CLAIRE WAIGHT KELLER LIVED

Yesterday Givenchy officially announced in a statement, that after three years of collaboration, the Womenswear Show held on March 1st 2020 will be Clare Waight Keller’s last collection for Givenchy.

The designer, who is known for designing Megan Markle’s 2018 wedding dress, joined the brand after Riccardo Tisci left for Burberry.

“As the first woman to be the Artistic Director of this legendary Maison. My heartfelt thanks go out to each of the unsung heroes and heroines behind the scenes, for their contribution from product to communications and retail, and every global team member, partner and supplier in between. Without all of you, I could not have brought my vision for Givenchy to life in such a beautiful way,” she continued.

Sidney Toledano, Chairman and CEO of LVMH Fashion Group, also said, thanking Waight Keller for her contribution to Givenchy’s latest chapter.

Who will be her successor ? The brand has stated that the house’s new Creative organization will be communicated at a later date. However some whispers would circulate that it could be the young designer Dgena who will be on the way. Here is her brand www.dgena.fr  Continue reading

MISSONI LAUNCHES DESIGN COMPETITION

Missoni creative director Margherita Maccapani Missoni has teamed with fashion co-creation platform AwayToMars to launch an initiative to boost creativity among international designers.

From April 10 to May 17, designers from across the globe will have the chance to submit through the AwayToMars platform sketches of fashion designs inspired by three different themes that Maccapani Missoni picked from the Missoni archives.

Voted by the public, the nine winning pieces will be produced by M Missoni and will be available for purchase online and at selected stores.

“My goal is to enlarge M Missoni’s spectrum. I decided that this brand would be about giving new life to the disregarded parts of Missoni’s history by dusting off the overlooked B-side of its legacy — twist it upside-down, inside-out and layer it with new perspective,” Maccapani Missoni said. “Collaborations are vital for this project and I just love the idea of partnering with AwayToMars and get so many different voices involved. I can’t wait to learn.”

CHAUMET LAUNCH A VIRTUAL BOUTIQUE

Chaumet’s hôtel particulier located at 12 place vendôme has re-opened its doors. an exceptional virtual visit with jean-marc mansvelt, the ceo of the jewellery house. for the second episode, let’s explore the shop overlooking the famous place.interview with jean-marc mansvelt, ceo of chaumet:this is our most important shop in the world, it’s the same as for our hôtel particulier, it represents the most ultimate setting of the chaumet house. we also revisited the whole store by recreating the circulation, including a direct entrance from the place vendôme.here, we really have the same concept of a store as it has been established in the world since 2017. Continue reading

L’ORÉAL ACQUIRES MUGLER AZZARO

Beauty brand L’Oréal has announced that, after obtaining the necessary authorisations from the relevant authorities, it has finalised the acquisition of the Mugler brands and Azzaro fragrances from Clarins Group.

The agreement for the sale was signed by both parties back in October 2019, but it has been subject to the standard conditions precedent until now. “By joining L’Oréal, Mugler and Azzaro brands will pursue their international development while benefiting from the resources of the world’s beauty leader in marketing, distribution and innovation,” explained L’Oréal in an official statement.

In regards to the acquisition, President L’Oréal Luxe Cyril Chapuy, said: “We look forward to welcoming the Mugler and Azzaro teams to the L’Oréal family, and to accompanying them, especially in this difficult time.” Continue reading

THE CROWN NO PART 6

No Crown follow-up. No one else here could have delivered such a powerful message: The Queen, who turns 94 later this month, drew on Britain’s 20th-century history and her own past in an effort to comfort the public and rouse them to action in fighting the spread of COVID-19.

She said Sunday night’s address reminded her of the very first broadcast she made. It was during World War II, when she was a teen

“We, as children, spoke from here at Windsor to children who had been evacuated from their homes and sent away for their own safety. Today, once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones. But now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do,” she said. Continue reading

LUXOTTICA SUPPORT EMPLOYEES

Just as its chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio through his namesake foundation donated 10 million euros to the new hospital created at the Milan fairgrounds, Luxottica Group is introducing a number of initiatives to support its employees impacted by the coronavirus emergency.

