BASQUIAT, SCHIELE AT FONDATION LOUIS VUITTON

This Fall, Egon Schiele and Jean-Michel Basquiat will be both the subject of two separate monographic exhibitions at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. We will celebrate this year the anniversaries of their deaths — both died at 28, in 1918 and 1988, respectively  and offers an opportunity to confront the old (Europe at the beginning of the 20th century) and the new (the U.S. in the Eighties) with a focus on lines, through mostly drawings for Schiele and paintings for Basquiat. Many works by the latter have never been shown to the public before as they are drawn from Bernard Arnault’s personal collection. Continue reading

OFF SCORE KERING GROUP

French luxury group Kering has refuted a report of alleged tax evasion published by Mediapart, a French investigative and opinion newspaper, citing confidential documents.

It would seem that the Kering’s brand Gucci has been investigated by the Italian tax authorities that has revealed  that Kering had saved 2.5 billion euros in taxes. It should have paid in Italy and France by attributing wholesale revenues from brands including Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent to its LGI logistics center in Cadempino, Switzerland, thereby benefiting from a lower local tax rate. Kering said the Swiss company was established in the Nineties, prior to the group’s acquisition of Gucci Group, and now employs more than 600 people.

LGI is a strategic hub namely for the centralized distribution and logistics of Kering brands it said in a statement. Continue reading

A PERFUME OF INFLUENCES

Three influencers pick by Bulgari Parfums to help launch its new Omnia Pink Sapphire eau de toilette the pinkest and poppiest scent the brand has ever put out. Described as a sparkling burst of citrus.

“Bella Hadid and Amanda Steele are probably not the first people who come to mind when one thinks of Bulgari.

Created by master perfumer Alberto Morillas, the scent hits counters on Thursday and will see a widened Macy’s distribution as a way to better reach the brand’s target customer. Following in the footsteps of Marc Jacobs, Dior, Hermès, Ferragamo and Coach, the brand is the latest luxury fragrance house to prioritize the social media set, adopting a largely digital first marketing strategy to attract the new generation of beauty consumers. Continue reading

DESIGUAL GOULD DEAL

Desigual has hired French artist, filmmaker, jean-Paul Goude as a creative director for the Spring Summer 2018 season.

Jean paul Goude, best known for his fashion illustrations and his work for Esquire Magazine, joins the Spanish brand . His debut as creative director will take place during New York Fashion Week on 7 September 2017, where he will present the first collection styled and selected by him.

The show will demonstrate Goude’s creative vision for Desigual, and will mark his arrival to the brand as creative director for the Spring Summer 2018 season. “I like challenges and helping Desigual on the process of updating its image while keeping faithful to its DNA it is extremely exciting.” said Goude. Continue reading

BRANQUINHO QUITS FASHION

Just a few sentences to say it is the end. Véronique Branquinho, who had successfully relaunched her feminine ready-to-wear brand five years ago, announces the ending clap.

The Belgian designer created her own couture house in 1998, parading for the first time in Paris at the age of 24. Alone at the head of her company, affected by the financial crisis, she had to stop her ready-to-wear collections (woman and man) for the first time in 2009.

In 2012, she started again with the women’s line in Spring-Summer 2013 thanks to Onward Luxury Group (ex-Gibò), which had always continued to produce its line of shoes. The European subsidiary of the Japanese group Onward, a reference in Italy for the production and distribution of very high-end collections, holds Jil Sander. Continue reading

ROCHAS POP-UP STORE IN PARIS

With Paris men’s fashion week around the corner, Rochas has opened its first pop-up store dedicated to its fledgling men’s wear line under creative director Beatrice Ferrant.

Located at 420 rue Saint-Honoré, the minimalist space, with a décor mixing parquet flooring, linear black units and a black marble counter, offers a selection of picks from across the brand’s fall 2017 ready-to-wear and accessories lines. Spanning sweatshirts with craggy textures and crease-free tuxedo pant with elasticated waists. The urban-chic collection has been designed under Ferrant, who was tapped by the Inter Parfums-owned house last September to revive its men’s line after a 22-year hiatus. Continue reading

HERMES MADE IN FRANCE

Hermès will create 220 jobs in France with the inauguration of two new production sites for leather goods in Normandy, Val-de-Reuil and New Aquitaine, in Saint-Juvien.

On June 13, the company will inaugurate a new leather goods store in Val-de-Reuil (Eure), to host workshops formerly located on a site of Hermès Parfums and which are destined to develop. Eventually, the manufacture of leather goods will make 250 craftsmen work there.

