Category Archives: BREAKING MODE

MILANO FASHION WEEK

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Blue skies and daily doses of sunshine worked wonders on the mood of buyers, who praised Milan’s creativity and use of color, disco glitter and tailoring. During Milano Fashion Week, Linda Fargo of Bergdorf Goodman said “The weather was an upper for Milan, many collections were on an up and where there was newness, our spend will be up to match,”. Blue skies and daily doses of sunshine worked wonders on the mood of buyers, who praised Milan’s creativity and use of color, disco glitter and tailoring.

Helen David of Harrods said her must-have was “Gucci everything,” while Mario Grauso of Holt Renfrew summed up many of the retailers’ feelings about the Versace show, Donatella’s tribute to Gianni on the 20-year anniversary of his death: “Donatella has dominated the entire week with her tribute collection and reunion of the most iconic models.” Sadly, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Carla Bruni, Helena Christensen, and Claudia Schiffer reunited one time only for the 20th anniversary of Gianni Versace’s death. Continue reading →

GUCCI WALLPAPER COUTURE

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The impeccably curated tableau vivant of artful, ironic juxtaposition features a too-tall putti-painted architectural panel turned on its side against romantic floral wallpaper.

Alessandro Michele arrives with the aura of a rock-‘n’-roll aesthete: Seventies haircut and beard working in concert with his Gucci street-glam regalia: aviator shades; sequined baseball jacket over jeans and dragons on his boots.

In his creative reflexion Alessandro Michele does not think Fashion anymore but prefer to express his vision than beauty: dare the ugly.

Last year Alessandro wondered what should we do in the future collection at his last year first presentation. Now we know. Gucci builds the future of the fashion house on ruins in Milan. Continue reading →

KIM JONES IN VERSACE

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At Versace, discussions are held to recruit the designer Kim Jones, currently men’s artistic director at Louis Vuitton.

Interviewed on the sidelines of the Versus show in London on Sunday, Versace chief executive officer Jonathan Akeroyd declined all comment. A Vuitton spokeswoman also declined comment, while Jones could not be reached for comment.

An extraordinary globetrotter with a passion for wildlife, Jones has no design experience in women’s wear or couture, but has had a storied fashion career, with John Galliano snapping up his graduate collection from Central Saint Martins.

His own men’s wear label, known for its sporty, streetwear edge, lasted for eight seasons and attracted the attention of Dunhill, where he was creative director from 2008 to 2011, when Vuitton came. Continue reading →

HERMES, WHAT’S GROWING ON?

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Hermes sales were up 8.9 percent in the second quarter, down from 13.5 percent in the previous three months. Revenues in the three months to June 30 totaled 1.36 billion euros, representing a rise of 8.3 percent at constant exchange rates.

That compares with a 15 percent rise in revenues at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and a 25.4 percent increase at Kering, which saw net profit surge 77.6 percent thanks to another outstanding performance from its cash-cow brand Gucci.

In the medium-term, despite growing economic, geopolitical and monetary uncertainties around the world, the group confirms an ambitious goal for revenue growth at constant exchange rates. Everybody can dream. Continue reading →

NAMILIA TITS TILTE

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Fashion Weeks are a real opportunity for new designers to make them known. Unfortunately, often we attend to presentation which will never be produced and are better suited for a conceptualized student show than one from a brand trying to sell product. It is a real debate which has been on for quite some time over the traditional fashion week runway format.

Namilia designers Nan Li and Emilia Pfohl seemed far from thoses concerns and have presented a collection inspired of the XVI/XVII centuries.

Therefore not only these clothes cannot be sold and technically there is a real lack of know-how. Those two designers should go back to a fashion school. Continue reading →

PAUL KA AND PARTNERS

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Change Capital Partners has sold a majority stake in French fashion brand Paule Ka to businessman Xavier Marie, and the brand will be parting ways with its chief executive officer and creative director.

Marie, founder and former ceo of furniture and home decor company Maisons du Monde, has acquired an 80 percent stake in Paule Ka, with Change Capital retaining the remaining 20 percent, a spokeswoman of the label said on Wednesday.

Catherine Vautrin, chairman and ceo of the house since February 2015, is leaving to explore new opportunities in Italy. Creative director Alithia Spurri-Zampetti will also be leaving the company after a two-year collaboration.

Paule Ka will not be presenting a spring collection during Paris Fashion Week. Instead, a capsule collection designed by its in-house studio will be shown to buyers at its showroom between Sept. Continue reading →

RICHARD RENÉ AND GUY LAROCHE

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Richard René will be the next Creative Director for Guy Laroche, a veteran of brands including Hermès and Jean Paul Gaultier, has taken the helm of the label Guy Laroche and is slated to show his first collection on Sept. 27 during Paris Fashion Week. He succeeds American designer Adam Andrascik, who had held the post since 2015.

René began his career in 1994 at Hermès as assistant to then-creative director Claude Brouet. Between 1997 and 2004, he worked at Jean Paul Gaultier as assistant on haute couture collections and accessories. He returned to the brand from 2007 to 2011 as designer of men’s collections and women’s pre-collections.

This follows recent changes in creative direction at Lanvin, Givenchy and Chloé — all of whom will be presenting collections by new creative directors in the fall. Continue reading →

NY FASHION WEEK

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Plenty of major names have skipped out of New York Fashion Week; Tommy Hilfiger is off to London for his show and the season has been shortened by one day. Nonetheless, despite, a five-brand departure.

Many designers have felt the allure of Europe; truly major global brands Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors and Tory Burch are still firmly committed to New York.

