Italian fabrics by Alessandro Scotti | Source: WSJ

In Italy’s Mills, a New Spin Emerges (WSJ)
“Factories in China are proving as adept at copying fabrics as films and handbags… While worried, Mr. Ferla is relying on his quality-focused business strategy.”

Luxury Shame Thrives on Facebook (Slate)
“According to a new report from research firm Unity Marketing, nearly 80% of ‘affluent luxury consumers’ belong to a social network… Not surprisingly, well-off consumers engage differently with their favorite brands on Facebook.”

Men’s fashion takes centre stage in London (Independent)
“From Savile Row suits to S&M leathers, the autumn/winter menswear shows at London Fashion Week today ranged right across the style spectrum.”

What Milan Fashion Did for Anna (WSJ)
“Designers in Milan face a chaotic crunch as they scramble to fit 88 runway shows into about 70 hours over six days to accommodate the Vogue editor-in-chief’s plans to stay just four days in Milan instead of a full week.”

Foxy Lady: Gaga To Wear Armani and Prada on Tour (WWD)
“Lady Gaga has tapped two fashion houses — Armani and Prada — to help outfit her for the overseas leg of her Monster Ball tour, which began last week in Manchester.”

Defiant Armani rules out sale of empire (Financial Times)
“Giorgio Armani, the doyen of Italian fashion designers, has ruled out a sale of his global empire and has no plans to step back from day-to-day involvement. Mr Armani sought to quash speculation that he may sell the house to a bigger group, saying he had no need or desire to sell and would always have the final say in decisions.”

Thinker, tailor, technophile (Financial Times)
“The potential of customers interacting with a brand online goes way beyond looking at an ad page in Vogue or Vanity Fair,” says Robert Polet, CEO of Gucci Group. “The Gucci app had 340,000 downloads at the end of October, just a few weeks after it launched. That makes those people part of the Gucci world.”

Fashion house Cavalli to boost accessories, expand (Reuters)
“Fashion house Roberto Cavalli is looking to boost its accessories segment and expand in South America and Asia Pacific this year, its chief executive said, adding there were signs of improvement in the luxury market.”

Fashion Designers Respond To Haiti: Find Out Who Did What (Huffington Post)
“The fashion industry has joined forces to aid the victims of this natural disaster, in the form of monetary donations and contributing portions of sales.”

Macy's Herald Square Advertisement, 1906 | Source: Gjenvick

Macy’s to shut five underperforming stores (Reuters)
“Macy’s Inc. said on Tuesday it was closing five of its namesake department stores, affecting about 307 employees, as it pares underperforming locations. Macy’s said it would offer jobs at nearby stores to displaced employees when possible.”

Prada: Not for Sale (Business Week)
“Prada SpA, the luxury company which has called off four attempts at an initial public offering in the last 10 years, denied a New York Post report that it is in talks to sell a stake to Financiere Richemont.”

Armani opens first design hotel in March (Independent)
“More hotels are planned for Milan, New York, Tokyo, Shanghai and London, although no dates have been specified at this point… Overall, Armani ‘plans to open at least ten hotels and resorts within the next ten years,’ according to a statement.”

Merci: A Concept That Slowly Spells Itself Out (NY Times)
“But Merci isn’t a pointed exercise in high-low, some clash of Chanel and Gap. It’s more like a place that reflects what people actually like and how they actually want to shop. Heartened not just by the selection but by a sense of aesthetic freedom, I found even more eccentric delights…’It’s like Colette for grown-ups’.”

Venetia: Great Scott (Ponystep)
“Venetia Scott is the stylist who stripped away the impenetrable veneer of fashion in the early 90’s. Together with photographer Juergen Teller, her sense of spirit dismantled existing preconceptions of glamour and brought personality as well as earthy grit to dressing.”

Rue La La Out of the Box | Source: Rue La La

Software Maker Buying Web Fashion Discounter (NY Times)
“GSI Commerce, which manages the Web sites for major retailers like ToysRUs.com and Zales, announced on Tuesday that it was buying Rue La La, a Boston start-up, in a deal valued at $350 million.”

