JASON WU 2021

Purified images of the fading day, where China’s nocturnal resonance fogs, Europeans wake up. Here is the most orderly designer in his vision, he stigmatizes his memories of the landmarks of his life in counterpoint and from Shanghai sends us the image of the Middle Kingdom.

Jason Wu is not to worry about finding explanations for these dreams, he lets his imagination unfold in vision of the premise of the hot summer that is fast approaching. As if the madness of sewing made him shiver, he sews without ever stopping, like a poem on the catwalk, like a spiral that imposes itself over the minutes, like a sovereign evidence of his imagination. Before me floats an image of the universe of Flora, this ancient deity of Rome whose main role was to protect the flowering. Continue reading

HERMES ACQUIRES SEARS

The luxury brand Hermes is set to open in 2023 a large, new store as part of a redevelopment and expansion of a mall in the Los Angeles Valley.

An expansion and redesign of a Westfield mall in the Los Angeles Valley is getting a big boost of luxury with Hermès signing on as its new anchor tenant.

Hermès just leased a 7,500-square-foot space at the Westfield Topanga, taking over a location formerly occupied by Sears, a longtime anchor tenant for malls and shopping centers throughout the country. This will be one of the first instances of a single luxury brand being an anchor tenant in a mall  historically, such a tenant is a department store that is offered a steep discount for a long-term lease. But such stores have been declining in popularity for several years. Continue reading

LADY KLAMA STUDIO L.A

Lady Gaga is today unveiling “The Studio by Klarna x Haus Labs. The creative space, a hub for her cosmetics brand Haus Laboratories, is based in Los Angeles County.

The pop star and actress who’s currently making headlines as she shoots Ridley Scott's anticipated film “House of Gucci” (portraying Patrizia Reggiani, ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci) on location in Italy with Al Pacino, Jared Leto and Adam Driver launched the vegan and cruelty-free beauty brand exclusively on Amazon in 2019.

Teaming with Swedish fintech company Klarna, Gaga hopes the studio will help foster creativity. It’s a platform for her company, for Haus of Gaga (her behind-the-scenes creative team) and a resource for emerging creatives.

The first group of creators has been chosen by Klarna and Haus Laboratories often referred to as Haus Labs to receive a $10,000 grant from Klarna and mentorship from the Haus Labs team. The current list includes an L.A.-based influencer known as Biddy and makeup artist Tavaris Jefferson, better known as Vari. Continue reading

KOHLER LEAVES FERAGAMO

The Salvatore Ferragamo Group is seeing changes in the Americas, as Donald Kohler will be exiting the company. Kohler joined Ferragamo as chief executive officer of the Americas region and chief retail officer of the worldwide group in September 2017.

Ferragamo confirmed Kohler was leaving to pursue another professional experience at the end of his contract, but did not provide a specific time frame, while adding that the company has given a mandate to an executive search firm to seek a successor.

Kohler started his career in 1990 at Macy’s, in the executive training program, working both in stores and in the buying office. In 1993, he joined Gap in San Francisco, rising to the role of vice president merchandise planning for the international division. Continue reading

FRESCO OF HUBERT DE GIVENCHY

In the Marais district until March 21a fresco of Hubert de Givenchy a supersized portrait of the fashion designer has gone up in Paris’ Marais district, three years after the designer’s passing.

Givenchy Parfums commissioned the work, which is a modern-day interpretation of a famous photograph of Givenchy by Victor Skrebneski. In black and white, it’s made to look like it was created with an airbrush and stencil, street-art style.

The two-story-high fresco, at the intersection of Rue Vieille du Temple and Rue des Quatre-Fils, shows the designer in a black turtleneck gazing outward.

AN ALIBI FOR A PERFUME

The brand is launching a new fragrance, named Alibi eau de parfum, after its bag of the same name. The new scent will be available at de la Renta boutiques, on its website, and in select doors at Macy’s.

Alibi is the first fragrance designed by the brand’s co-creative directors Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim. The fragrance has top notes of mandarin and ginger blossom, heart notes of vanilla orchid and heliotrope, and base notes of musk, praline and amberwood.

Oscar de la renta in the fragrance business for 35 years now, and always had ambitions to get into color cosmetics,”.

Biden earlier wore Oscar de la Renta’s dark blue floral dress when her husband then President-elect Joe Biden gave his victory speech on Nov. 7, 2020, in Wilmington, Del.let’s hope that the first lady will have an alibi.

DIOR FUMINISTEMENT VÔTRE

Château de Versailles for female promotion when Versailles was already led by women who were sort of Kardashian of the time. But, what does this have to do with couture and the house of Dior? Monsieur Dior’s attraction for Versailles shows that the great Couturiers of our time have always been men.