All of our leather good items are made in France, notably highlighting that “the French craft tradition from which they are derived enhances their image with an international clientele. Continue reading

FASHION QATAR AIR WAVE

Stefano Sassi, chief executive officer of Valentino, responded about the political decision of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Libya to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar: the Italian fashion group being controlled by Qatar Mayhoola for Investments.

The three Gulf countries and Egypt accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the region. Qatar which shares its only land border with Saudi Arabia has rejected the accusations, calling them “unjustified” and “baseless.”

Qatari citizens have been told they have 14 days to leave Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, and those countries also banned their own citizens from entering Qatar. Continue reading

LINDBERGH CROSSING THE ATLANTIC

Ermanno Scervino has asked the photographer Peter Lindbergh to launch the fall advertising campaign of his label. Set in Paris, the images are fronted by Italian model Mariacarla Boscono.

Flanked by male model Victor Norlander, Boscono is captured strolling on the riverfront of the Seine in the black, white and colored images.

Scervino said Boscono was “perfect” for the campaign, explaining how “thanks to her personality, she is able to interpret all my creations in an original and authentic way.”

As the designer wanted a strong and independent woman to embody his fall collection, Boscono is styled in mannish garments a total-white suit and flat, lace-up shoes. More feminine light dresses, embellished with pleats and details in lace, are coupled with military-inspired, oversize coats with fur inserts. Continue reading

LUXURY SALES FORECASTS

Sales of personal luxury goods in 2017 will reach some 254 billion euros to 259 billion euros, up from last year’s 249 billion euros, according to the studies. By 2020, the personal luxury goods market is seen reaching 290 billion euros.

In terms of market expectations in the various geographies, there were also a couple of variations. The personal luxury goods market in North America, which in October was forecasting to grow by 3 percent this year, is now seen expanding by 2 percent, in part due to the continued crisis in the department store industry.

Latin America, last fall forecasted an expansion by 3 percent in 2017, is now seen growing by a modest 1 percent this year, in part due to less favorable currency conditions. Continue reading

MICHAEL CINCO DUBAI

Dubai-based Filipino designer Michael Cinco is best known for his fabulous couture gowns. His innate creativity and masterful techniques have catapulted him to the front ranks of fashion. He has cultivated a dedicated following for the luxe and intricacy of his designs, with their fresh, elegant and detailed juxtapositions of fabric and Swarovski crystals.

Michael’s celebrity clients include Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Carrie Underwood, Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Ellie Goulding, Nicole Scherzinger, Fergie Ferguson, Dita Von Teese, Brandy, Ashanti, Chris Brown, Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell. Jennifer Lopez wore a crystallized Michael Cinco couture when she hosted American Music Awards in 2015. Sofia Vergara wore a stunning Michael Cinco gown at the Golden Globes 2013, who was voted Best Dressed by many TV shows and magazines in the US. British pop star Paloma Faith wore his couture dress at the MET Gala in New York. Michael also designed several costumes for Mila Kunis for the sci-fi blockbuster movie Jupiter Ascending. Continue reading

GUERLAIN’S SNEAKERS

Guerlain and Le Coq Sportif have launched a limited-edition Arthur Ashe model teaming up the blockbuster women’s fragrance “La Petite Robe Noire” with a pair of sneakers.

It was designed to reflect the perfume’s aesthetic codes, with the shoes’ sides decorated with black-and-white leather braids. Their outer soles are of transparent rubber encrusted with silver-colored sparkles, meant to call to mind the perfume’s sparkle, according to Guerlain.

The tongue on the right sneaker features the rooster label of Le Coque Sportif, while the left has the black dress drawing symbolizing La Petit Robe Noire. Continue reading

THE TRIANGLE BALENCIAGA

Demna Gvasalia is keeping things busy at Balenciaga. Two months after staging the most acclaimed show of the Paris fashion season, Balenciaga is preparing a major new store on Avenue Montaigne, the famed shopping strip. The boutique will be located at 57 Avenue Montaigne, in what Parisians call the Golden Triangle, the area demarcated by Avenue Montaigne, Avenue George V and the Champs Elysées.

The new store will be in the style used by Gvasalia when he radically revamped Balenciaga’s boutique on rue St Honoré in March. Behind huge plate glass windows, clothes are hung from high-tech steel tracks running diagonally beneath silver fire protection piping. Designed as a high-tech warehouse, the space also includes aluminum foil ceilings, changing rooms in cast concrete, and scattered leather benches. Continue reading