The potential of creative-business partnerships has long been a topic of interest here at The Business of Fashion. However, the focus to date has been on pairings in the fashion apparel businesses — high profile partnerships like those of Tom and Dom and Marc and Robert, or emerging success stories like those of Phillip and Wen of 3.1 Phillip Lim and Victoria and Kikka of VPL.

I recently came across a partnership from a different part of the fashion business altogether — but one with equally remarkable results. Over dim sum and jasmine tea, Masoud and Caroline, the creative-business partners behind Tank, told me how they have developed their fledgling magazine business into a full-service creative agency, described their complementary roles in the business, and shared the (top-secret!) details behind an exciting digital media project which is in the works.

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An article in Friday’s Women’s Wear Daily highlighted the ongoing battle that young designers are having in preventing their designs from being copied by much larger mass-market rivals. Hence, the CFDA in the United States is spearheading The Design Piracy Prohibition Act, to protect the designs of American fashion designers for a period of three years and impose a fine of at least $250,000 for a successful conviction of fashion copyright infringement.

While the law is still far from being enacted, the high-profile discussion has shed new light on the scale of the problem. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimated that $12 billion was lost due to counterfeiting and piracy in the fashion and apparel industry in 2006.

With formal legal recourse hanging in the balance, sometimes designers have to take matters into their own hands. Aseef Vaza, whose shapely clutches have become a must-have for London’s fashion insiders, is one example.

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In the 1920′s, a young French designer named Madeleine Vionnet created a virtual tornado in the in the fashion industry when she developed the bias cut. By cutting fabric against the grain, she enabled it to cling, drape and give in a way that was flattering to the body. Vionnet went on to build an enviable and innovative business, dressing clients such as Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, and Greta Garbo.

The house was shut down during the Second World War, but since then, Vionnet’s technique has been widely used by numerous acclaimed designers, including Azzedine Alaia and John Galliano, who has made the bias-cut dress one of his own signatures.

Now, almost 70 years after it faded into oblivion, the House of Vionnet may not be dead for much longer. Not if Vionnet CEO Arnaud de Lummen has something to say about it. Over the past few years, he has been quietly laying the foundation to resurrect this once-great house to its former glory. De Lummen’s father bought the rights to the Vionnet business 20 years ago and has waited until now to task his son, a Harvard-trained lawyer, to make this ambitious vision a reality.

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This week’s Economist ominously warns of “The Trouble with Private Equity” at a time when many in the fashion world are wondering how the infusion of private capital will impact their industry. In the last month alone, La Perla, Samsonite and Valentino have all been snapped up by private equity funds. Just today, The Sunday Times broke the news that Prada has also been in talks with private investors. (Not surprisingly, Prada has denied these reports, but it is not hard to see why this would be a natural option for Patrizio Bertelli, especially given several failed attempts at taking Prada public.)

The recent investment exuberance around fashion brands is a dramatic departure from the stance that many professional investors took even just a few years ago. Back then, they said there was too much “fashion” risk and that without predictable and stable revenue streams, their highly-leveraged (heavy on debt, light on equity) investment strategies were untenable. Now, with more and more money fighting for fewer investment opportunities, it seems much of this wisdom has been thrown out the window. 

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That oft-ignored market for men’s luxury has been popping up on my radar screen a lot more often in the last few months. Up until now, men’s luxury spending has been dominated by expensive watches. But, as a generation of high net-worth men with a taste for modern design is growing up, more players are reaching out to meet their sophisticated needs in innovative ways.

It brings to mind a casual gathering of friends that took place in my kitchen on a recent Saturday evening. Over wine and cheese, I watched in awe as hedge fund managers, private equity investors and investment bankers from London’s burgeoning financial community were comparing, discussing and examining each other’s (expensive) watches in excruciating detail. Some were taking pride in the beautiful pearl dialfaces, others in the high-tech mechanics, and still others in having a Swiss watch brand that nobody else had heard of. Digits were exchanged. Prices were quoted. Statistics were cited. Still, it wasn’t so different from the groups of professional women I have seen cooing over their friend’s new Chloe bag. Could the same passion for those watches and handbags be transferred to cufflinks, tailor-made suits and high-tech men’s cosmetics?

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