Sometimes fashion takes you to the most unexpected places. This is what keeps me interested. Last night I found myself in the heart of Paris’ red light district — home to some salacious joints like les Folies Pigalle and le Moulin Rouge. Why would I show up in such a place in the middle of the week? Because when I received an email from Gentry Lane inviting me to her latest event in Paris, I knew I had to attend:

Because my brand is associated with all things vintage and glamorous, I decided to bring the best burlesque performers from Europe and the US together along with the amazing electro gypsy jazz band Caravan Palace for a night of burlesque that Paris hasn’t seen since the likes of Josephine Baker.

Gentry Lane is one of the leading protagonists of the innerwear-as-fashion trend (in a different vein from VPL) that we have seen take off over the past few years. Last night, she cleverly combined this with the not-so-underground burlesque revival that has been sweeping the shores of many of the world’s coolest cities. All this to highlight the world of Gentry de Paris, her loungewear and lingerie label….et voilà!  An event that brings people into Gentry’s universe.

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We are excited to share the news that our first published article appears in today’s Financial Times.

The article links the shift in luxury goods production out of Italy to a recent spree of investments and licensing agreements that have taken place between emerging brands and established Italian houses with high quality production facilities. These deals have provided young brands like Proenza Schouler, Derek Lam and Sophia Kokosalaki with access to top class production, solving one of the major headaches of launching a high-end fashion business.

It appears in one of my favourite supplements for getting the low-down on happenings in the fashion business: Financial Times - The Business of Fashion. There are some very interesting reads, including Vanessa Friedman’s Q&A with Dana Thomas, author of the much-discussed book "Deluxe", my friend Robb Young’s take on the new movers and shakers in the fashion business, and Godfrey Deeny’s revelations about fashion’s power brokers in the Middle East.

If you can get your hand on the supplement, it’s definitely worth a read. Unfortunately, none of the content appears on the FT.com site as yet, but in the meantime, please click here to have a look at the article on Italian investments.

When Malcolm Harris, one of the designers behind the Katsumi & Malcolm label which was once financially backed by Madonna, wanted to launch a new brand, he knew he needed to do something singularly different.

Harris is the man behind Cut, Sew & Blog which has got young fashion insiders and the blogosphere buzzing and is already spawning internet spoofs. By turning to web 2.0 technologies and using sites like Myspace and Youtube to promote his new label, Malcolm may be the first fashion designer ever to build his entire business strategy around the use of the Internet, as opposed to treating it as a cosmetic afterthought. He recently answered a few questions from the Business of Fashion to explain the rationale behind this strategy.

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I wanted to share with the BoF community an exciting step in the evolution of Indian fashion that marks the official arrival of India on the global fashion scene.

For years, Western designers and global brands have  used Indian craftsmanship, culture and history as  an inspiration for fashion. From intricate embroidery this season on Marchesa’s "Raj and in Charge" dresses for Spring/Summer 2008 to khaki’s from Gap, Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie and Fitch that have outfitted generations of Americans, India’s influence on global fashion goes all the way from the high-street to the high-end.

Today, my good friend Bandana Tewari, Fashion Features Editor of Vogue India , graciously sent me an image of the first cover for the newest magazine in Vogue’s stable of global fashion magazines, which now number 17 in total. From Japan to France to Mexico to Switzerland, Vogue has been the undisputed arbiter of fashion and culture for over 100 years, since its launch in 1892 as a society magazine.

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As I looked out on the waiting crowd for Giles Deacon’s show last evening, there was something special in the air. Where else could you see wunderkind Gareth Pugh nestled next to Italian eccentric Anna Piaggi and Vogue’s Hamish Bowles and a raft of other notable fashion names, all crammed into a tiny space in a small schoolhouse waiting for a fashion show to start? No New York designer of similar repute would even think of forcing the fashion A-list into this cramped setting. But then again, the fashion A-list probably wouldn’t even bother turning up to a show in a similarly  uncomfortable setting for a New York designer.

London fashion is officially hot again.  And, this time it’s not just hype. Many of the New York collections were well-executed and wearable, but they were limited in terms of new ideas and came off feeling a bit flat. London has thrown this flatness into sharp relief. There has been a renewed sense of confidence about fashion in London this week, yet there could be a lot more reflection on why things haven’t worked out for London in the past after other short-lived periods of creative renaissance — and a great deal of this has to do with the business of fashion, not the creative side.

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Most of the greatest fashion companies in the world are the result of a creative-business partnership. Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole. Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giametti. Marc Jacobs and Robert Duffy. Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli. The list could go on and on.