Giorgio Armani organizing staff as successors (Reuters)
“Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, still frail after a bout of hepatitis, hinted on Tuesday of succession plans for his vast clothes empire after his retirement and joked about his appearance.”

Tommy Hilfiger European retail sales soar (Drapers)
“Tommy Hilfiger has revealed that global sales increased by 3.5% to EUR772m (£697.9m) in the six months to September 30. In Europe retail sales rose 24.4% with like-for-likes up 2.5%. However, European growth was offset by a slowdown in wholesale sales resulting in an overall sales decrease in Europe of 6.4%.”

TPG makes £500m profit from Debenhams exit (Drapers)
“Debenhams’ shareholder TPG, the American private equity group which took the department store private, has sold its remaining shares in the retailer, for a cool £500m profit.”

Hinterview: Riccardo Tisci (Hint)
“Givenchy designer Riccard Tisci is so Italian. Tall, dark and an aficionado of everything from music to art, he also talks a kilometer a minute…within minutes he had covered rave-hopping in Rio, trouble in paradise, his first fragrance and moving to New York—and being young enough to do it all over again.”

Burberry Autumn/Winter 09 | Source: Burberry

Handbags, leather goods help Burberry top forecasts (Reuters)
“British luxury goods group Burberry beat second-quarter revenue forecasts, helped by demand for handbags and leather goods, and signalled an improvement in some second-half revenue trends.”

Chinese Are the New Kings of Bling (WSJ)
“The latest to pop the champagne corks of conspicuous consumption is China. The government stimulus, rising consumer spending and 6% GDP growth has kept China’s millionaire-making-machine well oiled. It also has fueled a no-holds-barred luxury-buying binge, as the newly rich Chinese seek to show their status.”

Beauty shines through gloom for Asian dept stores (Reuters)
“Department stores in Asia that have managed to capitalize on trend-conscious consumers willing to spend on elegance and beauty are ringing in the sales as the region’s economy recovers.”

Armani presents new smart phone amid fashion mobile trend (Independent)
“Italian luxury label Armani has introduced its newest gadget, “personally” designed by Giorgio himself.”

Hong Kong invites the creative world to town (Independent)
“The Business of Design Week – designed to invigorate Hong Kong’s cultural and creative industries – has announced a line up of more than 135 of the world’s top thinkers for its programme at the end of November.”

Armani Names Group of Lieutenants But Succession Questions Linger (WSJ)
“Giorgio Armani, after recovering from a months-long bout of hepatitis, slightly loosened his grip on his fashion empire Wednesday, naming one of his most-loyal executives as deputy chairman, as part of a management reorganization.” View the Armani S/S 10 runway video here.

Sheikh’s position strengthens in Lacroix auction (FT)
“The sheikh of Ajman yesterday emerged as the frontrunner to buy Christian Lacroix, the loss-making French fashion house, after Italy’s Borletti Group dropped out of the auction.”

Hugo Boss signs Graeme Black to drive womenswear (Drapers)
“Hugo Boss has named London-based designer Graeme Black as creative consultant for the Boss Black women’s collection.”

Gucci Snake Bag Draws Ire in China as Wage Gaps Widen (Bloomberg)
“At China’s newest Gucci store, in Shijiazhuang, snakeskin purses sell for the equivalent of $4,390, about twice the city’s per capita annual income. Next door at Brooks Brothers, button-down shirts go for $190.”

Saks offers up to $100 million of shares (Reuters)
“Saks Inc is offering up to $100 million in shares of its common stock, the upscale store operator said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday, and its shares fell 4.6 percent in after-hours trade.”

Armani's 5th Ave. store, courtesy of Armani

Armani profits drop 14% in ‘difficult’ year (FT)
“Giorgio Armani, the trend-setting Italian fashion group, reported a 14.6 per cent fall in profits in 2008 in spite of a slight rise in revenues and the opening of 50 new stores, as its owner reflected on a ‘difficult’ year for the industry.”

PPR says to focus on cash and cost-cutting (Reuters)
“French retail and luxury group PPR on Thursday pledged to focus on cutting costs and generating cash to emerge stronger from the current consumer downturn.”

