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.”

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.”

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.”

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?”

Berlin designer outlet, courtesy of McArthur Glen

Designer Outlets Come Into Fashion Across the Continent (WSJ)
“The Berlin Designer Outlet Center, built to resemble a German country village, is the latest outlet to open in Europe and further evidence that in a broader retail industry plagued by tenant insolvencies and declining consumer spending, the outlet segment is still expanding.”

Vionnet exhibition opens in Paris (Telegraph)
“Vionnet, dubbed the “couturier of couturiers”, is being honoured with an exhibition, opening today at Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris, which spans her work from the setting up of her house in 1912 to the glory years of the Thirties.”

The Dying Art of The Sari (Time)
“Sales do pick up in the winter, Delhi’s high season for lavish parties and weddings, but fashionable young women are more interested in designer saris in sheer fabrics made on power looms, not the traditional hand-woven silks like the ones in their mothers’ cabinets.”

Italian designers dream of summer in the city for 2010 (AP)
“Returning to the urban styles which made them famous, Italian designers are putting men back into suits and ties after many a season of wardrobes for globe-trotting vacationers.”

Agnes b. to Double China Stores to Tap Retail’s ‘Bright Spot’ (Bloomberg)
“Agnes b. Group, the French fashion brand created by designer Agnes Trouble, will double its stores in mainland China to tap growing demand that’s made the country a “bright spot” in the retail industry.”

Saks Spring 2009 ad campaign, courtesy of Saks

Saks Chief Cuts Orders to Avoid Discounts on Suits, Stilettos (Bloomberg)
“Saks Inc., Neiman Marcus Group Inc. and other luxury retailers are reducing orders this year to limit supply and boost profitability.”

The City Wears an Optimistic Face (New York Times)
Donatella Versace and Franca Sozzani discuss the future of fashion over  candlelit supper in Milan.

Stylists Aren’t Just for Celebrities Anymore (Forbes)
“There’s an entire branch of the business of styling that never appears at a movie premiere or Oscar ceremony. Female executives and entrepreneurs–and the just-plain-busy or those in need of fashion guidance–often turn to stylists to improve or update their look and wardrobe.”

Milan Men’s Fashion Week: back from black (Drapers)
“The men’s catwalks in Milan got under way this weekend with a more positive verve than last season’s black-heavy credit-crunched looks.”

Missoni S/S 09 ad campaign, courtesy of Missoni

Stars in their stripes: Missoni a fashion powerhouse (Independent)
“For 50 years, it has dressed the stylish in its striped and zig-zag knits. Missoni is a fashion powerhouse, a family business and, a new exhibition argues, an Italian national treasure.”

Fast Retailing Lives Up to Name With Global Gains (WSJ)
“Despite the economic gloom brought on by Japan’s shrinking domestic consumption, Fast Retailing Co. has had no trouble living up to its name: domestic same-store sales in May of its Uniqlo chain shot up 18.3%, extending on-year gains to seven consecutive months.”

From South Korea, Innovation in Menswear (New York Times)
“South Korea is shaping up as the next hotbed of innovative menswear, with three of its most prominent designers creating tailoring with a twist for an international audience just as Seoul itself is becoming something of a fashion center.”

Liberty to sell Sloane Street standalone (Drapers)
“Iconic department store Liberty has closed its standalone Liberty of London shop on Sloane Street 12 months after it opened, after receiving an offer for the lease.”

Glimmer of hope for fashion (Business World)
“After a ‘frosty’ start to the year - when there were fewer shows at the January Autumn/Winter 2009-2010 menswear fashion week - there are some positive signals emerging, according to Italy’s National Chamber of Fashion.”