The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Designer Raf Simons is set to close his namesake brand. The brand’s spring-summer 2023 collection shown in London in October will be its last, Simons said in a statement posted on Instagram Monday.
“I lack the words to share how proud I am,” Simons said. “Thank you all for believing in our vision and for believing in me.”
Raf Simons, founded in Belgium in 1995, was a groundbreaking menswear label known for its skinny silhouettes and focus on youth culture. The brand propelled Simons to fashion industry prominence, helping the designer land top jobs at Jil Sander, Dior and Calvin Klein before Prada, where he currently serves as co-creative director alongside the company’s controlling shareholder, Miuccia Prada.
While the Raf Simons line remained a tiny business compared to the designers’ mega-brand employers, it was one of fashion week’s hottest tickets thanks to its rebellious ethos and trendsetting play with colour and materials.
Stay tuned to BoF for updates on this developing story.
The Swiss watch sector’s slide appears to be more pronounced than the wider luxury slowdown, but industry insiders and analysts urge perspective.
The LVMH-linked firm is betting its $545 million stake in the Italian shoemaker will yield the double-digit returns private equity typically seeks.
The Coach owner’s results will provide another opportunity to stick up for its acquisition of rival Capri. And the Met Gala will do its best to ignore the TikTok ban and labour strife at Conde Nast.
The former CFDA president sat down with BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed to discuss his remarkable life and career and how big business has changed the fashion industry.