Puma Profit Falls on Expenses of Restructuring Plan (Bloomberg)
“Puma AG, the German sporting-goods company controlled by PPR SA, reported first-quarter profit plunged 94 percent, hurt by one-time expenses, and said market conditions are expected to “remain difficult” in 2009.”

Japan’s Uniqlo thrives in recession, April sales up (Reuters)
“Same-store sales at Uniqlo rose 19.2 percent in April as warm weather early in the month helped lift sales of summer items. Like-for-like sales at g.u. rose 70 percent in April, having spiked by that much in March.”

A protest against ‘protest chic’ (The Guardian)
“The fashion industry has co-opted the imagery and emotion of activism in order to shore up its dwindling profits.”

Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism Phone

LONDON, United Kingdom – Something is in the air. Earlier this week, we received a mysterious package in the post from Nokia. Inside, we found a 7900 Crystal Prism phone, complete with a Sapphire crystal and engraved design by French graphic designer Frederique Daubal, who has previously collaborated with Paul Smith and Colette, the iconic Paris fashion concept boutique.

Not only this, the fashion and technology blogosphere has been abuzz about Tag Heuer’s branded mobile phone, priced to compete with the Vertu phones, at 3900 euros (or about $6000). Previously, other fashion brands including Prada, Armani, and Levis have launched mobile phones with much hype and fanfare.

To top it all off, I was recently invited to give a Keynote Speech at the ArcChart Handset Fashion and Style Congress in London later this month on, what else, The Business of Fashion.

So, is all this fashion phone buzz just PR hype, or is it something that fashion brands and mobile phone players should be seriously thinking about?

The proof is in the pudding. In the last year, we have seen Apple, arguably the most powerful consumer brand of the day, create a virtual frenzy around the world with its launch of its iPhone, much to the delight of Apple enthusiasts who have bought into the streamlined design, aesthetic simplicity, and street cred of the Apple brand. So, who’s to say fashion brands can’t seize this new fashion moment as well?

When purchasing decisions about a product move from being a largely functional decision to one that is more emotional, at least in part, then design, branding and aesthetic can play a role — and that’s where fashion comes in.

For years now, people have been personalising their generic phones with screensavers, ringtones and decorations, to make the phones their own. As ArcChart says in its in-depth report on fashion phones, Fashion and Style in the Mobile Handset Industry, the mobile phone is now

the most ubiquitous item of personal consumer electronics worldwide. This has made it an obvious tableau for the expression of an individual’s fashion tastes and style…it travels every with its owner and is visible to others.

The opportunity here seems real. What remains to be seen is which models for entering this market end up working the best. Prada and Armani have chosen to go the licensing route, working with external design and technology partners to bring their phones to market at more affordable prices. But this means that their phones  risk feeling like the brand has just been stamped on the phone, with little effort to focus on design with the same degree of precision that Miuccia Prada and Giorgio Armani have when they are designing clothes. In fact, don’t these two phones kind of look the same?

On the other hand, a more bespoke proprietary model like Tag Heuer’s could be appealing in order to build a more defensible and differentiated position in the market. However, this will require sourcing the technology and expertise from somewhere and at sky-high prices, technophiles will be even more likely to judge the phone on its technical merit, as well as its aesthetic, as Tag Heuer has been learning.

One thing is for sure…this is only the beginning of the fashion phone. We’ll be back with a report from the conference later this month.

David Beckham billboard in Milan, courtesy of Emporio Armani

MILAN, Italy - Every once in a while, we notice the media — all kinds of media from blogs to arty fashion mags to the mainstream press — talking about the same topic in a contemporaneous burst of discussion. In the past few days, the talk has been about men’s underwear. Or rather, the advertising campaigns behind this burgeoning business segment. Not since the 1980’s and Bruce Weber’s campaigns for Calvin Klein have we seen so much media interest in men’s underpants. 

Tim Blanks explores the subject at length in VMAN’s Fall/Winter 2007 issue in The History of the Male Supermodel. And, according to an article in today’s International Herald Tribune, men’s underwear is big business.

