Poppy line for Coach, Courtesy of Coach

Coach Is Now Traveling Coach (Reuters)
“With this month’s release of the budget-conscious Poppy line, Coach, a luxury-retail marvel once ridiculed for being stodgy, is increasingly associated with an entirely different-and notoriously fickle-population: teens, coeds, and grads.”

Escada Optimistic of Rescue as Katie Holmes Dressmaker Suffers (Bloomberg)
“Escada AG Chief Executive Officer Bruno Saelzer said he’s optimistic investors will back a refinancing plan and avert insolvency at the German dressmaker whose celebrity clients include actress Katie Holmes.”

Fashion sales down 1.1% in June (Drapers)
“Like-for-like fashion sales in June were down 1.1%, a little more than the average retail drop across all retail sectors of 0.9%.”

Aquascutum pulls out of London Fashion Week (Marie Claire)
“Amongst all the hullaballoo surrounding September’s London Fashion Week - billed as one of the most fabulous ever due to a new location at Somerset House and the return to the capital of blockbuster brands Burberry and Matthew Williamson - one brand, Aquascutum, will no longer be on the glittering schedule.”

From Europe | Designers’ Day at the Museum (The Moment)
European museums remind us, “that a fashion exhibition can also be thoughtful and original, with a purpose beyond just that of a brand extension for publications or an advertising campaign for fashion products sold in nearby boutiques.”

Behnaz Kanani

LONDON, United Kingdom — Behnaz Kanani is the name to know for buyers in search of a shoe designer with an age-old emphasis on craftsmanship paired with a modern eye. This month, our BoF logo showcases her aesthetic which mixes contrasting colours, exotic skins, and luxe leathers in immaculately-constructed shoes that are designed to catch a bit of attention.

After graduating from Cordwainers College in London in 1997, Kanani set her sights on Italy’s traditional shoe industry at Bruno Magli in Bologna to get the kind of old-world training that money can’t buy. With that technical foundation in place, she flexed her design muscle working with Sandra Choi, Creative Director at Jimmy Choo, just as the brand was starting to take off and reach uber-hot status. Then, in 2006, with brother and business partner Reza by her side, she launched her own label and has experienced promising success in the first few years of her business.

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Luxury-Goods Makers Brandish Green Credentials (WSJ)
“The bad economy and a fundamental shift in the market for luxury goods are forcing an industry that reveres names like Chanel and Versace to embrace a different icon: Mother Nature.” See video here.

If You Gave a Fashion Show and No One Came… (WSJ)
“Until a few years ago, the magazine editors and retailers who attended runway shows closely guarded access to photos until the clothes were ready to show up in stores. But these days, with members of the audience filming, photographing and tweeting from their seats, the format feels about as modern as Brylcreem”

Gilt Groupe Raising $40 Million At A Huge Valuation (The Business Insider)
“Gilt Groupe, a New York-based private-sale ecommerce company, has signed a term sheet with General Atlantic and Matrix to raise about $40 million at about a $400 million valuation.” For an update on the story please click here.

Luxury Retailers Test Waters in Hamptons (Observer)
“As Manhattanites pack up their cars and zoom east on Friday, July 3, they will find Hamptons streets rather spiffed up, despite dire economic predictions.”

BRC says consumer advocate must educate shoppers on rights (Drapers)
“The British Retail Consoritum (BRC) has warned that the creation of a “consumer advocate”, which could have power to take legal action against retailers, must be focused on improving consumers’ understanding of their rights.”

Madonna for Louis Vuitton A/W 2009, courtesy of Louis Vuitton

Madonna in New Vuitton Ads (WWD)
“Marc Jacobs was so pleased with this spring’s Louis Vuitton campaign featuring Madonna that he was eager to do an encore. But very quickly Marc said, ‘I want something completely different,’ related Antoine Arnault, Vuitton’s communication director.”

Plus-size fashion: style for the fuller figure (Telegraph)
“On Sunday night, as the British soul singer Adele commanded the stage at the Hollywood Bowl, her faultless appearance in a form-fitting, black, silk taffeta, box- pleated cocktail gown was yet another style triumph for fashion’s new generation of plus-size heroines.”

New Bangladesh textile protests (BBC)
“Thousands of textile workers in Bangladesh have clashed with police for a third consecutive day in a protest over pay and conditions.”

West End to capitalise on London Fashion Week fever (Drapers)
“Fashion retailers in London’s West End will host a High Street Fashion Week in early September to promote shopping in the capital and capitalise on the run up to London Fashion Week.”

Valentino S/S 09 ad campaign, courtesy of Valentino

Valentino hits Permira’s pockets (FT)
“Private equity’s costliest excursion on to the catwalk risks turning into a flop as Permira, the UK buy-out house, nears completion of talks with lenders to Valentino, the Italian fashion house, about renegotiating its €2.5bn (£2.1bn) debt.”

Bread & Butter anticipation mounts (Drapers)
“Karl-Heinz Muller, the organiser of young fashion trade show Bread & Butter, is expecting more than 80,000 people to descend on the fair’s new location of Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, when the three-day event opens tomorrow.”

