São Paulo skyline | Source: Museyon

Exactly How Hot Is Brazil? (IHT)
“Compared with the other so-called BRIC countries — Russia, with historic department stores rising from gray streets; India, with its chaotic New Delhi markets; or China with its sprawling, often empty, shopping malls — São Paulo seems like a hive of glamorous commerce… Compared with China, Brazil has had far less attention from the big brands, although their stores are present in São Paulo, lining the streets in the upscale Jardins area.”

The Three Musketeers of Condé Nast Ride Again (WWD)
“Graydon, Anna and David have their other projects, of course.For the last few years, these three have been targets of some whispered criticism in the media world: How much time do they actually devote to editing their magazines anymore? Are these editors, a combined 55 years into their jobs, starting to get a little bored? Are their best days behind them?  Apparently not. The three are having career years — or at least years that should go down as All-Star seasons on their Hall of Fame plaques.”

PPR and Brioni: After the deal, the implications (FT)
“So it all came true, and PPR did, indeed, buy Italian men’s wear luxury brand Brioni. So far, so rumoured. But what does it mean? It seems to me there are two main implications to the deal… Given the state of the rest of the Italian economy, you’d think the government might not be so thrilled about the prospect of yet more foreign ownership, but then again, maybe in the short-term, they need the tax money.”

An Eye on Sustainable Fashion (NY Times)
“There is a new luxury fashion consumer in Brazil. And it’s not just the lower middle-class shopper with greater purchasing power, as seen everywhere in the country’s media in the last couple of years. These consumers are seeking products that go beyond modern design and new runway trends — looking for an eco-friendly kind of “quality seal” and now, thankfully, they can find what they are looking for. In the last couple of years, some Brazilian brands have begun to invest in collections whose manufacturing is less harmful to the environment.”

Meet Carmen Dell’Orefice, the 80-year-old supermodel (Telegraph)
“That point is 80. And the life is extraordinary; a film waiting to be scripted. Impoverished immigrant parents (mother a Hungarian ballerina, father an Italian violinist; she was born in New York); foster homes; rheumatic fever at 12, which put paid to her own balletic ambitions; modelling at 13 (she made her first Vogue cover by the time she was 15); three husbands of varying unsuitability; numerous spectacularly catastrophic financial scenarios, of which depositing most of her life savings with Bernie Madoff is merely the most recent.”

Chloe Raises the Roof at the Tuileries Tent in Paris | Photo: BoF

LONDON, United Kingdom — It was a fashion season of extreme weather. After the New York Fashion Week schedule was upended, first by an earthquake and then by the State of Emergency declaration that came courtesy of Hurricane Irene, an unprecedented heat wave in Paris threw buyers, editors and bloggers into a wardrobe tailspin.

The American editors were worst off, having packed for the European shows two weeks before Paris with no prior notice of the heat wave that was to come. After a few days of shows in impossibly hot venues, some of them resorted to ripping the sleeves off their outfits or just wearing their ‘airplane clothes.’

Brands tried to ease the pain. Fans were distributed at shows alongside champagne and much to everyone’s relief, Chloe arranged for the roof of the Tuileries tent to be removed for their show, letting in the sun and much welcome breeze. Meanwhile Net-a-Porter, always on top of a new market opportunity, delivered heat wave friendly clothes to editors caught without weather-appropriate attire.

But of course the real action was on the runway and in conversations between BoF and the good and the great of the global fashion tribe at a season filled with its fair share of events and parties.

Without further ado, it’s time to look back at Spring/Summer 2012, the season that was.

… Continue Reading

NE•Tiger | Source: Jing Daily

‘Made in China’ Chic is making Chinese Proud (Red Luxury)
“‘The world has used China as a cheap manufacturing land,’ said Shu Shu Chen, communications director for the Hermes Chinese fashion line Shang Xia. ‘This has been the defining thing for the past 10, 20, 30 years. The time has come to move on from that idea.’… While the Far East has traditionally been associated with cheap labor and shoddy production, its reputation is changing—and attracting big name brands.”

Guess outlook disappoints; shares slide (Reuters)
“U.S. clothing maker Guess Inc gave a disappointing outlook for the rest of the year, citing a difficult economy and competitive environment. The company, best known for its jeans, reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter, but said a recent slowdown in the global economy made it more cautious moving forward.”

Art and Fashion in Dasha Zhukova’s Garage (NY Times)
“The magazine, created by Dasha Zhukova, a former editor of Pop, and named after the contemporary art center she opened in Moscow in 2008, includes collaborations between prominent figures of both worlds and blurs the boundaries to such a degree that even the artist Dinos Chapman said his work in the magazine could be described as ‘a full-blown fashion shoot.’”

Vogue’s Anna Wintour: Intimidating, No. Powerful, Yes. (Forbes)
“‘I don’t think of myself as a powerful person. You know, what does it mean? It means you get a better seat in a restaurant or tickets to a screening or whatever it may be. But it is a wonderful opportunity to be able to help others, and for that I’m extremely grateful.’”

Rise: Marques’Almeida (Dazed Digital)
“Graduating from the MA at Central Saint Martins in February, the Portuguese couple behind Marques’Almeida joins Lulu Kennedy’s force to offer a season with abundance of attitude. Fashion East hasn’t seen petulance so desirable yet… ‘Our whole goal is to obviously, build a brand and keep growing; to make sure that the mood and attitude that we try to reflect through our clothes is identifiable in the future.’”

Anna's Army | Source: WSJ

“With all the new media outlets out there, with all the noise, a voice of authority and calm like Vogue becomes more important than ever. The more eyes on fashion, the more opinions about fashion, the more exploration of fashion around the world, the better it is for Vogue. Vogue is like Nike or Coca-Cola—this huge global brand. I want to enhance it, I want to protect it, and I want it to be part of the conversation.”

Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of American Vogue, in the April 2011 issue of WSJ Magazine

Asprey Vintage Regulator Detail | Source: Asprey

Time Warp (WSJ)
“In the past couple of years, more and more guys I talk to have been going vintage when it comes to watches… It’s the inevitable pushback against the highflying hedge-fund era, when the pursuit of luxury meant the quest for highly conspicuous quality and lots of it.”

Luxury stocks bounce back as Japan stabilizes (Globe and Mail)
“Luxury stocks jumped Monday on growing optimism that the devastating Japanese earthquake’s impact on retail sales might not be as severe as initially feared. Shares of high-end clothing retailers and sellers of luxury goods were pummelled last week.”

Alexander Wang on building his fashionable family empire (Telegraph)
“Time passes faster and faster, but with every project I always want to find the next challenge and the next challenge is just as exciting as the previous one. So, like, I push myself and as the company grows and things get bigger and bigger and bigger.”

Peter Marino, Leader of the Pack (WWD)
“In an industry with the collective attention span of a fruit fly, Marino has enjoyed an improbably long run. Known for creating modern retail spaces with varying degrees of glamour, from understated to full-frontal, Marino has become the keeper of brand identities.”

The power of Anna Wintour (Yahoo)
“American Vogue’s editor-in-chief, might still be influencing unsuspecting consumers about what they wear, how they shop and what celebrity or cause is about to be the talk of the town.”