Lanvin by But Sou Lai | Source: NY Times

The Inside Story of a Couture Dream in the Making (IHT)
“Few dare to focus on a blank page, even if it has a gilded trim, or to imagine that a cover could be made from gros grain, with the texture of a couture dress and no sign of a title — until you find the names embossed on the gilding: ‘Lanvin’ and ‘Alber Elbaz.’… ‘I didn’t want to make it a retrospective, the beginning of the end,’ says Mr. Elbaz, who is celebrating covertly his first decade at Lanvin.”

Lion Capital’s Lyndon Lea defends his performance (Telegraph)
“In recent months, however, Lion, a private equity firm famous for turning Jimmy Choo into an international luxury brand, has lost some of its glamour… Lea models Lion’s culture on the creative businesses it invests in, a different approach from most numbers-obsessed private equity firms, even if he does get some stick for the wild parties.”

Supergroup sales jump over Christmas (Reuters)
“SuperGroup, the company behind the Superdry fashion brand, posted a 22 percent rise in group sales over the key Christmas period as it overcame distribution issues which had dogged the firm in 2011.”

Valentino’s Creative Directors Prepare For Their Men’s Runway Debut (Style.com)
“Tomorrow in Florence, Valentino’s Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli debut their Fall ‘12 menswear collection as the invited guests of Pitti Uomo. The occasion marks the first runway show for the men’s collections, which the designers took over several season ago and have been quietly showing by appointment in their Place Vendome showroom—where it has been a quiet highlight of the Paris collections—ever since.”

Sole Man Blake Mycoskie (WSJ)
“Although he’s the founder of TOMS Shoes, the company that donates a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold, his name isn’t Tom. Social entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie named his for-profit company after his original charitable inspiration, ‘Shoes for a Better Tomorrow,’ which eventually became ‘Tomorrow’s Shoes,’ and then ‘TOMS.’

Brioni Autumn/Winter 2011 | Source: Luxos

PPR set to buy men’s wear brand Brioni (FT)
“PPR, the French luxury goods group, has confirmed it will acquire Brioni, the Italian high end men’s wear group that has dressed Vladimir Putin and the fictional character James Bond in several movie outings. In a statement on Tuesday, PPR said it would be buying 100 per cent of the family owned group for an undisclosed sum… PPR is reorienting and expanding its business in two segments: luxury, which includes Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta; and lifestyle, which consists mainly of a majority stake in Puma, the German sportswear company.”

H&M Sets Versace Goddesses of High Fashion to Low Prices: Retail (Bloomberg)
“Hennes & Mauritz AB, the world’s second-largest clothing retailer, next week starts selling apparel and accessories designed by Gianni Versace SpA, including floor-length ‘goddess’ gowns, dresses dotted with Grecian buttons and fluorescent micro-minis. The Versace for H&M line, the latest partnership between the Swedish retailer and a luxury designer that boasts high fashion at low prices, will give the Italian label ‘global visibility’ as it targets sales of about $700 million by 2014, Versace Chief Executive Officer Gian Giacomo Ferraris said.”

Hugo Boss ups 2015 targets on Chinese growth (Reuters)
“German fashion house Hugo Boss sharply raised its earnings outlook for 2015 on Tuesday as it increases its network of stores and eyes strong growth from China. The group… Said it now expects sales of 3 billion euros ($4.1 billion) in 2015, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and special items (EBITDA) of 750 million. That compares with a previous target for sales of 2.5 billion and core earnings of 500 million euros. Hugo Boss said it expected sales in Asia to almost triple by 2015 compared with 2010, mainly thanks to China.”

Upcoming Zappos iPad App Mimics a Fashion Magazine (All Things Digital)
“The new black this fall: Retailers producing content alongside their products, like an online version of a glossy fashion magazine. Zappos expects to launch its first attempt at recreating the catalog experience on the iPad in early December, just in time for the holidays… Instead of being generally available in iTunes, the Zappos app will be found on Apple’s Newsstand, which organizes magazine and newspaper subscriptions for those who use iOS 5. It will be free; a new edition will appear monthly.”

Alber Elbaz wants dramatic fashion (Belfast Telegraph)
“Alber Elbaz has announced plans to ‘bring back real drama’ to the fashion industry. The Lanvin designer staged a presentation of his Spring/Summer 12 collection at Carondelet House in Los Angeles recently. He’s already put on a similar event in Paris and explained he’s keen to get people interested in style again. ‘Geoffrey Beene told me that fashion is not show business, it’s just business,’ he said. ‘These days there are too many reality shows, and I watch many of them, but I am trying to bring back real drama to fashion.’”

Maggie Cheung for Lane Crawford | Source: Pomegranita

China Looms Large in Luxury Industry’s Vision (NY Times)
“If heritage is the tool fashion houses have turned to in the wake of the global financial crisis, then the actual market the luxury industry sees guaranteeing its future is China… while China booms, the industry is turning back to basics with more mature markets.”

