FASHION RESET WHY

For a long time a symbol of eternity and prosperity, luxury today is facing a deep crisis. While prestigious houses still retain their aura, their model is weakened by economic, social, and cultural upheavals. Several factors explain this decline.

1. An excessive dependence on emerging clientele
For the past two decades, the growth of luxury has relied almost exclusively on the wealthy classes of China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. However, China’s economic slowdown, stricter taxes on imported products, and travel restrictions due to geopolitical tensions have curbed this demand. Houses, overexposed to these markets, are seeing their sales plummet.

2. The erosion of desire in the face of banalization
Luxury is no longer rare. Massive communication campaigns, the omnipresence of logos, and the opening of stores in every capital have turned the exceptional into a commonplace product. What was once reserved for a cultured elite is now within reach thanks to credit or online resale. As a result, symbolic value erodes, and luxury items no longer impress. Continue reading

EXCLUSIVITY VS FAST-LUXURY

During an interview in Milan to comment on his company’s solid results, Brunello Cucinelli reminded everyone that he was speaking on behalf of a house “firmly positioned at the exclusive level.”

“Too often, desirability has replaced exclusivity. An iPhone may be desirable, but it is not exclusive,” he explained.

French groups, however, see things differently: “Why bother with exclusivity when you can sell tote bags with giant logos to everyone?”

While Cucinelli has repeated for years that there are no shortcuts to true quality, some French champions have invented the concept of fast-luxury: XXL margins, XXL outsourcing… and sometimes S-sized quality.

“Young people are wary of companies reporting excessive profits,” added Cucinelli. On the French side, the motto is closer to: “If they don’t see our astronomical profits, how will they know we’re luxurious?” Continue reading

ZHANG RUONAN GIVENCHY’S NEW FACE

It’s official: Givenchy has found its ambassador in China, and her name is Zhang Ruonan. The Chinese star had already hinted at her fashion love affair during Sarah Burton’s very first Givenchy show last March. For the occasion, she wore an asymmetrical papaya-colored dress’ that fruit we’re never quite sure about at breakfast but absolutely adore turning into a fashion statement. In her hand: a mini Antigona bag in box leather, barely big enough to hold a credit card, two Tic Tacs, and a reasonably sized ego.

“Givenchy is a brand I adore very much,” Ruonan declared, proving once again that in 2025 redundancy remains the purest form of love. We’re eagerly awaiting her next compliments: “I adore it enormously,” “I passionately love it a lot,” or even “I freaking love it hardcore.”

At Givenchy, they’re rubbing their hands with glee. A young, glamorous ambassador capable of making papaya suddenly desirable is a surefire guarantee to boost sales faster than a handbag featured in an Instagram story. As for the fans, they’d better prepare for the new Givenchy-Ruonan era: fruity, asymmetrical, and just a little cartoonish.

FM

THE MAN WHO MADE SPROTSWEAR DESIRABLE

In the grand narrative of American style, Perry Ellis wrote a chapter that belonged only to him. Far from the clichés of utilitarian sportswear, he infused it with a charm that was at once classic and free, a playful modernity, never without a touch of gentle irony.

“There are few clothes that have never been made. It’s the little extras that make them unique,” he confided in 1976. Those “little extras” were precisely his signature: a shirt that seemed conventional but was cut slightly oversized; a sweater with rustic undertones, yet reimagined with the elegance of an Ivy League student on holiday in the countryside.

Inside his Broadway studio, chaos reigned: scribbled sketches, toppled fabrics, forgotten paint jars. And at the center of this whirlwind, Perry Ellis remained unshaken. One might think he was choreographing the scene himself stepping over a roll of wool, taking a spoonful of vanilla yogurt with princely calm. A serenity mirrored in his collections: never aggressive, always polished, but never bland.

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FROM THE GRANITES OF BRITTANY TO THE VANITIES OF PARIS

I was leaving behind that millennial Brittany, blessed by its granite, standing like a shoulder of eternity, and when the sky blazed with a burning red, resembling the wrapping of Fahrenheit, which dares to claim it can hold infinity in such a trifling glass bottle, I admired this spectacle of dawn. The roar of the engine and the hoarse power of the 530cc echoed through the narrow streets of Pleslin like thunder rising from the depths of the ages. I was heading back to the capital, and this departure reminded me of mornings from another life, when, thirty years earlier, I tore myself from the warmth of a bed to write to the one I had just left, as if a single hour of absence already carved the abyss of eternity.

