A couple of weeks ago in New York I caught up with Elana Posner, President of Peter Som, over lunch. Amongst a flurry of topics, we touched (briefly) upon the gossipy item in WWD on July 6th which leaked the news that Peter was soon to be appointed as the new womenswear designer for Bill Blass, owned by NexCen brands.

What I didn’t know at the time was that Michael Bastian would be designing the men’s collection. So, I was excited to hear the news confirmed today, not only because it could finally be discussed on The Business of Fashion, but also because these are inspired choices made in part by NexCen. What a pleasant surprise! It’s been a good week for Bastian as he was also confirmed as one of the finalists for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.

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The results are in. After receiving more than 100 applications for the 2007 edition of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, a jury of who’s who fashion personalities has chosen the following emerging brands as finalists in this year’s competition:

• 3.1 Phillip Lim
• Band of Outsiders
• Erin Fetherston
• Koi
• Michael Bastian
• Philip Crangi
• Rogan
• Threeasfour
• Vena Cava
• VPL

On a big news day like this, people will be googling these designers’ names to learn more about them and their products. Thus, it is surprising that so many of these brands lack a meaningful, proprietary web presence and are therefore leaving it to others to describe their brands to the world. It’s such a low-cost way of providing a window into the brand and a missed opportunity for those who haven’t taken the time to build a proper website

The winners of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund’s $200,000 prize will be announced on November 15, 2007.

The Times of London: G-Force
Frida Giannini, the last remaining designer of the trio that was selected to replace Tom Ford at Gucci, is an advocate for Gucci without the sex. According to The Times, the results speak for themselves with a 16% increase in sales to over £1.5b – the highest in the company’s history.

The New York Times: The Murder on Ocean Drive
Gianni Versace, who was feted at a glamorous ballet last weekend in Milan, was murdered 10 years ago this month. Cathy Horyn gives us a behind-the-scenes take on that shocking week in Miami in 1997, showing a different side of Gianni’s replacement, his sister Donnatella.

The Wall Street Journal: Brooks Brothers tries hip line: Will it suit?
As a collaboration with Thom Browne and Brooks Brothers launches in stores, the masses will for the first time have access to Mr. Browne’s directional short-suit silhouette. The WSJ muses on the potential of the line, which while less expensive than his own astronomically-priced line, is still 30-40% more expensive that Brook Brothers normal price points.

Photoclip courtesy of the New York Times

Every week there are reports of new online fashion retailers, but some of the biggest names in the UK are noticeably absent from the space. Selfridges and Harvey Nichols have essentially no online fashion businesses to speak of, while the venerable Harrods is selling a heavily edited mix of its lower-priced collections, with an emphasis on accessories, knitwear and outerwear only.

All of this is even more surprising when you consider that many of the major American department stores, with similarly large profiles, have made heavy (and successful) pushes into the online space. Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Barney’s all have online sites with a large fashion assortment for sale. What’s more, many of the world’s best known luxury brands say that their rapidly growing online boutiques are their number one or two retail sales generators, even more than their flagship stores in the world’s fashion capitals.

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WWD reports today that Style.com has concluded an agreement to sell advertising on the Sartorialist blog maintained by Scott Schuman, a former fashion industry staffer who left a fashion sales showroom to create one of the best known blogs in the fashion blogosphere.

Women’s Wear Daily said:

A fashion label may get the best endorsement when its wares show up on a well-dressed city dweller photographed for fashion industry veteran Scott Schuman’s popular blog The Sartorialist. But for those who want more direct brand promotion, Style.com and Men.style.com will begin to sell ads forThesartorialist.blogspot.com beginning Sept. 1….

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Many column inches and much screenspace has been dedicated to Valentino over the past few weeks. The Business of Fashion has been no exception to this trend. What with the acquisition of Valentino by Permira, the celebration of Valentino’s 45th anniversary at the helm of his eponymous label in Rome last weekend, and the announcement of a 45% investment in Proenza Schouler by Valentino Fashion Group this past week, there has been much to write about — or, more specifically, to speculate on.

