AZULANT AKORA

African Australian designer Azulant Akora embraces unconventional angles and unexpected forms, bold colors and regal silhouettes. Emerging onto the Australian fashion scene in 2013 where she was awarded the Australian Wool Fashion Award, Azulant is a designer on the move.

Her latest collection, AVATAR, is inspired by the movie. The main message is “ All energy is only borrowed, and one day you have to give it back. ” In life, everything is about balance; giving back as much as we take and respecting the Earth. Drawing on its message of respecting our natural resources and connecting with the Earth. Science is unable to keep up with our industrial society. We are destroying species faster than we can classify them.

This collection features the vibrancy of Royal Blue, Royal Purple, Royal Green with hints of metallic silver and gold. Avatar is a collection bound to inspire! Sharp cuts and sexy shapes, power looks for power girls. When structure meets style! Continue reading

HELEN DAVID LEAVES HARRODS

“After 10 successful years, Helen David is stepping down from her role as chief merchant to pursue new ventures. Helen’s talent and drive have been instrumental in the continued success of Harrods, and she has made an outstanding contribution to the business,” according to the company.

Harrods added that David “decided the time is right to explore other opportunities. We are very grateful for her dedication throughout her tenure, and wish her the best for the future.”

David is thought to be leaving following differences with management, according to industry sources. Known for her business smarts and sharp sense of humor, she was known as a tough negotiator with a fierce work ethic.

She was promoted to chief merchant in August 2016. She joined the store in 2008 and had overseen projects including Shoe Heaven, Superbrands, Mini Superbrands and the refurbishment of the Fine Jewellery rooms. Continue reading

DELVAUX OPENS STORE IN MILANO

Following the opening of a store on London’s Sloane Street last May, Belgian accessories label Delvaux, which was founded in Brussels in 1829, inaugurated on Tuesday its first boutique in Milan.

The flagship, which carries the house’s collection of luxury bags, is located on Via Bagutta, inside the historic Palazzo Reina, a recently restored palazzo in the heart of Milan’s Golden Triangle luxury shopping district.

Combing Belgian interior design with Italian decorative elements, the store welcomes visitors with a curved hallway conceived by Saint-Gilles’ fine arts academy Van Der Kelen, which leads to a space featuring an impressive bookcase by 20th-century Italian designer Ignazio Gardella.

OUTSTANDING MEN’S FASHION WEEK PARIS

After a week that saw the beginning of collections from Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton and Kim Jones at Dior, with the rush of star power fueling other designers to up their game with a series of outstanding staged shows.

On Monday, Men’s Fashion Week Paris started with the presentation of Simon Porte Jacquemus who drew the fashion crowd to a beach near Marseille, France, for the launch of his first men’s collection. Continue reading

DRIES VAN NOTEN ACQUIRED BY PUIG

Puig, the family-owned Spanish fragrance and fashion firm, has just been acquired by the Belgian fashion label known for its dignified and elegant designs.

“Puig will be the majority owner alongside Dries, who remains, over the long term, a significant minority shareholder,” the companies said jointly in a statement on Thursday. “Additionally, Dries Van Noten will continue as chief creative officer and chairman of the board.”

Dries, baron Van Noten (born 12 May 1958 in Antwerp) is a Belgian fashion designer and an eponymous fashion brand. In 2005, the New York Times described him as “one of fashion’s most cerebral designers”. His style is said to be “eccentric”, and fell out of favor during the long period of minimalistic fashion in the early 1990s, only to make a comeback towards the mid-2000s,culminating with Van Noten’s winning of the International Award of the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2008. Continue reading

RED COLOR FOR LOUBOUTIN

The designer Christian Louboutin claimed an important victory in his ongoing battle to trademark red soles, after the European Court of Justice on Tuesday supported the company’s claim that the use of a specific shade of red on the underside of its shoes constitutes a recognizable characteristic of the brand.

The ruling by the European Union’s highest court comes in the context of a dispute between Louboutin and Dutch high street shoe brand Van Haren dating back to 2012. A Dutch district court in The Hague asked the European Court of Justice to rule on the nature of Louboutin’s trademark before it settles the matter.

Louboutin’s lawyers argued, on the contrary, that the trademark consisted of “the color red (Pantone 18‑1663TP) applied to the sole of a shoe,” regardless of the shape of the sole.