The Italian eyewear giant has pledged to entirely integrate employees; cassa integrazione wage support measure every month. Italy has been in lockdown since March 9 and, following the shut down of all nonessential activities, the Italian government has issued a; Cure Italy decree allocating 25 billion euros to support the country and allowing companies to request the wage support measure, which contributes to 80 percent of an employee’s salary. Continue reading

ADIDAS A FREE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCES

Adidas has announced that it’s to roll out free virtual experiences across social and digital channels, “to support our community as they stay active, practice mindfulness, learn and seek entertainment”.

For the next three months it’s offering free premium access to its Adidas Training and Adidas Running apps globally. The apps are available in 15 different languages and loaded with specific workouts that can be done at home, as well as nutrition guides.

The company said that “lives may be at a standstill, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t keep moving [and] now more than ever, we have to be creative about how we’re taking care of each other and ourselves”. Continue reading

WATCH DAY NOT ON TIME

Geneva Watch Days, a new event organized by a handful of high-end watch labels, is being rescheduled for Aug. 26 to 29.

Initially planned for April, organizers hope the postponement, due to coronavirus, will allow them to bulk up the event, and attract Chinese and South Korean participants in addition to large players in Europe, said Jean-Christophe Babin, chief executive officer of Bulgari, one of the brands that founded the event, in a statement.

Planned in the wake of canceled Watches & Wonders Geneva and Baselworld fairs this spring, brands including Bulgari, Breitling, Ulysse Nardin and Girard-Perregaux describe the event as decentralized and self-managed, to take place at several high-end hotels in Geneva.

The idea is to band together so retailers and media can meet with the brands over a few days instead of going to various road shows in various cities around Europe, organizers have said, describing it as a "see-now-buy-now-resell-now" event showcasing the diversity of products from Swiss watchmakers. Continue reading

FHCM HOW CAN WE DO NOTHING FOR YOU

Isn’t French fashion partly responsible for the pandemic of covid 19 having maintained its own Fashion week after Milan?

The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, French fashion’s governing body, has yet to decide whether Paris Men’s Fashion Week will go ahead as planned in June, executive president Pascal Morand said. The key priority for all companies, not just the fashion industry, is cash flow, Morand said.

The aim is to avoid a repeat of 2008, because in 2008, some businesses shut down and never restarted,said Morand, referring to the last major global financial crisis.

We are in close contact with our members to help them with the implementation of these measures,Morand said. The aim is for these measures to be properly understood and carried out. Thinking that fashion people are all stupids.

He noted unlike industry organizations in other countries, including the Camera Della Moda in Italy, the French fashion sector has not lobbied the government for help because the emergency package announced last week applies to all companies. Continue reading

THE DISCREET SELFRIDGES

Less than 24 hours after confirming that it would continue trading, but with shorter opening times, Selfridges is temporarily shutting all of its U.K. stores due to coronavirus.

The company said on Twitter that it would shut as of 7 p.m. U.K. time on March 18. It will close four physical stores, in London, Manchester, Trafford and Birmingham, although the web site will continue trading.

It is with a heavy heart we have made the decision to temporarily close our four physical stores in London from 7 p.m. tomorrow evening; the store said.

The health, safety and wellbeing of our customers and team members is our utmost priority. We must do the right thing by the communities in which we live and work to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus,” it added. The company confirmed that the e-commerce site and social channels would remain up and running. Continue reading

FRANCE HAS UNBLOCKED 45 BILLION

France has unblocked 45 billion euros in emergency aid for companies and workers whose revenues are impacted by the government-mandated lockdown to fight the coronavirus outbreak, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday.

The crisis, which has prompted the government to shut all nonessential businesses and call on citizens to remain at home, is expected to plunge the French economy into recession. Growth is set to fall by 1 percent in 2020, Le Maire said, adding this forecast could be amended as the situation evolves.

This economic and financial war will be long, it will be violent, and it will require all our efforts, whether national, European or at the G7 level; Le Maire said in a telephone press conference. Continue reading

BAT RESTAURANT OPEN IN LONDON

The restaurant, called Park Row, will be located in the heart of London on 77 Brewer Street, near Piccadilly Circus, and is set to open its doors in spring 2020.

