The early stage fashion investment deals keep on rolling in.

A day after the announcement from Matthew Williamson, The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Peter Som is close to finalising a deal with NRDC Equity Partners, further confirming a report from WWD back in February. NRDC is the firm behind the investment and turnaround of Lord & Taylor, the American department store.

It’s an unconventional choice for Som whose savvy business partner, Elana Posner, has been driving the fund raising search for Som for over a year now. While other designers have been taking investments from upstream strategic investors (Sophia Kokosalaki and Staff International, Proenza Schouler and Valentino), this is the first deal in some years that comes from a retail partner whose expertise is more focused on retail distribution than on production and brand development.

Perhaps one reason for this choice is the unique structure of the deal.

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WWD’s lead story today reveals that TSM Capital, an offshoot of Marvin Traub Associates, has invested in  London-based Matthew Williamson, having raised funds from a silent investor. The deal gives TSM a 22% stake of Williamson’s business. Last year, Williamson took on investment from Baugur Group, where Aslaug Magnusdottir, now one of the key individuals behind TSM, was responsible for venture investments, like the one in Williamson.

The investments will focus on early stage businesses in fashion apparel and accessories. Traub described to WWD the market gap that TSM is aiming to fill:

“Over time, we frequently saw many great companies whom we thought were talented, and who could use funding. But if you’re trying to raise a range of $5 million to $25 million, it’s much more diffi cult than if you need to raise $50 million or $100 million.”

Despite some market uncertainty, it seems there is still interest in fashion investing, even if it is at the riskier end of the investment spectrum.

Photoclip courtesy of nymag.com

I am filing this post from “Cottage Country”, north of Toronto, very far from the centre of the fashion world. Nontheless, when I first arrived in Toronto about a week ago, I asked local fashionistas the same questions I ask everywhere in an effort to seek out local stories which are still relevant to the international readership of the Business of Fashion. There’s always an interesting story to tell. Who should I try to meet, where should I go to see designs by the top local designers, and which fashion brands and retail chains are using innovative ways to build their businesses?

Almost without exception, these questions were met with a slight shrugging of the shoulders and a resignation that the local scene is nothing to write home about. “There’s not a lot going on,” I was told over and over again. “Canadian designers lack the confidence to push forward their own ideas, choosing instead to be ‘inspired’ by major international designers.”

I had almost resigned myself to the fact that there was nothing to write about, when I started recalling the names of supermodels, young and old, who have come from Canada. Irina Lazareanu grew up in the Montréal suburb of St-Hubert and was launched to fame by her friend Kate Moss. Coco Rocha of Richmond, British Columbia used her Celtic dance skills spark her fashion moment. Jessica Stam from Kincardine near Lake Huron, 2 hours from Toronto, is the namesake of Marc Jacobs’ ever popular Stam bag. And of course, 90’s supermodels like Linda Evangelista of Toronto and Yasmeen Ghauri of Montréal were amongst the first Canadian models to hit the big time.

So, maybe Canada isn’t a land that develops world-class designers, but something about the place does seem to nurture top models. Could Canada be giving traditional model hunting grounds like Brazil and Eastern Europe a run for the money?

You be the judge. Here’s a look at the top 5 international models hailing from Canada.

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Two legendary doyennes of the fashion world have been making news this week — and not just for their colourful fashions.

Today, Betsey Johnson announced a majority investment in her business from Boston’s Castanea Partners. Some observers are questioning Castanea’s logic for investing in a 30 year old brand whose namesake is already a grandmother and whose high-profile days are long over.  On the contrary, the business  has a solid own-retail network of 51 stores and a respectable $200m in sales. This could provide a great platform for further growth, as long as Castanea doesn’t dilute the brand’s famous quirky irreverence, which is what is most appealing to its loyal fans.

Earlier this week British fashion icon, Zandra Rhodes, garnered yet another high profile article highlighting the resurgence of interest in her designs around the world. While she doesn’t have a business on the same scale as Johnson, she is still finding news ways of capturing value from over 3 decades in the industry, using her iconic colourful style as the basis for a series of licensing agreements with MAC (for makeup), Pologeorgis (for furs), and the Dash Partnership (for jewellery).