At issue was whether Louboutin’s trademark should be considered a shape trademark or a position trademark an important distinction as European trademark law does not protect signs consisting exclusively of the shape of a product. Continue reading

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

GUCCI VESPER FOR THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Alessandro Michele deserves the award for the most dazzling spectacle to date in a season thick with powerful imagery. The Gucci creative director chose the Alyscamps, a Roman necropolis in the southern French city of Arles, as the setting for his show, and took full advantage of the area’s epic history with a nighttime display that transcended space and time with a trove of references ancient and modern. Continue reading

CARVEN CHAPTER 11

The house was founded in 1945 by the late Madame Carven, the French couturier who traveled the world with her collections. The French contemporary brand and its parent company, Société Béranger, have filed a voluntary petition with the Paris Commercial Court for the French equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the spokesman said.

Carven underwent a renaissance under Sebaoun and the former artistic director Guillaume Henry, who positioned it as a contemporary brand.

After Henry moved to Nina Ricci, the brand initially named Alexis Martial and Adrien Caillaudaud as artistic directors for the women’s collections, and Barnabé Hardy for men’s.

The company, which was “already fragile,” was hit to the tune of several million euros by a delay in the production of its spring 2018 collection designed by Serge Ruffieux, which forced it to cancel deliveries, he explained. Carven, which employs 99 people, has annual revenues in the region of 20 million euros. Continue reading

DIOR HAS NAMED C.DELAPALME

Charles Delapalme must be the new Diore managing director of commercial activities. The appointment takes effect on June 15, 2018.

“Charles will be taking over from Serge Brunschwig,” Dior said in a press release Tuesday morning. Brunschwig left Dior in January to become president of Fendi, which like Dior is a major fashion house within the giant LVMH luxury conglomerate. While at Dior, Brunschwig’s principal role was overseeing Dior Homme.

Moving in the opposite direction Delapalme joins Dior from Fendi where since 2016 he has been Managing Director of Retail & Wholesale.

While at Fendi, Delapalme reported to Pietro Beccari, the former president of the Roman luxury brand who is became CEO of Dior in January. Continue reading

BRITISH DRESS OF SUSSEX

I am a working mother, I am used to juggling schedules! In total, about 50 people worked on the dress, veil, shoes and bridesmaids’dresses. Three thousand, nine hundred hours over the course of four months work.

Clare Waight Keller was born in Birmingham, England on 19 August 1970. She studied at Ravensbourne College of Art, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Fashion, followed by a master’s degree at the Royal College of Art.

She started her career at Calvin Klein in New York as a stylist for the women’s ready-to-wear line, then at Ralph Lauren, for the Purple man line.In 2000, she was hired by Tom Ford to join Gucci, responsible for women’s ready-to-wear and accessories, until her departure in 2004.

After months of speculation about Meghan Markle’s wedding dress, with names including Ralph & Russo, Erdem and Franck Sorbier being tossed around like bridal bouquets, the designer turned out to be Clare Waight Keller.Indeed, the artistic director of Givenchy fulfilled her assignment with such discretion that only she and Markle knew who and what the dress being designed was for. Continue reading

J’ADIOR MYKONOS

Dior is opening a Pop-up shop in Mykonos in June. Maria Grazia Chiuri has designed exclusive pieces, including Dior Book Tote bags featuring the name of the island woven into the canvas.

Maria Grazia Chiuri, artistic director of women’s collections at the French fashion house, has designed a collection of exclusive pieces for the occasion, including striped bodysuits and sweaters, silk cravats and cotton pareos bearing the slogan “J’adior Mykonos.”

The boutique will also carry advance items from Dior’s fall collection, including Dior Oblique zipped pouches, baseball caps and berets, and a Dioraddict bag that can be accessorized with a choice of five straps. These items will be available in Dior boutiques worldwide from mid-July.

The Greek influence could be felt in his designs from 1953, with dresses carrying names such as Athènes, Corfou and Rhodes. Maria is reinventing in copying looks in the archives of the Fashion House! At Myconos, Dior is becoming Iconos!

HYÉRES FESTIVAL

“Hyères” “means in French yesterday” During Sunday night’s prizegiving for the 33rd Festival International De Mode, De Photographie Et D’Accessoires De Mode a Hyères, Lisi Herrebrugh are a Dutch duo, neither of them fluent in the local speak and therefore momentarily ignorant their names had just been called. So their models beat them to the podium, their chaotic exuberance amplifying the winning collection of menswear infused with the couple’s Caribbean roots. Continue reading