Two Italian fashion brands are trying to get in on Calvin Klein’s underwear action using sexually-charged photos to heighten awareness of their presence in the market.

Last week, the Giorgio Armani press office in Milan sent us photos of David Beckham’s new advertisement for Emporio Armani Underwear towering over the intersection of  via Cusani and via Broletto in Milan for Men’s Fashion Week (this might explain why everyone is talking about it). But Robin Givhan of the Washington Post debates whether the sexually charged images are objectifying men while  still other sites choose to debate the use of visual enhancements in the ads.

All the attention is good news. Mr Armani is expecting  a 30% surge in the underwear business as a result of the Beckham campaign, which is reported to run for 3 years and be worth £20 million. 

In an interesting reversal of roles, it’s almost like the underwear ads are defining the overall visual image of the Emporio Armani brand, including it’s face. Is Mr Armani saying that David Beckham is the ideal brand ambassador for Emporio Armani, or is it just a way to get increased attention on a small business by exploiting international celebrity?

Not to be outdone, Dolce & Gabbana are also getting in on the underwear action with a David of their own. Their underwear business has grown 12% over the past year and is bound to take another leap after the high-profile release of a D&G style sexed-up calendar featuring David Gandy, whom VMan is referring to as the new male supermodel.

The calendar has been distributed to Editors at Milan Fashion Week and Horacio Silva of The New York Times says everybody in Milan is talking about it while The Times of London’s Carol Midgley gushed unabashedly about it in her article, calling Gandy the Modern Renaissance Man. While some of the images are even a bit too saucy for the BoF, you can find them all here on the internet site the D&G have set up for your viewing pleasure. These guys know how to make a campaign work and work and work.

Given all this hoopla, perhaps its not a surprise that, according to Reuters, Burberry is also considering moving into underwear. Seems like Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s Creative Director, has been taking notes on the Italians’ latest PR coup.

Photos courtesy of Giorgio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana.

I couldn’t get over the irony of this quote from Giorgio Armani in todays WWD, which announced Emporio Armani’s upcoming  e-commerce launch in the United States

"In the last seven years, I have seen mounting enthusiasm for online fashion shopping in the United States through the growing success we have had with our A|X Armani Exchange site," Armani said. "Over this same period I have also observed the increasing sophistication of fashion consumers shopping online, which has encouraged me to develop this new site for my Emporio Armani lifestyle."

Seven years! This is a remarkably long time for a reputed business genius to finally see the opportunity in selling luxury and fashion online to customers beyond his teeny-bopper A|X customers. In the meantime, Dior, Gucci and Coach have all discovered that an online store rapidly becomes one of the top (if not the top) store in a brand’s store network.

Even then, at least he now really does understand the benefits of this bold move:

"There are many attributes of an e-commerce store that I find especially appealing: the ease with which we can change the merchandise offerings; the instant information we receive on the way customers are shopping on the site, [and] the fact that the collection can now be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to so many people who have not had access to one of my stores in the past."

Mr. Armani has been a pioneer in this industry, so it is surprising that he has been so slow off the mark this time. From a creative standpoint he revolutionised fashion in the 70’s with his deconstructed, pared down suits that have now become the norm in offices around the world. He was also one of the first (and still only one of a few) designers to successfully extend his brand across numerous categories and pricepoints without diluting or destroying his it (Armani Exchange, Armani Casa, Emporio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Armani Black Label, Armani Privé, etc).

But when Mr. Armani goes for something, albeit a bit late, he apparently goes for it full on. Along with the Emporio Armani ecommerce site, a replica of his via Manzoni megastore will be launched in the virtual world of A Second Life, complete with an Armani avatar, overseeing all the details, just like Mr. Armani does in real life. One detail he got right this time was to work with external experts in the space, like Yoox, who are powering the "shop online" portion of the site.

The Emporio Armani site will have a soft launch on August 14, followed by an official launch in September with an interview of Mr. Armani on a major online portal. The Emporio site will only be available to U.S. residents — European and Asian residents will have to be patient and wait until at least next year.

Photoclip courtesy of WWD