Victoria Beckham looking to build her label slowly (Reuters)
“Victoria Beckham is mulling entry into new fashion areas but wants build her business slowly to ‘still be around in 20 years’ time… Beckham, whose label is only two years old, has been shortlisted for the British designer brand of the year award.”

Direct messaging, social media key to reaching wealthy consumers (Luxury Daily)
“Direct messaging such as personal phone calls and social media tactics are particularly effective for targeting consumers with annual incomes higher than $500,000 and should play a role in holiday strategies, according to research.”

Perpetuating the Legacy of Savile Row (NY Times)
“To reread reports of the advent of Richard James on Savile Row in the early 1990s, you would think he was selling jeans and jocks… What he was proposing from his tiny Savile Row shop was a ready-to-wear collection supplemented by special bespoke orders.”

Alber Elbaz with Suzy Menkes (Vogue UK)
“Alber Elbaz didn’t do the H&M line to make Lanvin more cool, or more modern, or more relevant – he did it to prevent us from falling foul of a life like Marie Antoinette’s. Join him, with Suzy Menkes, on stage with VogueTV.”

Alber Elbaz | Source: Alive not dead

The Future Of Fashion, Part Six: Alber Elbaz (Style.com)
“The word poetic invariably attaches itself to descriptions of the clothes Elbaz designs for Lanvin, but you get the feeling that behind the famous floppy bow tie, there is a hard-won sense of resolve. During our conversation… he spoke frankly about the problems the industry faces.”

Fashion Films Become the Hottest New Accessories (IHT)
“‘Catwalk shows were good in a period when they were restricted, but now billions of people are interested in having a relationship with a brand, so the emotional appeal is more important than before,’… that can be achieved not just physically, but virtually.”

Gucci Launches Custom-made Gowns (WWD)
“The Italian luxury brand is breaking into the rarefied world of haute couture with the launch of Gucci Première, which will offer celebs one-of-a-kind gowns like the slinky burgundy one-shoulder dress Salma Hayek wore on opening night of the Cannes Film Festival.”

Coach, Target resolve handbag infringement lawsuit (Bloomberg)
“Coach and Target have settled a design infringement lawsuit, seven months after the upscale handbag maker charged that handbags the discounter was selling too closely resembled its own designs.”

‘Sex and the City 2′: From Downsizing to the Desert (WWD)
“Costumer Patricia Field wasted no chance to beturban and bejewel the ladies to cartoonish extremes… And King seized every opportunity to play on the cultural divides (and unifiers) between the way American and Middle Eastern women are expected to dress.”

Karl who?

PARIS, France – We don’t actively engage in the rumour mill here on BoF, but when the whispers involve Karl Lagerfeld, Olivier Theyskens and Alber Elbaz in a Lanvin and Chanel merry-go-round, it seems worthwhile to engage in a bit of Friday afternoon fashion speculation.

Today, Diane Pernet has published a bombshell post outlining this scenario:

“This is not a fact until you officially read it somewhere else but rumour has it that Karl Lagerfeld will not renew his contract at Chanel and that Alber Elbaz will take his place and Olivier Theyskens will take Alber’s place at Lanvin…Nothing is engraved in cement, these are still just rumours you will have to wait and see.”

Of course, fashion observers have long wondered what will happen at Chanel (and Fendi, for that matter) when Lagerfeld’s seemingly endless energy finally runs out. For Elbaz, or any top fashion designer for that matter, the Chanel post would be a dream job as it is one of the most coveted design roles in the fashion world.

That said, this all seems a bit suspect to me. And as Diane says, these are only rumours.

Word has it that Elbaz has a significant ownership stake in Lanvin, making it hard to believe that he would walk away from all that upside, especially now that sales at Lanvin are up 29 percent and the brand is on the ascendant, even in the current economic environment. What’s more, private equity and strategic investors have been circling the buoyant French brand for months now, and there is potentially a big payout to be had for Mr. Elbaz–but only if he sticks it out and, I suspect, only if he stays on as Creative Director.

In other revolving designer news, WWD is reporting today that Esteban Cortazar is the latest designer to clash with Mounir Moufarrige at Ungaro, prompting the young designer to walk out of his role. This will not come as a surprise to long-time readers of The Business of Fashion. When Cortazar was first appointed, a raging debate took place about his suitability for the role and about Moufarrige’s apparent inability to effectively work with top creative talent. If the news of Cortazar’s departure are true, this will be the third designer to walk out on Moufarrige: Giambattista Valli, Peter Dundas and now, Esteban Cortazar.

UPDATE: As expected, both Chanel and Lanvin have denied these rumours and so, alas, Karl Lagerfeld and Alber Elbaz are both staying put. For now.

Imran Amed is Editor of The Business of Fashion