So, why are the fashion grannies on the rise?

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One amazing thing about the fashion blogosphere is that it is global, in the truest sense of the word. Major brands and media everywhere are sitting up and taking notice of this phenomenon, and smart journalists are questioning how this will change the industry going forward.

Candy Soo of Hong Kong’s pre-eminent English language daily, The South China Morning Post, recently published an article on the growing influence of fashion blogs and how the industry is (slowly) coming to terms with it. The article interviews bloggers behind several fashion blogs, including The Business of Fashion, and handbag designer Rafe Totengco talks about how he uses his blog to promote his brand and solicit feedback from his clientele.

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After having checked out some of the more up-and-coming areas of L.A, it was time to visit the king and queen of luxury and fashion here: Rodeo Drive and Robertson Boulevard.

The most remarkable thing about both these streets is that the stores really are an extension of the brands themselves. In Paris, London and even New York, most brands are constrained by existing building facades and building codes which they must work around as they design their stores. In Los Angeles, it appears that the brands have complete freedom in design, and therefore, if done well, every aspect from the sparkling exteriors, the natural lighting, the size of logos outside the building, and even the dramatic entrances off the street are messages about the brand. It was truly impressive.

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To many die-hard fashionistas, Los Angeles has always been considered the less sophisticated, dressed-down, in your face, suburban, over-celebrity conscious little sister to New York, which has consistently retained its place amongst the world’s fashion capitals.  However, our visit to L.A. has revealed an interesting mix of local designers and boutiques combined with the glossy global brands along Rodeo Drive. Driven by its native contemporary brands, L.A. is experiencing a fashion renaissance.

Yesterday, I cruised around some upcoming fashion districts here with Jamil Juma, of Juma, which he designs with his sister Alia. Juma’s collections (one fashion forward RTW, one activewear) are carried at more than 30 boutiques around North America, including Fred Segal  in L.A. and Caravan in NY. Both Jamil and I were keen to get a feel for what is going on here, especially in the hot contemporary segment where his brand is positioned.

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Unlike the United States, Europe and the Middle East, the Canadian retail luxury landscape is dominated by one major player, Holt Renfrew, which was founded in 1837 in Quebec City. 

In 1986, the venerable retail chain was acquired by Galen Weston, who also owns Selfridges in London and Brown Thomas in Ireland.  Since then, Holts has gone on to become the destination for luxury shoppers in Canada with 9 locations in all major cities, an estimated $500m in revenues, and still virtually no competition to speak of in the domestic luxury department store market.

However, with monopoly can come complacency. 

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JC Report has dedicated its most recent bi-weekly issue to men’s fashion where Angelo Flaccavento makes a compelling argument from the start.

Let’s be honest: over the last couple of years, most of the really interesting developments in fashion have happened in menswear. Maybe it’s because for women, everything (or almost everything) has been done and redone to death, while masculinity remains a vast, unexplored territory open to new sartorial definitions and formal experimentation. Maybe it’s because the apparent limitations of the genre are a stimulus rather than an obstacle for truly creative minds.

This was not something that had occurred to me before — but as I reflected upon it, it does seem one of the reasons behind men’s fashion new burst of energy is simply because so much has yet to be explored.

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Today, we are flattered to be Typepad’s featured blog of the day.

Thanks very much to Robin at Typepad for selecting us and welcome to new readers who are reading the blog for the first time. To regular readers who are visiting us from over 120 countries, thanks for coming back.

As the BoF continues to push forward, introduce new features and cover the intersection of business and fashion, we’d also like to encourage readers to join in the discussion. The best blogs aren’t a one way discussion — so pipe up and tell us what you think.

Do you have something to add to the discussion? Is there a topic you’d like to hear more about? Do you disagree with an assertion that has been made? Constructive comments and debate will make the BoF an even better place for exploring these issues.