JENNY YANG’S HIGH HEELS

Shoes, like clothes, tell a lot about women’s life. They reflect elegance and their position in society. And if access to the red carpet is forbidden to those who would like to wear flat shoes, it’s because women like Jenny Yang creates to sublimate the feet of the fashion week. With a pair of heels, a woman can conquer the world. Here is the new weapon of massive seduction signed Jenny Yang, China at her feet, and before her the world and Europe, a playground for the desires of this woman of the world.

They fascinate, and reflect the state of mind and the multiple personalities she assumes in the course of the same day. The foot, “substitute of masculine attribute for the woman”, explains Freud, symbolizes her power, and, by covering it, we definitively take it out of its organic function to make it an object of desire. Continue reading

STUDENT OF THE YEAR 2021

An idea that had been the subject of an article, already 8 years ago in Cana-Luxe.

Congratulation for the excellent presentation of the students’ work. The video sells the Fashion industry very well.

Opening slot of Paris Fashion Week would be a dream for many designers, but the first graduates of the brand-new fashion design master’s program of the Institut Français de la Mode had to be gently but firmly coaxed into accepting by pascal Marrand, Students who don’t want to be mixed up with old fashioned designers.

Opening the Paris calendar was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up, for themselves and for the sake of future students, tought the old people of Paris Fashion Week.

This year’s graduating class also stood out by their awareness of the challenges that await them, from entering the job market in uncertain times to sustainability and social responsibility. A number of students expressed worries on finding internships, let alone permanent positions. A discounted diploma for a professional life without a job at the end, this is the story of students des Ecoles de la Chambre Syndicale. Continue reading

HERMÈS FAKE BAGS THE END OF THE BEGINNING

Are there more fake than real Birkin bags on the market? Twenty-three people were charged, including nine former Hermès employees, the news agency reported. A 41-year-old man was sentenced, in absentia, to six years in prison and fined 1.5 million euros; a warrant has been issued for his arrest. The individual was accused of being the mastermind of the network, which included a workshop in Hong Kong.

Some 400 handbags were made in clandestine workshops in France and Hong Kong, while 800 came from the house’s employee program, which allows workers to make their own handbags.

Hundreds of copied Birkin bags, supplied by the international network, were sold in France. Another individual, age 66, was judged to be the main supplier and sentenced to four years in prison and fined 400,000 euros. Continue reading

CAROLINA HERRERA FALL 2021

Carolina “Errare humanum est ”  ;With a flurry of sequins, tulle and taffeta, the designer made the heart ache to dress up again in a pink silk faille sweetheart cocktail frock embroidered with scattered candy-colored hearts, a wildly chic red giraffe print taffeta strappy dress, or a drop-dead gorgeous black mermaid gown with pink tulle frothing out from the hem. Continue reading

DECIEM THE ORDINARY PURCHASE

The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. has agreed to buy a majority stake in Deciem, the parent company of popular skin care brand The Ordinary, at a $2.2 billion valuation.

Lauder is paying $1 billion to increase its ownership position to 76 percent, valuing the company at $2.2 billion. In three years, Lauder plans to buy the rest of the company at a to-be-determined valuation.

For 2020, Deciem nearly doubled sales, to about $460 million. The bulk of sales come from The Ordinary, known for affordable skin care products including Niacinimide 10% + Zinc 1%, $5.90, and AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution, $7.20.

Deciem plans to draw on Lauder’s expertise in global expansion to consider entering markets where there is demand, like India and the Middle East, Kilner said. The company also plans to consult with Lauder on regulatory requirements related to those moves, as well as inventory and infrastructure. Continue reading

HERMÈS LOOKING IN THE SKY

Shares in the French luxury group closed up 3.1 percent on the Paris Stock Exchange on Friday in response to strong fourth-quarter results, as consumers flocked to surefire investments like the brand’s Birkin handbags and Chaîne d’Ancre bracelets.

Revenues rose 12.3 percent in the three months to Dec. 31, sharply outperforming its sector peers as strong growth in Asia Pacific compensated for continued weakness in Europe and a flat performance in the Americas.

Sales totaled 2.1 billion euros in the fourth quarter, representing an increase of 15.6 percent in comparable terms, sharply exceeding a consensus forecast of 8.7 percent growth.

By comparison, sector leader LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton reported a 3 percent decline in organic revenues during the same period, while sales at Kering were down 5 percent in like-for-like terms. Continue reading

BREXIT FASHION SAVE THE QUEEN

With Britain still in lockdown and designers grappling with complex, costly paperwork and trading post-Brexit, fall 2021 will likely be remembered as the season of choking on red tape.