The speed and the heat of the waning summer carried me to push the machine beyond the allowed limits, as though dawn itself stirred in me the urge to flee these three Breton months. Along the straights and the bends, I thought back to that dawn of my youth upon which I had invented the ghost of a woman to adore; and it was only at the dawn of my forties that I saw that phantom take flesh. Thus life forges in us invisible idols that we carry within until the day they deign to reveal themselves. Continue reading

MILAN FASHION WEEK SEPTEMBER

Milan is getting ready to turn the heads of broke starlets and cash-strapped actresses eyeing their next Mercedes. So grab your sunglasses and your best jaded stare: Milan Fashion Week is back from September 23 to 29, and this edition promises to be as chaotic as a fashionista’s wardrobe during an existential crisis.

Between a cascade of highly anticipated debuts and Giorgio Armani’s 50th anniversary (yes, already!), it’ll be hard to keep up. Let’s hope Pinault is kind enough to lend us his jet again only for the right journalists, of course. By the way, I was the only one on board last time.

Brace yourself for a tsunami of new faces at the helm of major houses!
Dario Vitale is landing at Versace, Simone Bellotti takes the wheel at Jil Sander, Louise Trotter shows up at Bottega Veneta, and chic surprise Demna is swapping Balenciaga for Gucci. Yes, that Demna, with his post-apocalyptic-sociological aesthetic, is unpacking his bags in Italy. Continue reading

LUXE AUTOPSIE D’UN EMPIRE QUI VACILLE

“They handed over the blueprints, the keys, and the Porsche”: Chronicle of a “Made in France” Industrial Suicide

It was beautiful, it was grand, it was stupid. We’d been promised the conquest of the Middle Kingdom, business class at bargain prices, and 1.4 billion customers who, even if they didn’t speak French, would surely recognize the excellence of our tweed tailors and our composite-material aircraft.

But to set a toe in China, you first had to bend a knee. Joint venture, technology transfer, open every drawer including the one holding industrial secrets. “They copy, but they’ll never know how to innovate,” people would repeat at dinner parties, between a flight to Shanghai and a vintage champagne, with “El Gringo” leading the parade.

The Chinese copied, then they innovated—and goodbye. Back then, COMAC was a joke. A Chinese airplane? More like a flying deep fryer, thought people in the corridors of Airbus. Today, COMAC makes the C919, a serious competitor to the 737 MAX and the A320. And no, it’s not a model it flies. Continue reading

THE UNINVITED TENANTS

They came without warning, these guests with silent steps discreet, conquering the peace of my Breton retreat. Not mere passersby, but true tenants of silence, come to fill my days with a tender kind of stir. And with a gentle intrusion, like the wind sneaking into a house long closed, these unexpected lodgers decided without contract or condition to take up residence in my daily life.

The first to cross the threshold, I nicknamed her Mini Bimbo. A frail silhouette, bold and delicate, like a lost muse. She has that sharp gaze the kind you see in those who’ve witnessed the old man with a remarkable abundance of food. A look that disarmed me, to the point that I offered her, without a hint of hesitation, the salmon I’d set aside for myself the night before. She accepted it with the grace of a starving queen, then let me stroke her hindquarters, as if giving her tithe, and in a blink, she vanished again for a nap elsewhere with a young cat, hence the name: a true bimbo.

Then came Garage, all black except for a small white patch on his neck, like a bow tie carelessly tied. A distracted adventurer who had gotten himself locked inside the garage. It took me two full days of clearing out the space, moving mountains of wood, before I finally saw him curled up between two beams. A silent prisoner, he looked at me with neither fear nor reproach, and I understood then that a quiet trust had just been born. Continue reading

SUMMER CLOSURE: FINALLY!

Dear Readers, fans in the shadows, discreet haters, imaginary clients, and bimbos of the apocalypse (my muses, my favorite gal pals, whom I greet along with their fake nails clicking like castanets), the time is dire: the company is closing for the holidays.

