Big news in fashion investment circles over the weekend has been the sale of Jimmy Choo to Towerbrook Partners, a private equity firm that has bought out the state owned by Lion Capital. Here is an article from the Financial Times announcing the deal. More thoughts on this later.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

The semi-annual harvesting of the fruits of menswear designers from all over the world has just ended In Milan, and I have to say, it was a bumper crop.

I never planned use this blog as an editorial on fashion trends or styling, but the menswear looks that have come out of Milan this season are really strong, and give strong direction for mens fashion. For the first time in awhile, things look fresh, and that’s got to be good for business.

I have selected a few of my favourite looks – these are the styles that I seriously dig – and I am no conceptualist. I think these are wearable commercial looks as well.

Best looks

From sharp tailoring  at Etro and Bottega Veneta, to long knits and layering at Burberry and Valentino, menswear was spot on this season, with a bit of colour or new silhouette to freshen the looks.

The ongoing trouser debate was truly challenged by J Lindeberg who went wide. I actually like the way this looks. Some disagreed though and the rock star skinny was still inny as we saw at Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana.

CK, J Lindeberg, Etro and Prada worked the knitwear long and fast, in both muted and colourful hues.

And to top it all off, the perfect trench from a triumphant Mr. Lindeberg, followed by the perfect high DB black tuxedo from Mr. Valentino

[photos: Marco Maceira from style.com]

Speaking of the new trends I mentioned in a previous post, style.com just posted a summary of trends (well, its 221 photos, so not a summary in actuality) for women’s S/S 07. My favourites, as I mentioned, were the eighties revival and futurism.

I couldn’t help but take note of the pinup girls trend. It made me think right back to the launch of Madonna’s Confessions on  Dancefloor album in the Autumn of 2005, where she pranced around in a purple leotard in Hung Up video. Some people (and countries) were scandalised by it at the time (see this article about her purple-leotarded performance being banned in Malaysia ). Let’s just say not everyone could appreciate this latest Madonna avatar. But given the looks shown in this part of the trend watch on style.com, many designers loved  the look (maybe unconsciously?) and channeled it in their S/S 07 collections. Though they might not admit it, Madonna is their pinup girl. Now, too bad she couldn’t get a royalty stream from that as well.

[photo from madonna.com, Confessions on a Dancefloor]

I am on the Eurostar to Paris and came across an article in the latest edition of TIME – Style and Design on the Paris-based luxury children’s brand, Bonpoint. Apparently, the company is actively in play to be acquired (possibly by France’s Pinault family) after having been nicely prepped and dressed-up by Edmond de Rothschild Capital Partners, who acquired 70% of the company from its founders in 2003. Since then, the company has grown to almost €43m in annual turnover with about 60 Bonpoint retail stores around the world. This is impressive for a brand that has slowly been building itself in a market that is not very well understood.

I have to admit that I have always been sceptical of luxe for kids. Is there really a luxury apparel market when kids grow out of their clothes so quickly? Why emphasise quality when the clothes only need to last a year anyway?  Is it healthy for kids to be exposed to luxury branding from such a young age? What does it say about parents who dress their children in luxury clothes as yet another way to flaunt their wealth?

This article made me think twice about it as a business. First if you can get brand loyalty from the buying decision maker, then you can expect even more frequent purchases of clothing as kids rapidly go through their clothes. The article even mentions mothers who buy the same children’s outfit for each home! Yes, kids will eventually outgrow the brand and so new customers will have to be found, but while Bonpoint has the customers, they will be loyal and revenue generating. This is even more compelling when you take into account the demographic trends highlighted in the article. In developed markets where fewer children are being born, later in marriage, there is even more money available to lavish upon these children by their parents and grandparents, who are also richer and living loger.

Second, kids are exposed to all sorts of branding and marketing anyway. McDonald’s, Nintendo, and increasingly MySpace, YouTube and MSN, so why not Bonpoint? That said, it does make me think about what potential Bonpoint loses in the "lifetime" value of a customer given that they have explicitly stayed out of the adult clothing business. After building a relationship with the customer (in this case, mother and child), they let them go and possibly won’t see that customer again until they have their own children. I wonder whether there is a way to continue to capture value even after kids have outgrown the brand.

As for parents who dress up their kids to flaunt their wealth and status, there are always going to be parents who do that and with or without Bonpoint they will continue to do so. At the same time, not every parent who buys Bonpoint is doing if just for their own image. They may simply want what they think is the best for their children.

I was most struck by the way Marie-France, one of Bonpoint’s founders,  spoke about the way she was brought up in an artistic family to appreciate beautiful things — not necessarily expensive things. "Our mother didn’t have a lot of money, but the word we heard most often was REGARDEZ. Look at all the beautiful buildings in Paris. Look at the paintings. Look at the furniture…You were told to train your eye and always there was a dissassociation of beauty and taste from the idea of money…"

So, maybe Bonpoint isn’t about conspicuous consumption for children? It could be more about injecting a sense of refinement and taste early into lives of children…who knows. The jury is still out for me, but the idea od luxury children’s wear doesn’t seem like such a bad idea anymore. I am going to try to check out the Bonpoint flagship the Rue du Tournon on this trip and judge for myself.

[Extracts from TIME - Style and Design, Winter 2006]

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Diesel subsidiary Staff International announced today its investment in the emerging label of much-lauded London-based Greek designer Sophia Kokosalaki. With only £350k in annual revenue, Kokosalaki’s business is not huge, but Renzo Rosso, CEO of Diesel, has clearly seen potential in her work and has stepped up to help take the brand to the next level.

This is excellent news for Kokosalaki in what should be a banner year for the young designer whose debut collection for the House of Vionnet will bow in Paris this season. The much-vaunted comeback for Vionnet is expected to  be gracefully executed by Kokosalaki whose trademark draping dovetail’s nicely with Vionnet’s heritage and her famous bias-cut.

More young designers should look for partnerships like the one that Kokosalaki has concluded with Mr Rosso. Through Diesel’s subsidiary, Staff International, which also works with other emerging brands like DSquared2 and Maison Martin Margiela , Kokosalaki has found not only the investment capital to grow her business, but more importantly, a skilled partner who can add value to the business through connections, experience and expertise. Furthermore, due to Mr. Rosso’s experience with working with other young designers and his clear appreciation for creativity, Kokosalaki is likely to maintain the creative freedom and autonomy that she needs to continue to develop her  unique signature.

It will be interesting to see how successfully Kokosalaki will split her time and her creative energy between her eponymous collection and the Vionnet collection. Will she be able to carve out a unique identity and aesthetic for both collections? That remains to be seen.

Up until now, Kokosalaki, like many young designers, has relied on one-off consultancies and brand building activities. She did a small capsule collection for Nine West in the USA – you can learn more about it in this video.

[photo from Sophia Kokosalaki S/S 2007, from WWD]