Will Valentino continue to design for his label or was this party the beginning of the end? How well will Permira be able to manage Valentino, their first investment in luxury fashion? What will Permira do with the tiny Proenza Schouler business which they snapped up for what seems to be a low valuation? Who will replace Valentino when he goes — will it be the Proenza Schouler boys or will it be Zac Posen, who was sitting in the front row in Rome along with other designers with careers longer and reputations much larger than his? Is there any meaning behind 45 years of Valentino and the 45% investment stake in Proenza Schouler? So many questions.

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For years now, the Yves Saint-Laurent brand has been a drag on the otherwise strong results posted by many other fashion brands in the Gucci Group, owned by parent-company PPR. Most recently, Bottega Veneta has been on a tear with strong financial results (eclipsing YSL’s top line revenue in 2006) and a leading position in the luxury consumer league tables, making it the number two luxury brand in PPR’s stable.

The story for YSL is a lot less fairytale, and a lot more Nightmare on Elm Street. The brand has not been profitable since Gucci Group purchased it in 1999 and is still reportedly losing around €50m a year. The brand turned over €194m in sales in 2006. PPR doesn’t break out operating loss of YSL its website and has not provided a timeframe to investors for expected profitability.

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This week’s Economist ominously warns of “The Trouble with Private Equity” at a time when many in the fashion world are wondering how the infusion of private capital will impact their industry. In the last month alone, La Perla, Samsonite and Valentino have all been snapped up by private equity funds. Just today, The Sunday Times broke the news that Prada has also been in talks with private investors. (Not surprisingly, Prada has denied these reports, but it is not hard to see why this would be a natural option for Patrizio Bertelli, especially given several failed attempts at taking Prada public.)

The recent investment exuberance around fashion brands is a dramatic departure from the stance that many professional investors took even just a few years ago. Back then, they said there was too much “fashion” risk and that without predictable and stable revenue streams, their highly-leveraged (heavy on debt, light on equity) investment strategies were untenable. Now, with more and more money fighting for fewer investment opportunities, it seems much of this wisdom has been thrown out the window. 

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Roland Mouret, as part of his new partnership with Simon Fuller, is taking to the web to launch his new collection under the newly-founded RM label.  With high-profile behind-the-scenes coverage of the collection’s unveiling at Couture Week on Net-a-Porter, we may be seeing the first evidence of Mr. Fuller’s influence and experience in having marketed such pop phenoms as the Spice Girls. He may not have fashion experience, but Fuller is a man who knows how to work with creative talent and get front-page attention.

What’s more, this coverage is actually going to be linked to sales to end customers. In a first for the fashion industry, the small 21 piece collection for Spring Cruise 2008 will be available for pre-ordering on Net-a-Porter as of 5:30pm London time tomorrow. Natalie Massenet, the luxury e-tailer’s co-founder, declared the online RM initiative a 21st Century trunk show. It’s another coup for Net-a-Porter which has been continuously  innovating in the increasingly competitive online luxury retail fashion space.

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Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini issued the 2007 edition of their annual World Wealth Report last week and the Financial Times and other media took notice, remarking on the dramatic growth of high-net worth individuals and the risky investment strategies that have helped make the world’s rich even richer (subscription required). And then, today’s WWD reported on the dramatic rise in Haute Couture sales experienced by houses from Dior to Chanel to Givenchy. Was Haute Couture’s death knell premature?

Conventional wisdom says that the Haute Couture lines of famous Parisian fashion houses are more like publicity machines and creative R&D playgrounds. For the price of  a collection of  hand-made, intricately designed dresses, the maisons of Paris get millions of dollars worth of media coverage that helps build the mystique and exclusiveness of their brands. In this way, couture is the single most important method for communicating the individual persona of a luxury fashion brand.

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