Yes, that dreaded moment for some and long-awaited by others: I’m leaving, everything’s shutting down, curtains drawn, radio silence until further notice (or until the A/C in my luxury hotel breaks down and I come screaming my pain on Instagram).

Don’t be mistaken it’s a necessity. My brain has been on strike since early July, my ideas now sound like jokes from a corporate Christmas party, and my ego that wild beast I’ve been raising since adolescence has decided to go on a spiritual retreat (at Club Med).

So I’m forced to shut myself down. It’s brutal, but for the best. Because deep down, I don’t like myself at all. Nothing I do ever finds grace in my own eyes. Even this very article you’re reading already seems terrible to me. But I cling to it—it’s my trademark: aesthetic disgust for myself, as a philosopher might say, had he been unlucky enough to meet Lucien Pages.

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A ROYAL WARDROBE COMES OUT OF THE CLOSET

Get your hats (and white gloves) ready, because starting this spring, Queen Elizabeth II’s wardrobe will be proudly displayed at the King’s Gallery in London. Elegant dresses in vibrant colors, royal accessories, and personal items will be featured, with a highlight being a dress by Norman Hartnell from 1956 a piece of truly high-ranking vintage.

For those unfamiliar with fashion history, Sir Norman Bishop Hartnell KCVO was a leading British fashion designer best known for his work for the royal ladies. He was appointed Royal Dressmaker to Queen Elizabeth in 1940 and Royal Dressmaker to Queen Elizabeth II in 1957.

Titled “Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style,” the exhibition will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Her Majesty’s birth (born in 1926) with the largest retrospective of her wardrobe ever held. Over 200 pieces will be on display, half of them for the very first time. In other words, even her own closets haven’t seen all of these come out.
The goal of this exhibition? To tell the story of the Queen and of an entire era.

FM

FROM WARS OF IDEAS TO WARS OF NOSES

At Interparfums SA, they’re not afraid to take risks. After making the perfumes of major houses like Van Cleef & Arpels and Montblanc shine, the company is now preparing to launch its own in-house brand: Solférino Paris. An evocative name that smacks of… political maneuvering, backroom deals, and the polished floors of old-school politics.

Why Solférino? To honor its headquarters, of course! Located at 10 rue de Solférino, in the very chic 7th district of Paris, the building—formerly the stronghold of the Socialist Party—is now in the hands of a different kind of conquering empire: that of luxury fragrances. Once, the battle of ideas was fought there; now, the battle of olfactory notes is waged, often more subtle (but just as divisive).

And what a tribute! With Solférino Paris, Interparfums is playing the memory and chic card. We don’t yet know if the top note will evoke the sweat of a Socialist congress in 30°C heat or the post-artillery ozone of the 1859 battle the very one where Napoleon III and the Sardinians thrashed the Austrians. But in any case, there will be sweat. Continue reading

DOLCE GABBANA CRUCIFIED AND CENTURION

The Ponte Sant’Angelo didn’t tremble under the march of lions, but under a show so over-the-top it made Anna Wintour’s Met Gala look like a Mormon birthday party. Picture this: chic church ladies, but Italian and not even heaven could have predicted this baroque-gladiator-catholic-fantasmagoric whirlwind. After Puglia came the ragazzi with rags and rhinestones.

Emperor Hadrian built this bridge in 136 AD to connect the city center to his tomb. Tonight, the guests sat in a silence so holy it could’ve raised saints except for Chiara Ferragni, of course, livestreaming the whole thing like a TikTok televangelist freshly escaped from prison. And then… BOOM! The gates opened. Continue reading

THE MODERN ALCHEMISTS

Ah, the purveyors of protective cosmetics… those valiant modern-day alchemists, armed with golden pipettes and pseudo-scientific slogans, ready to save us from every rogue photon! Give me a break — but not too loudly, I’m wearing SPF 130 on my lips and it’s stickier than regret.