Reportedly standing at a whopping 18,000 sq. ft. in size, the restaurant will sit in the basement at the Crown Estate’s Grade II-listed venue.

Guests will step down into a room resembling Batman’s lair, while the restaurant will boast three bars and five different ‘dining environments’.

Prices will average at £45 ($58) per person, and while that may seem a bit pricey, by the look of the pictures it seems totally worth the money.

The restaurant won’t only be Batman-inspired, but will have rooms dedicated to other well-known DC characters. Continue reading

CORONAVIRUS WEDDING TO THE LUXURY’S

One of the strangest fashion months on record has drawn to a close, but mounting cases of Covid-19 in cities from New Delhi to Madrid have already taken their toll on luxury brands’ plans to stage Cruise 2021 shows.

Last month, Prada postponed its Tokyo cruise event, Chanel put plans to restage its Métiers d’Art collection in Beijing on hold and Giorgio Armani announced the unprecedented cancellation of its Autumn/Winter 2020 runway show in Milan.

This week, Gucci, Ralph Lauren and Versace called off shows, all slated to take place in the US in April. Armani has also postponed its cruise show and hotel opening in Dubai the back-to-back events, scheduled for April 19 and 20, have been pushed to November.

A Chanel spokesperson told that its May 7 show will still take place in Capri, despite the 3,089 cases and 107 deaths reported in Italy as of March 5. Meanwhile, Dior’s event (billed for Puglia on May 9) and Louis Vuitton’s show (location undisclosed) hang in the balance. Dior and Louis Vuitton respond no comment. Continue reading

FRENCH FASHION CONNECTION

Clothing retailer French Connection reported a full-year loss on Tuesday, citing difficult trading conditions on UK’s high streets and said it would continue to hold back paying dividends this year.

Along with other British retailers like Ted Baker and Superdry, French Connection has also faced subdued consumer demand brought on by political uncertainty related to Britain’s exit from the European Union, while brick-and-mortar retail is suffering from a shift to online shopping.

French Connection, whose brands include Great Plains and YMC as well as its eponymous label, posted an underlying loss of £2.9 million ($3.79 million) for the year ended January 31, compared with a profit of £0.8 million a year earlier. Continue reading

THE JET LUXURY CRASH

The international stock markets tumbled again Monday as the coronavirus outbreak led to more than 111,000 confirmed cases globally and oil prices dropped sharply.

In London, the FTSE fell nearly 450 points to 6,015, a nearly 7 percent drop, while Euronext Paris dropped nearly 70 points to 925.04, a roughly 7 drop. In Tokyo, the Nikkei dropped more than 1,000 points to 19,698.76, a roughly 5 percent drop. Continue reading

WHY LVMH IS INVESTING IN MASS BEAUTY?

The luxury conglomerate, which reported record revenue of nearly $60 billion for 2019, is setting its sights on affordable, “clean” beauty via its investment arm, LVMH Luxury Ventures. In an unlikely pairing, the fund invested in Versed, a fast-growing mass label where most products are priced at or below $17.99, and some under $10. The brand recently closed an $11 million Series A, led by Sonoma Brands with participation from Greycroft and Marcy Venture Partners.

This marks the second time in three months that LVMH has invested in a young-skewing line. In October, the conglomerate’s venture arm led a seed round for Madhappy a direct-to-consumer LA-based streetwear line that sells $165 hoodies and promotes mental health. Continue reading

GIVENCHY THE FIRST APRIL

Givenchy, whose perfume business is said to be riding high, has tapped a new president and chief executive officer with experience in fashion and beauty, Renaud de Lesquen, currently president and ceo of Dior Americas, is to join Givenchy on April 1 and it is not a Joke.

A suave but discreet executive, de Lesquen has been in the New York-based role for four years, and previously served the same amount of time as president of Dior China. Prior to that, he spent 10 years at L’Oréal in Paris, as president and ceo of YSL Beauté, and before that as global president of Giorgio Armani Beauty.

The appointment suggests Givenchy is about to embark on a new development phase  and also underscores the penchant of parent LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton to groom and promote executives from within.

