Grace Coddington | Source: DKNY Times

Grace Coddington: Creative Indeed (Intelligent Life)
“Grace Coddington, the creative director of American Vogue, who turns 70 in April, has been a quietly revolutionary presence in the fashion world—first as a model, then as an editor—for half a century. But only since the release of the film “The September Issue” in 2009 has she been recognised in public—greeted by strangers who witnessed some of her creative battles and now see her as a reassuringly human face of fashion.”

Consumers: We want Gucci or Target. Forget the Gap (CNN Money)
“‘They are more high and low in the way that they are spending… High-end brands are holding ground among consumers, while spending at value oriented stores has also been pretty stable. It’s a tough place for mid-tier right now,’… referring to retailers like the Gap, Chico’s and Ann Taylor.”

How the Luxury Industry is Using the iPad (Luxury Society)
“Brands began developing applications to showcase collections and product ranges, and to communicate brand values and heritage. Gucci and Stella McCartney took the next step and released applications full of bespoke content: interviews with designers, creative directors, city guides, music recommendations… designed to fully engage the new digitally-driven consumer.”

Exit Paris, Winking (NY Times)
“My guess is it was a clever provocation. Mr. Jacobs would hardly be the first designer to have watched ‘The Night Porter’ or to allude to the obsessive and ultimately objectifying nature of high fashion. But he made no attempt to back away from this imagery in the wake of the Galliano scandal.”

Yohji Yamamoto’s London Moment (WWD)
“Thirty years after Yohji Yamamoto first presented his collection in Paris, the designer is having a moment in London… Yamamoto’s first solo exhibition in the U.K. will open at the Victoria and Albert Museum, along with two smaller shows dedicated to his work at the Wapping Project and the Wapping Project Bankside galleries in South London.”

Palazzo Fendi, Rome | Source CPP-Luxury

The Future of Fendi: Hotels, Men’s line and F project (CPP-Luxury)
“Michael Burke, CEO of FENDI confirmed in a recent interview the relaunch in 2010 of the men’s line which was stopped earlier this year,” as well as the extension of the F Factory and a new hotel concept.

Replay majority stake bought by new investors (Drapers)
“An acquisition vehicle has bought a majority 60% stake in Fashion Box SpA the owner of denim brands Replay, We Are Replay and Replay & Sons denim. The acquisition vehicle, Equibox Holding, is controlled by Matteo and Massimo Sinigaglia, who were partners in the Replay footwear business, and Wolfgang Friedrichs, who was a partner in Replay’s German operation.”

Business Diary: Matteo Marzotto (FT)
“Matteo Marzotto spent 17 years at his family business, the Marzotto Group, most recently as president of Valentino, the fashion label the group bought in 2002. In 2008 he left Valentino after it was sold to Permira Private Equity, and purchased the fashion house Vionnet.”

Jaeger set sights on Europe (Drapers)
“Jaeger, the British heritage brand, is set to re-enter the European market after revealing sales are on an improving trend. Jaeger, which was bought by British Fashion Council chairman Harold Tillman in 2003 for a nominal sum, has reported a 9% rise in sales in the 14 weeks to December 11, after strong performances from its London flagship stores in Regent Street and Westfield shopping centre in West London.”

Grace Coddington: the Vogue visionary (Times)
“Even now, months after the release of The September Issue, this year’s cult hit about the making of the September 2007 edition of American Vogue, Grace Coddington, the magazine’s brilliant, but hitherto largely invisible creative director, says that at least five people come up to her on the subway every morning.”

LONDON, United Kingdom — Bootlegged copies of The September Issue have been circulating amongst fashion insiders in London. The new 90 minute documentary featuring Anna Wintour of American Vogue is not due to hit U.S. and U.K. theatres until later this Summer, but it is already providing much fodder for industry conversations over mid-Summer cocktails and pre-collection appointments.

The film revolves around the development, execution and advertising sales for the September 2007 issue of US Vogue, an 840 page tome featuring Sienna Miller in a feathered Marchesa dress on its cover and reaching almost 13 million people. Anna Wintour carves a clear path throughout the film, with a singular vision for her magazine. Industry luminaries young and old tremble in her presence, as she serves up her trademark quick, clear, sharp feedback to designers, businessmen and editors alike.

Stefano Pilati, the Creative Director of Yves Saint Laurent questions his collection based on Wintour’s feedback and stylist Edward Enninful exclaims “I wanna kill myself,” after a meeting with his notoriously demanding boss. American ingenue designer Thakoon Panichgul admits that his hands couldn’t stop shaking during his first meeting with Anna and even heavyweight fashion photographer Mario Testino feels the wrath of nuclear Wintour when he fails to deliver an image she was expecting of Sienna Miller outside the ancient Roman Colosseum.

But Wintour also comes across as slightly misunderstood by an industry that paints her as evil and scheming. Rather, she simply does what she thinks is best and is singularly focused on her professional output and achieving her vision. Whether you agree with the vision is a different story, but as an operator, she runs a tight ship and achieves the results she wants.

At one point in the film, Burt Tansky, the Chairman of Neiman Marcus, even asks for Wintour’s help in dealing with the poor deliveries of designer fashion brands. “We are waiting longer and longer for deliveries,” he says. Wintour responds that the problem is that many designers just need to do more editing. There is too much product. “Less is more,” she declares, well before the economic meltdown which hit the industry one year later.

The foil to Wintour’s more commercial approach to editing Vogue is the magazine’s Creative Director, Grace Coddington, who slowly reveals her endearing passion for fashion through honest interviews peppered throughout the movie. The 20 year Vogue veteran started in front of the camera before a car accident ended her modeling career leading her to British Vogue where she was junior editor. Coddington comes at fashion from different angle than Wintour, completing the creative partnership that lies at the heart of the most powerful fashion magazine in the world. The tension between them is also part of the magazine’s success.

“I never dreamt to be a model or never, never dreamt to be a fashion editor, but I just love the pages and the pictures,” she says, looking out on the grand boulevards of Paris during the Couture. Remembering Norman Parkinson, the legendary fashion photographer, she adds “he taught me to always keep your open and never go to sleep the car. Keep watching because whatever you see out the window…it can inspire you.”

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Imran Amed is Editor of The Business of Fashion.