Meanwhile, the internet is oozing with skincare misinformation — and has been ever since humanity realized you could smear some blurry science into a pretty pink bottle and call it “dermatologist-approved.” But surprise! It’s no longer just TikTok influencers in the middle of a histamine meltdown spreading nonsense. No, no — now the big media outlets have joined the party. CNN, in a fit of cosmeto-apocalyptic panic, recently warned us that only 25% of sunscreens are both safe and effective. And to make sure the info really seeps into our pores, they sent out a push alert. Ding dong, your SPF might be chemical poison! Thanks CNN — I’ll sunbathe by candlelight just to be safe. Continue reading

THE ELEGANCE OF APPARENTICESHIP ON THE CORPSE OF ETHICS

Loro Piana, the house once said to be beyond reproach, has just fallen from the hand-woven pedestal on which luxury so loves to perch. In Lombardy, it’s not rare wools that are spun, but illusions. Behind the nobility of the materials lie phantom, undeclared workers, serving a cascading subcontracting system, as opaque as the Marand’s moonless night coat.

The Italian courts have ruled: judicial administration for twelve months. The message is clear: ethics are not trifling, especially when jackets resold for €3,000 are produced for a paltry €100 in sweatshops.

But the affair would be almost trivial if it didn’t affect one of the most cherished jewels of the LVMH group, this empire resembling a contemporary Versailles, ruled with a gloved hand by the “Cashmere Wolf,” known as the lord of the Arnaults. Behind this monarchical figure, all control, image, and global ambition, stretches a kingdom sewn with gold, but sometimes tinged with silence and compromise. Continue reading

ISABEL MARANT 2025

Isabel Marant blended an edge for resort, in a collection that took notes from Victorian romanticism and 1980s attitude.The artistic director Kim Bekker softened the silhouette ever so slightly with flowing fabrics, rounded shoulders and subtle detailing such as lace and delicate, fabric-covered buttons. Continue reading

SORBIER IN THE VELVET AND FIRE MISTS

They had left the shores of Spain with fevered hearts and hands outstretched toward the unknown. Guided by the rumor of an Eldorado hidden beyond the Andean mists, they marched not to conquer, but to love. Amid spears and breastplates, a name rose like a song: Franck Sorbier, goldsmith of dreams, cartographer of an invisible kingdom, whose borders were drawn not on maps, but in the folds of a gown, in the breath of a veil.

His creations were expeditions. Each fabric, a jungle crossed; each embroidery, a lost golden path. Devoured velvets became burning forests, hand-draped metallic organzas, like banners borne by the fallen angels of Cuzco. Ancient guipures, scalloped lace, intertwined silk satin ribbons: these were treasures more precious than those of the Incas, buried not in earth, but in a lover’s gaze.

Then appeared a noblewoman of Lima, the chieftess of the Lake of Gold, draped in light, observing—frozen in her millennial solitude waiting for dawn to finally brush against her kingdom of fire and silence. Gold flowed like promises over bare shoulders—this was a never-ending fable, woven of ancient threads, lunar satin, and a breath held back. Continue reading

MARGIELA HAUTE COUTURE MAD MAX STYLE COMPOST

Succeeding John Galliano in the delicate exercise of a haute couture runway show is akin to following Freddie Mercury on stage an endeavor that requires as much daring as mastery. Glenn Martens, the latest to step into this demanding arena, did not choose the path of least resistance. As Renzo Rosso, the hedonistic yet clear-sighted entrepreneur, would say: “We all work like madmen.” The times offer little respite to creators. Continue reading

CHANEL GOLDSMITH WITHOUT A MUSE

I have a paradoxical impression: both familiar and strangely static. The rigidly cut jackets, the decorative accumulations overwhelming light fabrics, the dresses saturated with technicality to the point of losing their grace—all of this gave the collection a artisanal veneer, but one devoid of poetic momentum. It matters little how many hours are spent assembling a piece if its purpose is hard to grasp or if one struggles to imagine who would wear it. Continue reading

CELINE: A SPREADSHEET NAMED DESIRE

Last night in Paris, while some were still scribbling aphorisms about “creative audacity” and the “couture spirit,” Hael Rider was presenting a far more pragmatic take on style: the kind that fits neatly into an Excel spreadsheet built to please the Almighty. Forget stylistic introspection here, we’re talking about average basket sizes, conversion rates, and sell-through percentages. Continue reading

FERRARI HYPERSAIL MAKES COMMON SENSE FLY

We’ve known Ferrari for its screaming cars, its capillotract millionaires and its leather options more expensive than a studio in Paris. Now we discover them designing futuristic sailboats, proof that in Maranello, they seem to know the expression “to have a sea legs”.

