase and to level down in order to be able to raise themselves by a mechanical effect.
We are not at the limit of poetry but we are in pure poetry; a fashion concept looking like a Manet or a Van Gogh. More specifically a moment to forget this world so unfair.
Beautiful memories are also the quintessence of fashion and as Camus used to say: “the way you name things can add to the misery of the world.”
THE NEXT ÉDITION AUTOMNE-HIVER 2018-2019. To book a ticket for Haute couture click here
This is how Chanel last presented a fashion show in the Russian capital in 2009, then, its Métiers d’art Paris-Moscou collection and its traveling photo exhibition “Little Black Jacket” in Moscow in 2012.
But fashion show in Moscow on Thursday night, parading his Paris-Hamburg Art Crafts collection in a vast industrial space for Chanel. The factory touch of our preferred powdery dandy. Continue reading
Alessandro Michele deserves the award for the most dazzling spectacle to date in a season thick with powerful imagery. The Gucci creative director chose the Alyscamps, a Roman necropolis in the southern French city of Arles, as the setting for his show, and took full advantage of the area’s epic history with a nighttime display that transcended space and time with a trove of references ancient and modern. Continue reading
Fuelled by high demand in Hong Kong, Swiss watch sales resumed a strong trajectory of growth, with a 13.8 percent rise in April. The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said Tuesday, foreign sales of Swiss watches were 1.8 billion Swiss francs, or $1.8 billion dollars, led by robust growth in Asia.
The pace of foreign sales of Swiss watches had slowed down in March after brisk increases of 13 percent in both January and February. Sales to Hong Kong, the industry’s most important market, jumped 43.4 percent, the highest monthly rate in six years. Sales in China slowed compared to previous quarters and advanced 11 percent, while Japan continued to mark its recovery with a 9.1 percent rise. Continue reading
Japanese cosmetics group Shiseido has recently appointed Isabelle Gex as President of Global Fragrances, a newly created post. She will start in her new role on 11th June.
Before joining Shiseido, Isabelle Gex founded and directed Stratlux, a French company specialised in mentoring start-ups in the fields of luxury, fashion and the arts. Between 2001 and 2017, she worked for the LVMH group, her latest role being Senior Executive Advisor on mergers and acquisitions. She also formerly worked as International Marketing Director Perfumes and Cosmetics at Chanel.
At Shiseido, Isabelle Gex will be in charge of the fragrance licences for Dolce & Gabbana, Narciso Rodriguez, Issey Miyake, Elie Saab, Zadig & Voltaire, Alaïa and Serge Lutens, the only brand which will continue to operate independently. Gex will report to Franck Marilly, the EMEA region’s CEO for Shiseido, and to Masahiko Uotani, the Shiseido group’s CEO, and will also be tasked with seeking external growth opportunities via brand and licence acquisition. She will oversee the Japanese group’s centre of excellence for fragrances, which is located in Paris. Continue reading
The artistic direction of the brand Létrange, Mathias Jaquemet, wants the brand name to be recognized as a seal of excellence in leather goods”.
Létrange was founded in 1838 by Auguste Lespiaut, a saddler at the former stables of the Palais du Louvre, and was recognised as bigger than Hermès in size,
As the company grew, the range of goods increased ranging from hunting, travel accessories, molded leather bicycle to photography equipment. The brand’s atelier is located in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil. Continue reading
What had been planned as a fairy-tale-like Dior cruise show at the Great Stables of the Domaine de Chantilly, complete with a performance by female Mexican rodeo riders, ended up being hit by a rainstorm that doused the models as they made their way around the semi-open venue. Continue reading
The house was founded in 1945 by the late Madame Carven, the French couturier who traveled the world with her collections. The French contemporary brand and its parent company, Société Béranger, have filed a voluntary petition with the Paris Commercial Court for the French equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the spokesman said.
Carven underwent a renaissance under Sebaoun and the former artistic director Guillaume Henry, who positioned it as a contemporary brand.
After Henry moved to Nina Ricci, the brand initially named Alexis Martial and Adrien Caillaudaud as artistic directors for the women’s collections, and Barnabé Hardy for men’s.
The company, which was “already fragile,” was hit to the tune of several million euros by a delay in the production of its spring 2018 collection designed by Serge Ruffieux, which forced it to cancel deliveries, he explained. Carven, which employs 99 people, has annual revenues in the region of 20 million euros. Continue reading
Charles Delapalme must be the new Diore managing director of commercial activities. The appointment takes effect on June 15, 2018.
“Charles will be taking over from Serge Brunschwig,” Dior said in a press release Tuesday morning. Brunschwig left Dior in January to become president of Fendi, which like Dior is a major fashion house within the giant LVMH luxury conglomerate. While at Dior, Brunschwig’s principal role was overseeing Dior Homme.
Moving in the opposite direction Delapalme joins Dior from Fendi where since 2016 he has been Managing Director of Retail & Wholesale.
While at Fendi, Delapalme reported to Pietro Beccari, the former president of the Roman luxury brand who is became CEO of Dior in January. Continue reading
A collection representing the whole collection of other designers. Who copies who? thank you Mr. Rousteing for this retrospective.
I am a working mother, I am used to juggling schedules! In total, about 50 people worked on the dress, veil, shoes and bridesmaids’dresses. Three thousand, nine hundred hours over the course of four months work.
Clare Waight Keller was born in Birmingham, England on 19 August 1970. She studied at Ravensbourne College of Art, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Fashion, followed by a master’s degree at the Royal College of Art.
She started her career at Calvin Klein in New York as a stylist for the women’s ready-to-wear line, then at Ralph Lauren, for the Purple man line.In 2000, she was hired by Tom Ford to join Gucci, responsible for women’s ready-to-wear and accessories, until her departure in 2004.
After months of speculation about Meghan Markle’s wedding dress, with names including Ralph & Russo, Erdem and Franck Sorbier being tossed around like bridal bouquets, the designer turned out to be Clare Waight Keller.Indeed, the artistic director of Givenchy fulfilled her assignment with such discretion that only she and Markle knew who and what the dress being designed was for. Continue reading