De Lesquen succeeds Philippe Fortunato, an LVMH veteran whose six-year tenure straddled two distinctly different creative directors: Riccardo Tisci, culminating with an acclaimed New York showing, and then Clare Waight Keller, who arrived from Chloé in 2017. He ramped up retail expansion, brought couture back to the runway, oversaw the brand’s arrival on e-commerce, and also put the spotlight on its men’s wear division with a slate of initiatives, including a showing at Pitti Uomo. Continue reading

GAULTIER, OTHERS’LIFE

This is a more than revolutionary idea, an idea of Francis Menuge, former President of Gaultier and Donald Potard with the complicity of Jacques Mouclier, which they had in their time. A project, which due to the lack of the house of Patou, had never come to fruition because of a sort of human counterfeit. This is how fashion men are made. With such an oversized ego, they take over other people’s ideas to take credit for them. Like D Grumler who takes credit for the creation of the investment bank: idea and realization of Jacques Mouclier, or this Mr. “J Tongue of wood” who would have had the idea of the square courtyard of the Louvre for the catwalks of Haute Couture, but in reality, idea to be attributed to Pierre Berger and Jacques Mouclier.

So here is a Gaultier who has so pricked in others that now he will make them reinterpret their own model, to top it all off! JP Gaultier becomes Alzheimer’s or this desperate soul broods about never being able to be a Karl, and continues to languish in useless effort, and depresses at never having the pains of the birth of creation. I would say that I don’t care if he produces garbage, the only trouble is that he gives it back! Now he wants to have it produced by others. Continue reading

ISSEY-MIYAKE PARIS 2020

Satoshi Kondo, Creative Director at Issey Miyake, conceived his collection by the onomatopoeic analysis of Japanese words that describe acts of making processes. Toritori (the state of being different), Konekone (kneading), Goshigoshi (smudging), Kukkiri (the condition of being sharp and clear), spah (the sound of cutting something with a sharp object) are some of the words that are used in the colloquial language to describe these manual actions, and that the designer used to create the collection. Continue reading

C’ERA UNA VOLTA IL WEST

“But I’m Kanye’s cousin,” said a woman in French at the gates of the Oscar Niemeyer Communist Party headquarters, as the building blinked bright white with light tests. To no avail: Unless she’d been in the car with North West (the real star of the evening), or was on the list, the putative cousin wasn’t getting in on Monday night for the Yeezy 8 show.

For those who did make it inside, there were three stages. A few lucky souls were ushered into the spaceship-like auditorium to preview the collection with Kanye West himself.

(Kanye West is, still, a presidential fan). Then North West grabbed the mic for an impromptu performance (later revealed to be a remix of a song by five-year-old American performer ZaZa, aka @redcarpetgirlz on Instagram, of whom North is apparently a fan),

No fashion magazine will talk about his ugly clothes. That the way it is, West is not and never will be a Fashion designer. Continue reading

FROM TOKYO WITH LOVE

On Monday, organizers of Tokyo Fashion Week announced that the fall season of Japan’s largest fashion event had been cancelled. It was scheduled to run for six days, from March 16 to 21. The announcement comes after several individual brands, including Hyke and Vivienne Tam, had already called off their Tokyo shows.

“As apprehensions due to the coronavirus (covid-19) outbreak rise daily, our primary and utmost concern always being the safety and security of all parties involved, after heavy discussions with related parties, we have come to the painful decision of there being no other choice than to give up Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo 2020 autumn-winter,” said a statement posted to the organization’s website. Continue reading

HERMÈS NOTHING NEW

Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski decided to pare the women’s wear back to a graphic essence. In keeping with the Hermès 2020 theme, “Innovation in the Making,” she presented a “manifest of purity,” as she called it, on a set of striped vertical bars reminiscent of horse jump poles.

Working in Piet Mondrian’s strict vocabulary of primary colors, she created a baseline for an Hermès wardrobe, including more options in non-leather or using minimal-leather (with the growing animal-loving luxury class in mind, perhaps?).

Some looks came in both, well positioning the brand for changing values around consumption, and offering more accessible pieces as it courts customers with new product categories, including its first line of lipsticks bowing March 4. Continue reading