Proenza Schouler moved to Paris for the couture season in July. While Thom Browne took his menswear show all the way to the Beaux Arts. New York has also suffered the departure of Joseph Altuzarra who will take his spring 2018 show to the French capital. But Altuzarra’s is French nobody is perfect. Continue reading →

LA REDOUTE NO DOUBT

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Amazon will be in France the new digital retailers. That is why Galeries Lafayette announced on Thursday its control over the French clothing and home furnishing catalogue, La Redoute.

It is the start of a move of Department stores to face Amazon. Department stores like Galeries Lafayette are the right balance between physical stores and digital offerings.

La Redoute, which historically belonged to Kering, is a household name in France, selling a broad selection of clothing and furniture. Kering exited the business in 2014 as part of a broader strategy to focus on brands with global appeal, selling the company to La Redoute managers. Continue reading →

CHANEL NEGATIVE RESULT

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Unlike its main competitors, LVMH and Kering, which last year both posted record growth, in 2016 Chanel suffered a fall in sales and profits. After years of steady growth, Chanel indeed continues to slow down. As in 2015, last year the French fashion label, led since 1983 by Creative Director Karl Lagerfeld, saw its net income plummet by 34.8%, down to $874 million (€736 million), while its revenue lost 9%, reaching $5.67 billion (€4.77 billion).

According to the group, the downturn is chiefly explained by the sale of its Chanel Limited UK subsidiary, which accounts for approximately 11% of sales, to another Chanel-owned corporation. “On a like-for-like basis and at constant exchange rates, the results were on par with 2015,” wrote the group in its yearly report, noting also how, among other reasons, in the first part of the year Chanel was affected by the terrorist attacks in Europe, which “had a negative impact on tourist flows and consequently sales.” Continue reading →

VANS AND KARL COOPERATION

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Vans and Karl Lagerfeld have just signed a cooperation to design a footwear and apparel capsule set to be launched worldwide on September 7.

The two brands have fused their respective universes, the Vans’ hallmark checkerboard pattern is revisited using a cameo motif depicting Lagerfeld’s iconic profile.

There will be six interpretations of Vans footwear classics include the Sk8-Hi laceless platform and Old Skool laceless (old school, Karl knows well about it) styles outfitted in leather with the quilted letter-shaped detail atop white platform soles, and a solid black leather Classic Slip-On — also with the quilted letter K. Continue reading →

HAMESBRANDS AND CURVY WOMEN

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Hamesbrands love curvy women and after a year-long of research, the brand has developed new bras, panties and shapewear to meet their clients requirements.

“Curvy” is the new term, and the most preferred one for women  of all age being overweight.

Maidenform brand is introducing Maidenform Curvy shapewear, and the iconic full-figure Playtex brand is introducing the Playtex Love My Curves line of bras and, for the first time, matching panties.

The shapewear, which is offered in new 1X to 4X sizes, fits women that wear US dress sizes 16 to 30 and can be found at major department stores and online starting at $44. Continue reading →

LVMH MASTER OF THE WORLD

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LVMH powered ahead in the second quarter thanks to “outstanding momentum” at its cash-cow Louis Vuitton brand, but reiterated its cautious outlook for the second half as it starts to face tougher comparatives, particularly in Asia.

The parent of brands including Fendi, Sephora, Bulgari and Hennessy said revenues, including for the first-time German luggage maker Rimowa, rose 15 percent year-over-year to 9.83 billion euros in the three months to June 30.

Organic growth was 12 percent, above a market consensus forecast of 10 percent growth. The group said it benefited from a favorable comparison base in Asia as well as France, where activity last year was affected by the impact of terrorist attacks, adding that current trends could not be extrapolated for the full year. Continue reading →

CÉLINE IN TUSCANY

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Several days after announcing the launch of a leather goods training course in partnership with Polimoda, the luxury giant has returned to Tuscany, a region known for its expertise in leather, to unveil a new atelier dedicated to its brand Céline, which will see the light of day in 2019.

The brand, created in 1945 by Céline Vipiana and now helmed by creative director Phoebe Philo, will double the number of its production entities in the Italian region with this latest venture.

With an atelier already opened in Greve, near Florence, the Maison has inked a partnership with the Tuscan to install a new centre in Radda, in the province of Siena. The agreement, which lasts for five years, proposes training on site, as well as research and development. The goal is to develop an industry 4.0 model, over some 2,000 square metres of space dedicated to production, according to local press. Continue reading →

VUITTON NET OF THRONES

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Last week, Louis Vuitton joined the online market likes of Burberry, Gucci and Michael Kors still dominated by local China giants such as Tmall and JD.com.

“This was expected and somewhat overdue — clearly a good sign that the European megabrands are finally entering the Chinese luxury digital market,” said Luca Solca, head of luxury goods at Exane BNP Paribas.

Rogerio Fujimori, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, agreed it was a logical move, since Chinese consumers are increasingly making luxury purchases at home, taking advantage of narrowing price differentials and Chinese government initiatives to streamline customs procedures for e-commerce.

“There is a structural trend toward repatriation in general, and within China, like in any other market, there is a shift to omnichannel, a shift to mobile,” he said. “You have the Millennial segment that is more digital-influenced, that will grow older and they’ll carry on those habits, so I think they’re adapting.” Continue reading →

TALENTS QUIT FASHION HOUSES

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Famous designers are treated like European Premier League football managers: No matter how talented you are. Fashion Industry observers and those who work with designers say it is a sign of these digitally driven times, where the pressure is on to deliver multiple capsule collections and substantial sales growth season after season, to maintain the buzz around a brand and to keep shareholders happy.

Others believe many of those famous talented designers have been too far. They have big ego, ask for outsized salaries, require too much creative control for the brands. Therefore it’s no surprise that some big names have been replaced by younger, hipper and less expensive talents who don’t necessarily feel the need to control every aspect of a brand’s identity. Continue reading →