From Paris | Chic of Araby (The Moment)
Western style borrows from the Arabian peninsula as “washed linen and light cottons in multiple layers worn over floppy pants,” make it onto the runway.

Expert Advises on Creating A Korean Luxury Brand (Korean Times)
“Luxury brands, from Louis Vuitton to Gucci to Chanel have entranced the whole world, including Korea. But many are wondering why Asia, in particular Korea, has not yet produced its own globally known luxury brand.”

Lanvin, Dior, and Paul Smith S/S 10, courtesy of men.style.com

Paris menswear week winds down with Dior, Lanvin (AP)
“The French capital’s spring-summer 2010 menswear displays wound down Sunday with a harder-than-usual silhouette from romantic label Lanvin, a retro rocker at British dandy Paul Smith and a sheer, shorn look at Dior Homme.” 

ASOS says trading robust as profit doubles (Reuters)
“British Internet fashion retailer ASOS Plc posted an expected 93 percent rise in year profit and said current trading was robust, boosted by strong demand for jumpsuits, boyfriend blazers and marble wash denim.”

Why retailers are launching retro collections (FT)
“While fashion has been plundering its own history for years, these days it’s not just the designers who are having a renaissance. Designs of long-ago are, too.”

Ready to Wear: Is it fair to lambast such an innovative designer? (Guardian)
“Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquière has once again came under scrutiny online as bloggers point out that a patchwork leather jacket from his 2010 resort collection shown in New York earlier this month bears an uncanny resemblance to a ‘parrot’ jacket, courtesy of East West Musical Instruments that operated in San Francisco during the Sixties and Seventies.”

LOS ANGELES, United States — Today the world is talking about Michael Jackson’s inimitable and legendary contribution to global pop music. But what about his contribution to fashion and what was Jackson’s most stylish moment?

There’s plenty to choose from. This was the man, of course, with the sequined glove, military-inspired uniforms (think Balmain, without the Pagoda shoulder), shredded jeans, distressed leather jackets with zippers, and countless other iconic costumes and spectacular outfits that have been imitated by fans and fashion designers alike for decades now. Even Justin Giunta’s brooch in this month’s BoF Spotlight has a little bit of Michael in it.

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Craft Punk exhibit in Miami, courtesy of Fendi

Why Luxury needs a recession (Business 24-7)
“Michael Burke, President and CEO of Italian fashion house Fendi, has always maintained that luxury should not be affordable. ‘It cannot be, it shouldn’t be for everybody,’ he insists. ‘The way the products are made, the quality and the works… luxury is not for instantaneous gratification. One should aspire for it.’”

Distinctive Men’s Styles From Some ‘Little Brothers’ (New York Times)
“The final day of the spring 2010 menswear collections in Milan spotlighted many of the secondary lines of some of the biggest names in fashion, collections generally perceived to be the sportier, more rebellious young brothers to the high-end lines. But rather than looking like second-class fashion citizens, these shows were collectively strong, with distinctive messages that pushed them out of the shadows of their big brothers’ broad shoulders.”

Clements Ribeiro return to London Fashion Week (Drapers)
“Design duo Clements Ribeiro will return to the London Fashion Week schedule this September after a four year break.”

Protests threaten launch of Bread & Butter Berlin (Drapers)
“Protesters who operate under the banner ‘Rescue Tempelhof’ are campaigning for the disused airport, which will host B&B next week, to be registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site and do not want it used as a trade show venue.”

Sophie Theallet

NEW YORK, United States — New York fashion is said to strike a balance between commerce and creativity. With few exceptions, New York designers tend to prioritise practical concerns like wearability over more frivolous concerns like the so-called wow factor. On the surface, this seems like a sound business strategy. But when designers focus too much on the practical and are obsessed with being on-trend or with what their peers are doing, everything ends up looking, well, kind of the same.

Sophie Theallet, the French-born American designer based in New York, does not have this problem. Theallet creates clothes with a distinctive mix of sophisticated wearability and refreshingly untrendy luxury. Unlike other designers who look for aesthetic inspiration from visual archetypes or vintage clothes, Theallet, who claims to not have a specific muse, designs with a more soulful, introspective process.

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H&M spring 09 ad campaign, courtesy of H&M

H&M Profit Increases on New Stores, Stronger Euro (Bloomberg)
“Hennes & Mauritz AB, Europe’s second-largest clothing retailer, reported a 6 percent profit increase for the second quarter after store openings and the stronger euro offset slower consumer spending.”

In the Comfort Zone in Milan (New York Times)
“EVEN if anyone could pronounce it, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is not a name you’re likely to hear a lot around the fashion circuit. Yet the eminent psychologist has come to mind during a week of men’s wear shows here that seemed designed to prove the theories of the guy who devised the concept of ‘flow.’”

Jonathan Saunders returns to London Fashion Week (Telegraph)
“Saunders becomes latest designer to confirm a return home for the 25th anniversary celebrations of LFW.”

Dress top to toe in clothes that benefit charitable causes (Canadian Press)
“In this challenging economy, indulging your fashion desires can feel a bit, well, indulgent. So why not be truly fashion conscious and buy brands that support charitable causes?”