Louis Vuitton Hikes U.S. Prices to Dodge Tariff Tantrums. In yet another dramatic plot twist in the luxury-meets-politics soap opera, Louis Vuitton has decided that your next handbag should come with a side of international trade policy. Analysts at Bernstein and Barclays report a 4% price increase on the brand’s U.S. website a polite, monogrammed way of saying “tariffs are not our thing.”
The timing, unsurprisingly, aligns with the latest 10% import duty served up by the Trump administration like a surprise bill at a five-star restaurant. But insiders whisper that Louis Vuitton likes to nudge prices around this time anyway, perhaps as a spring tradition like tulips, but with more cowhide.
Meanwhile, Japan saw a 3% rise and France a modest 2%, because apparently luxury inflation is also a world traveler. Continue reading
Not content with just your bag or wallet, the brand is now taking over your living room, too. From the iconic Louis Vuitton 1885 Bed Trunk (because who doesn’t need a fancy trunk to sleep on?) to the Hemingway Library Trunk designed by Gaston-Louis Vuitton in 1927 (because Ernest Hemingway obviously needed a portable library for his really long trips), the French luxury brand has been cozying up to the design world for quite some time. And now, they’re ready to turn your home into a monument to expensive taste.
Unfortunately, these monarchs in patent leather shoes don’t stop there. If your murderous pen bothers them, they’ll attack the most precious thing you have: your children. Yes, these virtuous merchants of dreams are turning into modern-day inquisitors, blacklisting your descendants from all the headhunting agencies and companies in their group. Guilty by descent, heretics by birth, condemned to professional exile even before their first CV.
LVMH is stepping on the gas and pressing the accelerator in Formula 1: luxury, champagne and the God Chronos will be there in 2025. After dressing the Paris Olympic Games in its finest fabrics, LVMH is moving up a gear by getting a ticket on the starting grid, but without “Shoes marker”, Louboutin oblige.
While some brands open a flagship to make a bold statement, Ami Paris’ newest store is all about blending into its surroundings. “I liked the idea of being a neighborhood shop, something deeply rooted in the area’s history,” said creative director and founder Alexandre Mattiussi ahead of the opening. “It’s next to a café, beside a restaurant, in a real neighborhood with schools, pharmacies, and bakeries.”
When augmented reality meets frustrated reality, this is the story of when Santa Claus (or rather a loved one who clearly wants to test my patience) gave me a pair of Meta, Ray-Ban glasses. A total immersion in a world where my eyes become screens, and where technology merges with my style. Reality? A total immersion in a physical world where I fight with a capricious application, and where technology merges especially with my nerves.
Under your fingers, an infinite dance where polka-dot fabrics whisper of life, and the light circles of shy stars sown on the fabric in a limpid ballet come to light. I’m talking about a day tinged with light, dresses floating in the spring air, and scarves caressing the proud nape of the neck, with the gentle audacity of a sweet dream. Am I at Jacquemus? Yes, you are, but when it’s good, it’s good, and in this case, we’ve hit the nail on the head.
Bowie’s anthem ‘Heroes’ rings out over dramatic high-collared coats and supernatural silhouettes in front of the emerging Eiffel Tower. ‘La dame de faire’ means lady to do… is back in a haze, where a silhouette appears in this tender winter morning.
In honor of the Year of the Snake, Swarovski has revealed its latest Lunar New Year collection, “130 Years of Joy,” marking the brand’s 130th anniversary celebrations. A variety of symbolic designs highlight Swarovski’s craftsmanship and creativity in this collection, which combines tradition with modernity.
This is a sparkling journey in the heart of the Côte des Bars, a day through the enchantment of the setting sun on the vineyards. There is the pleasure palace with its voluptuousness of the superfluous and the fantasy, taking us to the heart of the medieval and finishing on the hill of the Biodynamic.
As everyone knows, I often visit young designers, and when I saw a jacket with a fabric that looked more like a Napoleonic Guard ceremonial set, I pointed this out to the designer: ‘I like this bomber with these fabrics from the 18ᵉ century to the 19ᵉ because it gives the buyer something to think about. Indeed, it is always reassuring to think that, in a garment, there is a bit of history from the past.’ The designer looked at me with an interested expression, because in fact she hadn’t thought about it, she’d done it instinctively, as artists often have this instinctive vision of the world of the future. It is no doubt commonplace to observe that modernity gives tradition a bye, and to say that the modern is the era of the new or of renewal; it is a little less so to explore this assertion in greater depth and to grasp the twofold gesture that constitutes its substance.
Finally a woman at the head of fashion (A hidden message for French organisations.). The British Fashion Council has appointed Laura Weir as its new chief executive, succeeding Caroline Rush. Ms Weir, currently executive creative director at Selfridges, will take up the role on 28 April.
A woman flew from Australia to meet master perfumer in the South of France. A lover of fragrance, she wanted a made-to-measure perfume. But more than having it just for herself, the client hoped the scent would ultimately be passed down to her granddaughters, to stir up memories of her. A small selection of perfumers are offering bespoke services to people from the world over. Just don’t ask who the clients are Confidentiality the rich aren’t secretive, they’re discreet.
The 260-year-old Maison Baccarat is embarking on a strategic shift with the appointment of Laurence Nicolas as its next CEO.
At the end of December, Valérie Leberichel joined Gucci as SVP global communications, reporting directly to Cantino. Daughter of the most famous florist in Dinan, Valérie Leberichel began her career as head of public relations at Jean Louis Scherrer before becoming communications director at Issey Miyake Europe. In 2002, she joined Celine as communications director. All that remained for Pinault was to take on the general director of the Franco-British Chamber of Commerce, Catherine Leyaouanc, to stock up on Breton women from his region for his house, but as is well known, Bretons work with their compatriots.
Elie Saab is strengthening its handbag division and has appointed Marina Raphael as its new artistic and design director.
After four years of Fendi’s turbulent collaboration with the Roman house, Kim Jones is leaving Fendi. The British designer, whose position at Fendi was artistic director of women’s haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur collections, will continue in his role as artistic director of men’s collections at Dior in Paris.