London Fashion Week begins today and runs through Feb. 23 and while the showcase is coed, and open to the public, it’s an unusual time. Many big names, including JW Anderson, Erdem and Christopher Kane, are opting not to show on the calendar, and London’s biggest brand, Burberry, is releasing men’s wear only, with women’s to come at a later date.

The British Fashion Council, which puts on the shows, has secured major new sponsors in the two tech companies TikTok and Clearpay neither of which is British and is taking a slice of LFW to Seoul, South Korea, via a collaboration with multibrand retailer Boon the Shop. Continue reading

THE MANTERO ARCHIVE

The Mantero Archive has long been considered a comprehensive and extraordinary collection of textiles and an inspiration for numerous designers, with more than 10,000 volumes and 60,000 foulards from the top fashion houses, thousands of drawings and prints.

Now it has expanded further, housing the Ken Scott Foundation in Grandate, just outside Como. Italian silk specialist Mantero, which is based in Como, bought the Ken Scott brand in 2019, and has structured the foundation as an exhibition space.

We are anxious to open it up to the world, once the travel restrictions will be lifted, said Franco Mantero, chief executive officer of the family-owned company.

The Ken Scott Foundation was established in 1989 by the Indiana-born designer, who died in 1991 and became popular in the 60s and 70s with his colorful prints. Continue reading

ROCHAS VILMORIN AND H&M

Rochas has named Charles de Vilmorin as its new creative director, cementing the 24-year-old designer’s meteoric rise since launching his fashion label last April in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Three press-cutting in some tabloids and the rocket  will certainly be a wet firecracker. This announcement was made the day Rocha signed a partnership with H&M; a bad presage.

Fresh off his debut at Paris Couture Week last month, de Vilmorin, after the plagia of the muse Niki de Saint Phalle, will be in charge of designing women’s ready-to-wear for Rochas, Rochas’ boss doesn’t surely understand anything about Haute Couture to hire a young non-talented kid who plays with colors like a kid in the kindergarten.

But it is true that when we talk about perfumes, the only thing we know about Haute Couture is the smell of bad taste. Continue reading

REMEMBERING ACTOR C.PLUMMER

Legendary actor Christopher Plummer, known for films like “The Sound of Music” and “All the Money in the World,” died Friday at the age of 91. Plummer died peacefully at his home in Connecticut, according to Deadline.

Plummer was one of the industry’s veteran actors with a career that’s spanned nearly 70 years and included more than 200 movies and TV shows. One of his earliest and most famous roles was as Captain von Trapp in the beloved 1965 film “The Sound of Music,” starring alongside Julie Andrews.

The actor was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning one for best supporting actor for the 2010 film “Beginners.” His most recent nomination came in 2017 for his role as J. Paul Getty in the Ridley Scott film “All the Money in the World.” Continue reading

BOYCOTT YVES ROCHER IN RUSSIA

Calls to boycott Yves Rocher are proliferating online as Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to two years detention for violating parole in a case linked to the French beauty company that dates back almost a decade.

Yves Rocher said in a statement Thursday that it has never filed a complaint against Navalny or his brother Oleg, or made legal claims against them at any time.

The case dates back to 2012, when local authorities questioned Yves Rocher Vostok, Yves Rocher’s Russian subsidiary, in a judicial investigation into the Glavpodpiska company that was owned by the brothers. Yves Rocher said clues were found making it likely fraud had been committed by Glavpodpiska against the company, whose services had been recommended after the Yarsolav post office seemed to be struggling with the volume of packages. Oleg Navalny was a senior official at the Russian post office at the time. Continue reading

MARTONE DIED AT 41

Saturday that Martone died at age 41 in tragic circumstances. She was hospitalized for a 15-minute surgery, but died suddenly due to complications during the operation.

Daughter of ICR’s Roberto Martone, she retained creative roles in the family-run fragrance manufacturing business, which develops scents for the likes of Salvatore Ferragamo and Bulgari.

There was something fascinating in being in the presence of Giorgia Martone, who was known in the beauty industry for her expertise in fragrance creation, a passion passed down by her father and Italian leading perfume manufacturer ICR’s president Roberto Martone. Continue reading

ON AURA TOUT VU

Corseted bustier in silk satin and cristals, enhanced with 100 Syringes filled with crystal vaccine, which ends in a needle whose tip is adorned with a drop-shaped pearl.
The vaccine dress … by @onauratoutvu