Called Hypersail, because “Gondole Turbo” sounded too local, this 30-meter monohull is presented as a concentrate of technology, renewable energy and well-oiled megalomania. The boat is designed to “fly over the waves” thanks to foils. At this stage, it’s hard to tell whether this is a sailboat, a luxury drone or the prototype of an aquatic Pokémon.

Under the hood (well, under the boom), 90% of the parts are derived from road-going Ferraris. The tiller is probably made of Alcantara, the winches are fitted with Brembo brakes, and the GPS has been replaced by a map of the nearest Ferrari dealerships. An engineer, seen chewing parmesan on LSD, sums up the project: “It’s a Formula 1, but it floats, flies and sometimes decides on its own to go to Ibiza.” Continue reading

NICKY ZIMMERMANN 2026

In recent weeks, Nicky Zimmermann spent some time in Mykonos, where she marked two key moments: the opening of her namesake boutique on June 16 and 17, and the shoot for her Twisted Romance resort collection, captured in the island’s winding whitewashed streets.

“I loved the idea of connecting the celebration with the world of the collection. And in Greece, there’s always a pirate bar hiding somewhere,” she says, referencing the eclectic inspirations behind the line: a romantic nostalgia, dramatic silhouettes, and subtle nods to the sea that together evoke a dreamy yet spirited femininity. Continue reading

WHEN VUITTON THINKS IT’S A CIVILIZATION

On Thursday, Louis Vuitton unveiled its latest showstopper in Shanghai: “Le Louis.” t’s not a new €15,000 plastic handbag—it’s worse! “Le Louis” is a brand-new “cultural monument” where exhibitions, gastronomy, and of course retail coexist—essentially a Disneyland-style cathedral of consumerism disguised as a temple of art.

Here we have a form of luxury that asserts itself as a diplomatic power, colonizing the cultural space while wrapping it in grained leather sponsored by Shanghainese elites, all serving as a glamorous showcase for a triumphant capitalism that quietly helps sugarcoat the Uyghur repression. Continue reading

JACQUEMUS’S BUCOLIC SCAM

Once again, Simon Porte Jacquemus serves us a lukewarm Provençal soup, this time simmered at the Orangerie of Versailles because the rural fantasy must coexist with the gilt of the monarchy. On one side, aprons, petticoats, and cuffed collars; on the other, Matthew McConaughey and Gillian Anderson in the audience: the great divide between the farm and the red carpet, expertly orchestrated for the shedding of couture blood.

Jacquemus isn’t presenting a collection; he’s endlessly reenacting an autobiographical tale that has become a cliché: the country boy who becomes the prince of hype. A rural mythology that he recycles “ad nauseam” (obsessively and repetitively) each season, as if we must constantly remind ourselves that he is “a country boy.” We get it. And with the curtains transformed into skirts for his mother, the storytelling continues, but do you really have to wear a shawl collar in 2026 to pay homage to Mamie Claire and her vegetable baskets?

This show, supposedly “upmarket,” smacks of mimicry, with amplified silhouettes, geometric volumes without a sense of design, but above all, without rigor or new vision. This isn’t fashion, it’s nostalgic scenography, illustrating a memory. Continue reading

JUUN.J SPRING 2026

The designer was moved by a tender scene: young people having fun dressing up in their elders’ clothes. This simple image inspired his spring collection. He wanted to capture the essence of this clumsy yet sincere sartorial exploration, where you thoughtlessly layer an evening dress borrowed from your older sister with a sports jacket, or an oversized suit and tie found in your father’s closet.

“I found it interesting to see how boys and girls make mistakes when they dress for the first time,” he confided through an interpreter. This tender look at young people’s experimentation with clothing gives rise to a fashion imbued with nostalgia, freedom, and boldness, where mistakes become style and improvisation becomes elegance.

A jumpsuit inspired by workwear and sky suits, the piece reinterpreted for a modern woman who embraces her movements without constraint. We can sense the echo of workshops and the burning breath of sewing machines, but in reality, another force is now expressed. Continue reading