A business partner can share the immense workload of starting and managing a business, shield the designer from the day-to-day management so he or she can focus on the creative side, and provide a different set of skills which are important to the running of any business. This is the role that Kikka Hanazawa, a former classmate of mine, has been playing at VPL, one of New York’s most promising fashion start-ups.

The company was founded by Victoria Bartlett, a talented stylist-turned-designer from London. Her collections were initially conceived to meet the growing demand for utilitarian yet stylish under garments that could be mixed, matched and layered with other designer clothes. Since its inception in 2004, the line has gradually evolved to include accessories, bags and shoes while VPL’s foundational concept of underwear as outerwear remains intact. Earlier this year, VPL was named as one of the 10 finalists for the prestigious CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize for 2007.

The Business of Fashion sat down with Kikka to ask her a few questions about the role she plays at VPL. Young designers take note. Kikka and Victoria are following one of the tried-and-true methods for building a successful fashion business: the promise of a creative-business partnership.

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Last night I witnessed the intricate ballet of savvy PR and event-planning that has helped build Marc Jacobs into one of the only truly successful, global luxury brands that has been launched in the past 20 years.

It was evidence of the basic human psychological desire to be part of the cool crowd. You know those nightclubs that intentionally keep people waiting outside to give off the impression of being the hot spot of the moment? This was not all that different, except Marc Jacobs has been doing this for almost 20 years, and he has it down to a fine art. Plus, this is not just hype. He has a reputation for delivering collections that will inspire designers and consumers the world over as they adopt his take on of-the-moment coolness. Nobody wants to miss it. It is the hottest ticket in town

Here’s how the night unfolded.

9:00pm - Crowds of guests and press have formed outside the Armory, but nobody is getting in. People are pretty calm, given the show was supposed to  start at this time, except for a French woman who insists she must urgently get in now. She is promptly rebuffed.

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Joyous. That’s how Natalie Massenet of Net-a-Porter described Oscar de la Renta’s Spring/Summer 2008 collection to Alex Bolen, the company’s CEO, after today’s show. The setting in an Upper East Side church, the lovely dresses in bright gorgeous hues, and music from a band-cum-gospel choir culminated in a show-stopper from this legendary designer. Roger Federer, Victoria Beckham, Anna Wintour and others were there to soak it all in.

With utterly beautiful dresses targeted squarely at the ladies who lunch crowd and their daughters (many of whom were in the audience), Oscar showed that he operates in a market where you don’t have to change things too much from season to season in order to make your mark. He leaves the sometimes obsessive trend-setting (and following) to younger designers and focuses instead on delivering collections that delight his core customers. The aesthetic ranged from minimalist long lean cut dresses in a single shade of red to beautiful prints and ethnic patterns, giving every lady in the house something to covet, regardless of her preferred style choices.

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In the heart of New York’s garment district in the same building on 39th Street, two of the city’s most exciting young talents have been busy putting together the collections that they unveiled on Sunday. And, what a great showing for both Peter Som and Phillip Lim, who both delivered what their many fans were expecting…and more.

Peter, of course, has just sold a significant stake of his business to retail private equity house NRDC and has been confirmed as creative director of his alma mater house Bill Blass.

This was his finest collection yet and one of the strongest of the entire New York collections, having perfected that fine balance for his clients who move fluidly from uptown socialite events in the day to downtown parties at night. Tinsley Mortimer, the socialite of young socialites, was sitting right in front of me and was explaining to the media hordes why she integrates Peter Som into her wardrobe. He’s got his finger on the pulse of what these young women want and it was clear from all the excited whispering in the front row that this collection is going to sell like hotcakes.
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Emerging brands usually don’t have the marketing budget and editorial muscle to build big brands and it can therefore be extremely difficult to get above all the noise and stand out from the crowd. Yesterday, I was thrilled to see two young brands partner with major retailers in innovative ways to build brand awareness.

My favourite guerilla marketers from Rodnik launched their "We are not a rock brand" tour at Barney’s New York. They played to an appreciative crowd of lucky customers and industry insiders, with their sidekick Peaches Geldof supporting Phil on vocals. The guys were understandably excited about the tour which rocks up at one retailer after another, from Colette in Paris to Comme des Garcons in Tokyo to Corso Como in Milan, over the next couple of months. 

For people who had never heard of Rodnik, it’s not likely a performance they will soon forget, what with that 80’s throwback and all that energy. Here’s a sneak preview video of their opening tour song, the surprisingly catchy "How to be Lovely":

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