Category Archives: BREAKING NEWS
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
PARIS FASHION WEEK 2020
Babylon boasted its brick walls, Rhode had its colossus renamed the proud, and Egypt achieved summits with masses of admirable stones, while Paris Fashion Week achieved intellectual masturbation. 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
PACO RABANNE FASHION KNIGHTS
Flashy chain mail knights: no, we’re not in Domrémy and we’re not going to push the English out of the conciergerie. A place probably rightly chosen by Julien Dossena, given my neighbors who do not detonate with the concierges on the nearby rue St-Denis.
But Paco Rabanne’s message became grunge in a whirlwind of chivalry. Here is a plunge into the Kingdom of France with a mix of Anglican pastor’s outfits. These are the magical creatures that Julien Dossena evoked with his autumn collection for Paco Rabanne. This thirty-eight year old Breton offers a ceremony of powerful chic, with shiny leathers of military influence to chiffon dresses embroidered with metallic threads.
He has breathed new life into chainmail, but it’s true that only Maille fits me. The house shows an Indian, Eskimo and Russian woman from the steppes of Central Asia; a melting pot bathed in the medieval age of high culture that would fit very well in our time. The only shadow in the picture is the presence of the Wintour next to Nicolas Ghesquière de Vuitton after the Elysée Palace, a sign perhaps!
Anonymous
LVMH CANCELS LEADER PRIZE
The cocktail celebrating the 20 semifinalists for the LVMH Prize for Young Designers is the latest event to fall victim to the coronavirus scare.
Organizers of the gathering, to be held at the luxury conglomerate’s headquarters on Avenue Montaigne in Paris, said they have decided to cancel the event, originally scheduled for Feb. 27 at 6 p.m., though participants will still show their collections throughout the day on Thursday and Friday.
In a brief statement, LVMH gave no reason for the cancellation, although it comes on the same day that France recorded its first death from the coronavirus. Six Chinese brands have scrapped their planned events in the French capital because of the outbreak, and scores of editors from China and elsewhere are skipping the season.
INGIE PARIS 2020
DIOR PARFUMS AND CLAUDIA
Claudia Marcocci has been appointed brand general director of Parfums Christian Dior.
She took up the position on Feb. 15, succeeding Véronique Courtois, who had held the job for more than seven years before moving to steer Guerlain, another LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned brand.
Marcocci was formerly senior vice president of Gucci Beauty, beginning in 2017, at Coty Inc. She also served as vice president of global for that brand, starting in 2016, and the year prior became associate director of Gucci Beauty global design after the Procter & Gamble beauty brands were acquired by Coty.
Marcocci held numerous positions at P&G, including global digital and e-commerce director for its prestige division.
LVMH’s Perfumes and Cosmetics Division closed 2019 with sales of 6.84 billion euros, up 12 percent year-over-year in reported terms and 9 percent on an organic basis. The company cited Dior as a main growth driver for the branch, and said the brand’s business grew much faster than the beauty market. Continue reading
DIOR WINTER 2020
MILANO BETTER THAN PARIS
Despite the concerns related to the coronavirus outbreak a few miles outside Milan, which pushed Giorgio Armani to hold the show for his namesake brand behind closed doors and forced the cancellation of a number of events, the city's fashion week, which ended on Sunday, was seen as a success. Continue reading
PRADA AND ROYAL AIR FORCE
Breaking news: Raf Simons is the new co-creative director of Prada. He is to work in partnership with Miuccia Prada “with equal responsibilities for creative input and decision making,” the company said Sunday.
Simons starts April 2, and the duo’s first co-designed collection is to be unveiled for spring-summer 2021 during a fashion show in Milan in September.
A collaboration between the Italian brand and the Belgian designer, which had been rumored for months, was announced at a press conference at Prada headquarters on the last day of Milan Fashion Week, and during the Boss fashion show.
The development suggests Prada and Bertelli are readying a succession plan at the Italian fashion house they catapulted from a historic maker of nylon accessories to a luxury mega brand albeit one whose performance has trailed its peers in recent years due to various design and business missteps. Continue reading
MOSCHINO ROYAL PUNK
Beauty looks at the Milan Fashion Week reached new heights when Bella and Gigi Hadid, walked the Moschino fall 2020 catwalk sporting baroque, pastel-toned wigs inspired by Marie-Antoinette.
Interpreting creative director Jeremy Scott’s intention to mix the 18th-century inspiration with a rock vibe, hair stylist Paul Hanlon played the modern Léonard-Alexis Autié the famed hairdresser behind the eccentric looks of the French Queen and created the intricate wigs, which required a week of work. Continue reading
FENDI FINALLY ALONE
Silvia Venturini Fendi is in charge now, and on Thursday night she put inclusivity front and center on the Fendi runway with more sizes (Paloma Elsesser) and ages (Carolyn Murphy and Karen Elson), marking a new era for the house.
Fendi said backstage, explaining that for her second collection working as a solo act following Lagerfeld’s death last February she wanted to think about “the woman I want to dress strong, independent and free, but within the traditional codes of femininity.”
That meant drawing inspiration from boudoir and silver screen femme fatales, including those Lagerfeld himself costumed for the Seventies film, “Maitresse.”
On the runway, the focus was on curvy women, if not literally, on making them so by using puffed and padded sleeves, nipped and corseted waists on brushed gray flannel coats and blazers, pink satin and velvet dresses that were the film noir, covered-up side of seductive.
For evening, more revealing lingerie looks came out to play, with satin, bustier and fringe details, worn with pumps with garter ankle straps, and coquettish back-of-the-headbands that looked like a trend in the making. Continue reading